| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Critias by Plato: water-supply of the centre island: (10) the mention of the old rivalry of
Poseidon and Athene, and the creation of the first inhabitants out of the
soil. Plato here, as elsewhere, ingeniously gives the impression that he
is telling the truth which mythology had corrupted.
The world, like a child, has readily, and for the most part unhesitatingly,
accepted the tale of the Island of Atlantis. In modern times we hardly
seek for traces of the submerged continent; but even Mr. Grote is inclined
to believe in the Egyptian poem of Solon of which there is no evidence in
antiquity; while others, like Martin, discuss the Egyptian origin of the
legend, or like M. de Humboldt, whom he quotes, are disposed to find in it
a vestige of a widely-spread tradition. Others, adopting a different vein
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Concerning Christian Liberty by Martin Luther: claims as His.
If we compare these possessions, we shall see how inestimable is
the gain. Christ is full of grace, life, and salvation; the soul
is full of sin, death, and condemnation. Let faith step in, and
then sin, death, and hell will belong to Christ, and grace, life,
and salvation to the soul. For, if He is a Husband, He must needs
take to Himself that which is His wife's, and at the same time,
impart to His wife that which is His. For, in giving her His own
body and Himself, how can He but give her all that is His? And,
in taking to Himself the body of His wife, how can He but take to
Himself all that is hers?
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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 Howard Pyle's Book of Pirates by Howard Pyle: In his agitation Mr. Jones had risen from his seat and was now
stumping up and down, puffing at his empty tobacco pipe as though
it were still alight.
"A treasure box!" cried out Tom.
"Aye, a treasure box! And that was why they killed the poor
black man. He was the only one, d'ye see, besides they two who
knew the place where 'twas hid, and now that they've killed him
out of the way, there's nobody but themselves knows. The
villains--Tut, tut, look at that now!" In his excitement the
dominie had snapped the stem of his tobacco pipe in two.
"Why, then," said Tom, "if that is so, 'tis indeed a wicked,
Howard Pyle's Book of Pirates |
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 Salammbo by Gustave Flaubert: half-covered with flowers, and broadly striped by the casting of
filth, while streets passed through their yawning apertures like
rivers beneath bridges.
The hill of the Acropolis, in the centre of Byrsa, was hidden beneath
a disordered array of monuments. There were temples with wreathed
columns bearing bronze capitals and metal chains, cones of dry stones
with bands of azure, copper cupolas, marble architraves, Babylonian
buttresses, obelisks poised on their points like inverted torches.
Peristyles reached to pediments; volutes were displayed through
colonnades; granite walls supported tile partitions; the whole
mounting, half-hidden, the one above the other in a marvellous and
Salammbo |
