| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Flame and Shadow by Sara Teasdale: As rain beats down the bright, proud sea,
Beaten my body, bruised my soul,
Left me nothing lovely or whole --
Yet I have wrested a gift from you,
Day that dies in dusky blue:
For suddenly over the factories
I saw a moon in the cloudy seas --
A wisp of beauty all alone
In a world as hard and gray as stone --
Oh who could be bitter and want to die
When a maiden moon wakes up in the sky?
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Tin Woodman of Oz by L. Frank Baum: "Very well; I am as likely to find my Rainbow there
as here, and any other place is as likely as there. It
all depends on the weather. Do you think it looks like
rain?"
They shook their heads, and Polychrome laughed again
and danced on after them when they resumed their
journey.
Chapter Nineteen
The Invisible Country
They were proceeding so easily and comfortably on their
way to Mount Munch that Woot said in a serious tone of
The Tin Woodman of Oz |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from 'Twixt Land & Sea by Joseph Conrad: devils in disguise, and that's what you are, too - a deep little
devil. Stop it, I say, or I will lift you off that stool!"
Standing behind her, he devoured her with his eyes, from the golden
crown of her rigidly motionless head to the heels of her shoes, the
line of her shapely shoulders, the curves of her fine figure
swaying a little before the keyboard. She had on a light dress;
the sleeves stopped short at the elbows in an edging of lace. A
satin ribbon encircled her waist. In an access of irresistible,
reckless hopefulness he clapped both his hands on that waist - and
then the irritating music stopped at last. But, quick as she was
in springing away from the contact (the round music-stool going
'Twixt Land & Sea |
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 Twenty Years After by Alexandre Dumas: restore to me my pension? They can move their arms, they
can, and that is much. Alas, I have only my tongue, but I
will try to show that it is good for something. Ho, there,
Champenois! here, it is eleven o'clock. Come and roll me to
bed. Really, that Demoiselle d'Aubigne is very charming!"
So the invalid disappeared soon afterward and went into his
sleeping-room; and one by one the lights in the salon of the
Rue des Tournelles were extinguished.
22
Saint Denis.
The day had begun to break when Athos arose and dressed
Twenty Years After |
