| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Phantasmagoria and Other Poems by Lewis Carroll: I couldn't well decline."
"No doubt," said I, "they settled who
Was fittest to be sent
Yet still to choose a brat like you,
To haunt a man of forty-two,
Was no great compliment!"
"I'm not so young, Sir," he replied,
"As you might think. The fact is,
In caverns by the water-side,
And other places that I've tried,
I've had a lot of practice:
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Tattine by Ruth Ogden [Mrs. Charles W. Ide]: "Yes, I know, Mamma, but I can't feel somehow that tattoos with their tails
make up for killing rabbits with their teeth."
CHAPTER II. A MAPLE-WAX MORNING
A team came rushing in between the gate-posts of the stone wall, and it looked
like a run-away. They were riderless and driverless, and if there had been any
harness, there was not a vestige of it to be seen; still, they kept neck and
neck, which means in horsey language side by side, and on they came in the
maddest fashion. Tattine stood on the front porch and watched them in high
glee, and not a bit afraid was she, though they were coming straight in her
direction. When they reached her they considerately came to a sudden stop,
else there is no doubt whatever but she would have been tumbled over.
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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 Mrs. Warren's Profession by George Bernard Shaw: PRAED [disconcerted] Er--I suppose she does [he sits down].
VIVIE. Do you know, you are just like what I expected. I hope
you are disposed to be friends with me.
PRAED [again beaming] Thank you, my d e a r Miss Warren; thank
you. Dear me! I'm so glad your mother hasnt spoilt you!
VIVIE. How?
PRAED. Well, in making you too conventional. You know, my dear
Miss Warren, I am a born anarchist. I hate authority. It spoils
the relations between parent and child; even between mother and
daughter. Now I was always afraid that your mother would strain
her authority to make you very conventional. It's such a relief
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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 A Heap O' Livin' by Edgar A. Guest: a gun.
What is it through the battle smoke the valiant
solider sees?
The little garden far away, the budding apple
trees,
The little patch of ground back there, the chil-
dren at their play,
Perhaps a tiny mound behind the simple church
of gray.
The golden thread of courage isn't linked to
castle dome
A Heap O' Livin' |
