| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Boys' Life of Abraham Lincoln by Helen Nicolay: sometimes when considering them, would tell the story of the
Irish soldier, upbraided by his captain, who replied: "Captain, I
have a heart in me breast as brave as Julius Caesar, but when I
go into battle, Sor, these cowardly legs of mine will run away
with me."
As the war went on, Mr. Lincoln objected more and more to
approving sentences of death by court-martial, and either
pardoned them outright, or delayed the execution "until further
orders," which orders were never given by the great-hearted,
merciful man. Secretary Stanton and certain generals complained
bitterly that if the President went on pardoning soldiers he
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Weir of Hermiston by Robert Louis Stevenson: imminent animosity; but the hide of the Justice-Clerk remained
impenetrable. Had my lord been talkative, the truce could never have
subsisted; but he was by fortune in one of his humours of sour silence;
and under the very guns of his broadside, Archie nursed the enthusiasm
of rebellion. It seemed to him, from the top of his nineteen years'
experience, as if he were marked at birth to be the perpetrator of some
signal action, to set back fallen Mercy, to overthrow the usurping devil
that sat, horned and hoofed, on her throne. Seductive Jacobin figments,
which he had often refuted at the Speculative, swam up in his mind and
startled him as with voices: and he seemed to himself to walk
accompanied by an almost tangible presence of new beliefs and duties.
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| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Mother by Owen Wister: There was another movement from Ethel by the sofa.
"--or even only once, as is my case," the narrator went on, "any body, I
say, who has been through the experience of being engaged only once, can
form a very correct idea of the circumstances that attend the happy
engagements of all young people. I imagine they prevail in all countries,
just as the feeling about 'mother' prevails. Yes, 'Mother' is the right
title for my story, as you shall see. Is it not strange that if you add
'in-law' to the word 'mother,' how immediately the sentiment of the term
is altered?--as strongly indeed as when you prefix the word 'step' to it.
But it is with neither of these composite forms of mother that any story
deals.
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The fourth excerpt represents the element of Earth. It speaks of physical influences and the impact of the unseen on the visible world, and is drawn from The Tin Woodman of Oz by L. Frank Baum: you intend to be our enemy?"
"I never have friends," she said in a matter-of-fact
tone, "because friends get too familiar and always
forget to mind their own business. But I am not your
enemy; not yet, anyhow. Indeed, I'm glad you've come,
for my life here is rather lonely. I've had no one to
talk to since I transformed Polychrome, the Daughter of
the Rainbow, into a canary-bird."
"How did you manage to do that?" asked the Tin
Woodman, in amazement. "Polychrome is a powerful
fairy!"
The Tin Woodman of Oz |
