| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Heroes by Charles Kingsley: of sorrow my womanhood, for thy treacherous father and for
thee; and full of sorrow my old age will be (for I see my
fate in dreams), when the sons of the Swan shall carry me
captive to the hollow vale of Eurotas, till I sail across the
seas a slave, the handmaid of the pest of Greece. Yet shall
I be avenged, when the golden-haired heroes sail against
Troy, and sack the palaces of Ilium; then my son shall set me
free from thraldom, and I shall hear the tale of Theseus'
fame. Yet beyond that I see new sorrows; but I can bear them
as I have borne the past.'
Then she kissed Theseus, and wept over him; and went into the
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Prufrock/Other Observations by T. S. Eliot: His laughter was submarine and profound
Like the old man of the seats
Hidden under coral islands
Where worried bodies of drowned men drift down in the green silence,
Dropping from fingers of surf.
I looked for the head of Mr. Apollinax rolling under a chair,
Or grinning over a screen
With seaweed in its hair.
I heard the beat of centaurs’ hoofs over the hard turf
As his dry and passionate talk devoured the afternoon.
"He is a charming man"--"But after all what did he mean?"--
Prufrock/Other Observations |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Bureaucracy by Honore de Balzac: Navarre. Last night I succeeded! but with what labor! Madame
Colleville asked me what was the matter."
Dutocq. "Do you think we have time to bother ourselves with your
intolerable anagrams when the worthy Monsieur de la Billardiere has
just expired?"
Colleville. "That's Bixiou's nonsense! I have just come from Monsieur
de la Billardiere's; he is still living, though they expect him to die
soon." [Godard, indignant at the hoax, goes off grumbling.]
"Gentlemen! you would never guess what extraordinary events are
revealed by the anagram of this sacramental sentence" [he pulls out a
piece of paper and reads], "Charles dix, par la grace de Dieu, roi de
|
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 Bucolics by Virgil: Of thee, O Varus, shall our tamarisks
And all the woodland ring; nor can there be
A page more dear to Phoebus, than the page
Where, foremost writ, the name of Varus stands.
Speed ye, Pierian Maids! Within a cave
Young Chromis and Mnasyllos chanced to see
Silenus sleeping, flushed, as was his wont,
With wine of yesterday. Not far aloof,
Slipped from his head, the garlands lay, and there
By its worn handle hung a ponderous cup.
Approaching- for the old man many a time
|
