| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Phaedrus by Plato: are best able to reward you; nor to the lover only, but to those who are
worthy of love; nor to those who will enjoy the bloom of your youth, but to
those who will share their possessions with you in age; nor to those who,
having succeeded, will glory in their success to others, but to those who
will be modest and tell no tales; nor to those who care about you for a
moment only, but to those who will continue your friends through life; nor
to those who, when their passion is over, will pick a quarrel with you, but
rather to those who, when the charm of youth has left you, will show their
own virtue. Remember what I have said; and consider yet this further
point: friends admonish the lover under the idea that his way of life is
bad, but no one of his kindred ever yet censured the non-lover, or thought
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Danny's Own Story by Don Marquis: The light moved away from the window. Then
another front window opened quiet, and a voice
says:
"Doctor, is that yo' back agin?"
"No," I says, "I ain't a doctor."
"Stay where you are, then. _I_ GOT YOU COVERED."
"I am staying," I says, "don't shoot."
"Who are yo'?"
"A feller," I says, kind of sensing his gun through
the darkness as I spoke, "who has found your
OLD DEAD HOSS in the road."
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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 The Snow Image by Nathaniel Hawthorne: home. Robin distinguished the seat of every individual of the
little audience; he saw the good man in the midst, holding the
Scriptures in the golden light that fell from the western clouds;
he beheld him close the book and all rise up to pray. He heard
the old thanksgivings for daily mercies, the old supplications
for their continuance to which he had so often listened in
weariness, but which were now among his dear remembrances. He
perceived the slight inequality of his father's voice when he
came to speak of the absent one; he noted how his mother turned
her face to the broad and knotted trunk; how his elder brother
scorned, because the beard was rough upon his upper lip, to
The Snow Image |
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 Road to Oz by L. Frank Baum: the air; but the Wizard added a sort of glue to his soapsuds, which
made his bubbles tough; and, as the glue dried rapidly when exposed to
the air, the Wizard's bubbles were strong enough to float for hours
without breaking.
He began by blowing--by means of his machinery and air-pumps--several
large bubbles which he allowed to float upward into the sky, where the
sunshine fell upon them and gave them iridescent hues that were most
beautiful. This aroused much wonder and delight because it was a new
amusement to every one present--except perhaps Dorothy and Button-Bright,
and even they had never seen such big, strong bubbles before.
The Wizard then blew a bunch of small bubbles and afterward blew a big
The Road to Oz |
