| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Voice of the City by O. Henry: to buy the kind you put into you? Skiddoo! Get
your mind off of money."
Evidently the poses of Talleyrand were not worth
one hundred cents on that dollar. But diplomacy is
dexterous. The artistic temperament of Mr. Peters
lifted him by the straps of his congress gaiters and
set him on new ground. He called up a look of des-
perate melancholy to his eyes.
"Clara," he said, hollowly, "to struggle further
is useless. You have always misunderstood me.
Heaven knows I have striven with all my might to
The Voice of the City |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin A. Abbot: before you could move in a fashionable crowd without jostling against
your betters, whom it is against etiquette to ask to "feel", and who,
by their superior culture and breeding, know all about your movements,
while you know very little or nothing about theirs. In a word,
to comport oneself with perfect propriety in Polygonal society,
one ought to be a Polygon oneself. Such at least is
the painful teaching of my experience.
It is astonishing how much the Art -- or I may almost call it instinct
-- of Sight Recognition is developed by the habitual practice of it
and by the avoidance of the custom of "Feeling". Just as, with you,
the deaf and dumb, if once allowed to gesticulate and to use
Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Octopus by Frank Norris: Then suddenly Vanamee's words came back to his mind. What was
the larger view, what contributed the greatest good to the
greatest numbers? What was the full round of the circle whose
segment only he beheld? In the end, the ultimate, final end of
all, what was left? Yes, good issued from this crisis,
untouched, unassailable, undefiled.
Men--motes in the sunshine--perished, were shot down in the very
noon of life, hearts were broken, little children started in life
lamentably handicapped; young girls were brought to a life of
shame; old women died in the heart of life for lack of food. In
that little, isolated group of human insects, misery, death, and
|
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 Altar of the Dead by Henry James: you had done for them was none too much for MY worship! You had
placed a great light for Each - I gathered them together for One!"
"We had simply different intentions," he returned. "That, as you
say, I perfectly knew, and I don't see why your intention shouldn't
still sustain you."
"That's because you're generous - you can imagine and think. But
the spell is broken."
It seemed to poor Stransom, in spite of his resistance, that it
really was, and the prospect stretched grey and void before him.
All he could say, however, was: "I hope you'll try before you give
up."
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