| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Rape of Lucrece by William Shakespeare: But nothing can Affection's course control,
Or stop the headlong fury of his speed.
I know repentant tears ensue the deed,
Reproach, disdain, and deadly enmity;
Yet strike I to embrace mine infamy.'
This said, he shakes aloft his Roman blade,
Which, like a falcon towering in the skies,
Coucheth the fowl below with his wings' shade,
Whose crooked beak threats if he mount he dies:
So under his insulting falchion lies
Harmless Lucretia, marking what he tells
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Ozma of Oz by L. Frank Baum: "Isn't it a trick?" asked the Tin Woodman.
"Never mind," replied Ozma. "We came here to rescue the poor Queen of
Ev and her ten children, and we must run some risks to do so."
"The Nome King is hon-est and good na-tured," said Tiktok. "You can
trust him to do what is right."
So Ozma led the way, hand in hand with Dorothy, and they passed
through the arched doorway of rock and entered a long passage which
was lighted by jewels set in the walls and having lamps behind them.
There was no one to escort them, or to show them the way, but all the
party pressed through the passage until they came to a round, domed
cavern that was grandly furnished.
Ozma of Oz |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from My Aunt Margaret's Mirror by Walter Scott: knight, "in regarding such a circumstance with the slightest
interest. But to soothe your flattering anxiety, I trust your
ladyship will recollect that I cannot expose to hazard the
venerable and paternal character which you so obligingly
recommend to my protection, without putting in some peril an
honest fellow, called Philip Forester, with whom I have kept
company for thirty years, and with whom, though some folks
consider him a coxcomb, I have not the least desire to part."
"Well, Sir Philip, you are the best judge of your own affairs. I
have little right to interfere--you are not my husband."
"God forbid!" said Sir Philip hastily; instantly adding,
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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 The Life of the Spider by J. Henri Fabre: the work however slightly.
The two hind-legs, the weaving implements, keep going constantly.
Let us name them according to their position on the work-floor. I
call the leg that faces the centre of the coil, when the animal
moves, the 'inner leg;' the one outside the coil the 'outer leg.'
The latter draws the thread from the spinneret and passes it to the
inner leg, which, with a graceful movement, lays it on the radius
crossed. At the same time, the first leg measures the distance; it
grips the last coil placed in position and brings within a suitable
range that point of the radius whereto the thread is to be fixed.
As soon as the radius is touched, the thread sticks to it by its
The Life of the Spider |
