| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Phaedo by Plato: Yes, I do.
But still you allow that Simmias does not really exceed Socrates, as the
words may seem to imply, because he is Simmias, but by reason of the size
which he has; just as Simmias does not exceed Socrates because he is
Simmias, any more than because Socrates is Socrates, but because he has
smallness when compared with the greatness of Simmias?
True.
And if Phaedo exceeds him in size, this is not because Phaedo is Phaedo,
but because Phaedo has greatness relatively to Simmias, who is
comparatively smaller?
That is true.
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom by William and Ellen Craft: By this time we were near Charleston; my master
thanked the captain for his advice, and they all
withdrew and went on deck, where the trader
fancied he became quite eloquent. He drew a crowd
around him, and with emphasis said, "Cap'en, if I
was the President of this mighty United States of
America, the greatest and freest country under
the whole universe, I would never let no man, I
don't care who he is, take a nigger into the North
and bring him back here, filled to the brim, as he is
sure to be, with d----d abolition vices, to taint all
Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Young Forester by Zane Grey: him toward the camp. He wanted to turn from that hot wind and strange roar.
We reached a level, the open, stony ground, then the pool. The pack-ponies
were standing patiently with drooping heads. The sun was obscured in thin
blue haze. Smoke and dust and ashes blew by with the wind. I put Target's
nose down to the water, so that he would drink. Then I cut packs off the
ponies, spilled the contents, and filled my pockets with whatever I could
lay my hands on in the way of eatables. I hung a canteen on the pommel, and
threw a bag of biscuits over the saddle and tied it fast. My fingers worked
swiftly. There was a fluttering in my throat, and my sight was dim. All the
time the roar of the forest fire grew louder and more ominous.
The ponies would be safe. I would be safe in the lee of the big rocks near
The Young Forester |
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 Poems by T. S. Eliot: Laodiceans.
The broad-backed hippopotamus
Rests on his belly in the mud;
Although he seems so firm to us
He is merely flesh and blood.
Flesh-and-blood is weak and frail,
Susceptible to nervous shock;
While the True Church can never fail
For it is based upon a rock.
The hippo's feeble steps may err
In compassing material ends,
|
