| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Scaramouche by Rafael Sabatini: M. d'Ormesson released the breath which horror had for a moment
caught. Le Chapelier swore softly, muttering:
"Name of a name! It is tempting Providence to play the fool in
this fashion!"
Andre-Louis observed the ashen pallor that now over spread the face
of his opponent.
"I think you begin to realize, monsieur, what Philippe de Vilmorin
must have felt that day at Gavrillac. I desired that you should
first do so. Since that is accomplished, why, here's to make an end."
He went in with lightning rapidity. For a moment his point seemed
to La Tour d'Azyr to be everywhere at once, and then from a low
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Maid Marian by Thomas Love Peacock: but this justice shall be done to him, and to thee also, Robin,
if thou wilt leave thy forest-life and resume thy earldom,
and be a peer of Coeur-de-Lion: for braver heart and juster
hand I never yet found."
Robin looked round on his men.
"Your followers," said the king, "shall have free pardon, and such
of them as thou wilt part with shall have maintenance from me;
and if ever I confess to priest, it shall be to thy friar."
"Gramercy to your majesty," said the friar; "and my inflictions
shall be flasks of canary; and if the number be (as in grave cases
I may, peradventure, make it) too great for one frail mortality,
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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 The Waste Land by T. S. Eliot: Wege zum Chaos, fährt betrunken im heiligen Wahn am Abgrund entlang
und singt dazu, singt betrunken und hymnisch wie Dmitri Karamasoff sang.
Ueber diese Lieder lacht der Bürger beleidigt, der Heilige
und Seher hört sie mit Tränen.
401. 'Datta, dayadhvam, damyata' (Give, sympathize,
control). The fable of the meaning of the Thunder is found
in the _Brihadaranyaka--Upanishad_, 5, 1. A translation is found
in Deussen's _Sechzig Upanishads des Veda_, p. 489.
407. Cf. Webster, _The White Devil_, v. vi:
. . . they'll remarry
Ere the worm pierce your winding-sheet, ere the spider
The Waste Land |
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 Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad: change on her features, in the stare of her eyes, giving her a new
and startling expression; an expression seldom observed by
competent persons under the conditions of leisure and security
demanded for thorough analysis, but whose meaning could not be
mistaken at a glance. Mrs Verloc's doubts as to the end of the
bargain no longer existed; her wits, no longer disconnected, were
working under the control of her will. But Mr Verloc observed
nothing. He was reposing in that pathetic condition of optimism
induced by excess of fatigue. He did not want any more trouble -
with his wife too - of all people in the world. He had been
unanswerable in his vindication. He was loved for himself. The
The Secret Agent |
