| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Divine Comedy (translated by H.F. Cary) by Dante Alighieri: v. 86. That region.] As some explain it, the east, according to
others the equinoctial line.
v. 124. This sphere.] The planet Mercury, which, being nearest
to the sun, is oftenest hidden by that luminary
CANTO VI
v. 1. After that Constantine the eagle turn'd.] Constantine,
in transferring the seat of empire from Rome to Byzantium,
carried the eagle, the Imperial ensign, from the west to the
east. Aeneas, on the contrary had moved along with the sun's
course, when he passed from Troy to Italy.
v. 5. A hundred years twice told and more.] The Emperor
The Divine Comedy (translated by H.F. Cary) |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Agesilaus by Xenophon: consisted partly of troops which had served with Agesilaus ever since
he left home, with a portion of the Cyreians, besides Ionians,
Aeolians, and their neighbours on the Hellespont. All these took part
in the foward rush of the attack just mentioned, and coming within
spear-thrust they routed that portion of the enemy in front of them.
The Argives did not even wait for Agesilaus and his division, but fled
towards Helicon, and at that moment some of his foreign friends were
on the point of crowning Agesilaus with the wreath of victory, when
some one brought him word that the Thebans had cut through the
division from Orchomenus and were busy with the baggage-train.
Accordingly he at once deployed his division and advanced by
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| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Madam How and Lady Why by Charles Kingsley: anything but savages; but this I do think, that out of old stories
of these savages grew up the stories of fairies, elves, and
trolls, and scratlings, and cluricaunes, and ogres, of which you
have read so many.
When stronger and bolder people, like the Irish, and the
Highlanders of Scotland, and the Gauls of France, came northward
with their bronze and iron weapons; and still more, when our own
forefathers, the Germans and the Norsemen, came, these poor little
savages with their flint arrows and axes, were no match for them,
and had to run away northward, or to be all killed out; for people
were fierce and cruel in those old times, and looked on every one
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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 Scenes from a Courtesan's Life by Honore de Balzac: His indifference to dress had some sense. He cared no more about his
everyday clothes than an actor does; he excelled in disguising
himself, in "make-up"; he could have given Frederic Lemaitre a lesson,
for he could be a dandy when necessary. Formerly, in his younger days,
he must have mingled in the out-at-elbows society of people living on
a humble scale. He expressed excessive disgust for the criminal police
corps; for, under the Empire, he had belonged to Fouche's police, and
looked upon him as a great man. Since the suppression of this
Government department, he had devoted his energies to the tracking of
commercial defaulters; but his well-known talents and acumen made him
a valuable auxiliary, and the unrecognized chiefs of the political
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