| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Man against the Sky by Edwin Arlington Robinson: they assume that you take the genius and place of Edwin Arlington Robinson
as granted. . . . A man with something to say that has value and beauty.
His thought is deep and his ideas are high and stimulating."
-- ~Boston Transcript~.
By the same author
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The Porcupine: A Drama in Three Acts
~Cloth, 12mo, $1.25~
Edwin Arlington Robinson's comedy "Van Zorn" proved him to be
one of the most accomplished of the younger generation of American dramatists.
Of this play the ~Boston Transcript~ said, "It is an effective presentation
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Bureaucracy by Honore de Balzac: not more, dangerous heads, whose schemes are in proportion to their
ambition? The secret of knowing how to govern is to know those heads
well, and either to chop them off or buy them. I don't know how much
talent I have, but I know that I have ambition; and you are committing
a serious blunder when you set aside a man who wishes you well. The
anointed head dazzles for the time being, but what next?--Why, a war
of words; discussions will spring up once more and grow embittered,
envenomed. Then, for your own sake, I advise you not to find me at the
Left Centre. In spite of your prefect's manoeuvres (instructions for
which no doubt went from here confidentially) I am secure of a
majority. The time has come for you and me to understand each other.
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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 Thuvia, Maid of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs: into an aperture in the wall.
Even such world-old cities as ancient Aaanthor were as
yet undreamed of when the races lived that built such
gates as these.
As he stood speculating upon the identity of this
forgotten city, a voice spoke to them from above.
Both looked up. There, leaning over the edge of
the high wall, was a man.
His hair was auburn, his skin fair--fairer even than
that of John Carter, the Virginian. His forehead was
high, his eyes large and intelligent.
Thuvia, Maid of Mars |
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 Enemies of Books by William Blades: and over-careful possessors, who, being unable to carry their
treasures into the next world, do all they can to hinder their
usefulness in this. What a difficulty there is to obtain admission
to the curious library of old Samuel Pepys, the well-known diarist.
There it is at Magdalene College, Cambridge, in the identical book-cases
provided for the books by Pepys himself; but no one can gain admission
except in company of two Fellows of the College, and if a single book
be lost, the whole library goes away to a neighbouring college.
However willing and anxious to oblige, it is evident that no one
can use the library at the expense of the time, if not temper,
of two Fellows. Some similar restrictions are in force at
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