| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Shakespeare's Sonnets by William Shakespeare: Not making worse what nature made so clear,
And such a counterpart shall fame his wit,
Making his style admired every where.
You to your beauteous blessings add a curse,
Being fond on praise, which makes your praises worse.
LXXXV
My tongue-tied Muse in manners holds her still,
While comments of your praise richly compil'd,
Reserve their character with golden quill,
And precious phrase by all the Muses fil'd.
I think good thoughts, whilst others write good words,
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from 'Twixt Land & Sea by Joseph Conrad: business. In the instability of his emotions man resembles
deplorably a monkey. I was disgusted with my thoughts - and I
thought: Shall I be able to get a charter soon? Time's money. . .
. Will that Jacobus really put good business in my way? I must go
and see him in a day or two.
Don't imagine that I pursued these thoughts with any precision.
They pursued me rather: vague, shadowy, restless, shamefaced.
Theirs was a callous, abominable, almost revolting, pertinacity.
And it was the presence of that pertinacious ship-chandler which
had started them. He stood mournfully amongst our little band of
men from the sea, and I was angry at his presence, which,
'Twixt Land & Sea |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Great God Pan by Arthur Machen: storm. I met her the other night at Fulham's; she is really a
remarkable woman."
"You have met Mrs. Beaumont?"
"Yes; she had quite a court around her. She would be
called very handsome, I suppose, and yet there is something
about her face which I didn't like. The features are exquisite,
but the expression is strange. And all the time I was looking
at her, and afterwards, when I was going home, I had a curious
feeling that very expression was in some way or another
familiar to me."
"You must have seen her in the Row."
The Great God Pan |
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 Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave by Frederick Douglass: He said, if I behaved myself properly, he would take
care of me. Indeed, he advised me to complete
thoughtlessness of the future, and taught me to de-
pend solely upon him for happiness. He seemed to
see fully the pressing necessity of setting aside my
intellectual nature, in order to contentment in
slavery. But in spite of him, and even in spite of
myself, I continued to think, and to think about
the injustice of my enslavement, and the means of
escape.
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave |
