| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from A Voyage to Abyssinia by Father Lobo: seems to have made this place on purpose for the repose of weary
travellers, who here exchange the tortures of parching thirst,
burning sands, and a sultry climate, for the pleasures of shady
trees, the refreshment of a clear stream, and the luxury of a
cooling breeze. We arrived at this happy place about noon, and the
next day at evening left those fanning winds, and woods flourishing
with unfading verdure, for the dismal barrenness of the vast
uninhabitable plains, from which Abyssinia is supplied with salt.
These plains are surrounded with high mountains, continually covered
with thick clouds which the sun draws from the lakes that are here,
from which the water runs down into the plain, and is there
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Montezuma's Daughter by H. Rider Haggard: customs and mode of warfare, which we lack, and I think that he may
be able to give us good counsel in our strait.'
'The counsel of the wolf to the deer perhaps,' said Cuitlahua,
coldly; 'counsel that shall lead us to the fangs of the Teules.
Who shall answer for this foreign devil, that he will not betray us
if we trust him?'
'I will answer with my life,' answered Guatemoc.
'Your life is of too great worth to be set on such a stake, nephew.
Men of this white breed are liars, and his own word is of no value
even if he gives it. I think that it will be best to kill him and
have done with doubts.'
Montezuma's Daughter |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Poems by Oscar Wilde: grass.
Nay, though thou art a god, be not so coy,
For in yon stream there is a little reed
That often whispers how a lovely boy
Lay with her once upon a grassy mead,
Who when his cruel pleasure he had done
Spread wings of rustling gold and soared aloft into the sun.
Be not so coy, the laurel trembles still
With great Apollo's kisses, and the fir
Whose clustering sisters fringe the seaward hill
Hath many a tale of that bold ravisher
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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 Voyage to Arcturus by David Lindsay: in white. He had a beardless face, with breve and poigns. His skin,
on face and body alike, was so white, fresh, and soft, that it
scarcely looked skin at all - it rather resembled a new kind of pure,
snowy flesh, extending right down to his bones. It had nothing in
common with the artificially whitened skin of an over-civilised
woman. Its whiteness and delicacy aroused no voluptuous thoughts; it
was obviously the manifestation of a cold and almost cruel chastity
of nature. His hair, which fell to the nape of his neck, also was
white; but again, from vigour, not decay. His eyes were black, quiet
and fathomless. He was still a young man, but so stern were his
features that he had the appearance of a lawgiver, and this in spite
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