| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Lesser Hippias by Plato: LESSER HIPPIAS
by
Plato (see Appendix I above)
Translated by Benjamin Jowett.
PERSONS OF THE DIALOGUE: Eudicus, Socrates, Hippias.
EUDICUS: Why are you silent, Socrates, after the magnificent display which
Hippias has been making? Why do you not either refute his words, if he
seems to you to have been wrong in any point, or join with us in commending
him? There is the more reason why you should speak, because we are now
alone, and the audience is confined to those who may fairly claim to take
part in a philosophical discussion.
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Paradise Lost by John Milton: On Earth join all ye Creatures to extol
Him first, him last, him midst, and without end.
Fairest of stars, last in the train of night,
If better thou belong not to the dawn,
Sure pledge of day, that crownest the smiling morn
With thy bright circlet, praise him in thy sphere,
While day arises, that sweet hour of prime.
Thou Sun, of this great world both eye and soul,
Acknowledge him thy greater; sound his praise
In thy eternal course, both when thou climbest,
And when high noon hast gained, and when thou fallest.
Paradise Lost |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Boys' Life of Abraham Lincoln by Helen Nicolay: child sickened and died in February, 1862. His father was
profoundly moved by his death, though he gave no outward sign of
his trouble, but kept about his work, the same as ever. His
bereaved heart seemed afterwards to pour out its fulness on his
youngest child. 'Tad' was a merry, warm-blooded, kindly little
boy, perfectly lawless, and full of odd fancies and inventions,
the 'chartered libertine' of the Executive Mansion." He ran
constantly in and out of his father's office, interrupting his
gravest labors. Mr. Lincoln was never too busy to hear him, or to
answer his bright, rapid, imperfect speech, for he was not able
to speak plainly until he was nearly grown. "He would perch upon
|
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 Within the Tides by Joseph Conrad: sitting now have been in existence for many years. Well, next day
about twelve o'clock, Davidson dropped in here to get something to
eat.
"And here comes the only moment in this story where accident - mere
accident - plays a part. If Davidson had gone home that day for
tiffin, there would be now, after twelve years or more, nothing
changed in his kindly, placid smile.
"But he came in here; and perhaps it was sitting at this very table
that he remarked to a friend of mine that his next trip was to be a
dollar-collecting trip. He added, laughing, that his wife was
making rather a fuss about it. She had begged him to stay ashore
Within the Tides |
