| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Sophist by Plato: feeling of poetry. He is the true countryman of his contemporaries Goethe
and Schiller. Many fine expressions are scattered up and down in his
writings, as when he tells us that 'the Crusaders went to the Sepulchre but
found it empty.' He delights to find vestiges of his own philosophy in the
older German mystics. And though he can be scarcely said to have mixed
much in the affairs of men, for, as his biographer tells us, 'he lived for
thirty years in a single room,' yet he is far from being ignorant of the
world. No one can read his writings without acquiring an insight into
life. He loves to touch with the spear of logic the follies and self-
deceptions of mankind, and make them appear in their natural form, stripped
of the disguises of language and custom. He will not allow men to defend
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Rinkitink In Oz by L. Frank Baum: "and roll into the water, they might be lost to me
forever. I must find some safer place."
Here and there he wandered, still clasping the silken
bag in both hands, and finally he went to the grove and
climbed into the tall tree where he had made his
platform and seat. But here it was pitch dark, so he
found he must wait patiently until morning before he
dared touch the pearls. During those hours of waiting
he had time for reflection and reproached himself for
being so frightened by the possession of his father's
treasures.
Rinkitink In Oz |
