| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Rezanov by Gertrude Atherton: villas and castles, these waters would be far more
beautiful than the Lake of Como or the Bay of
Naples. But I am glad to see trees again. From
our anchorage I had but a bare glimpse of two or
three. They seem to hide from the western winds.
Are they so strong, then?"
"We have terrible winds, senor. I do not wonder
the trees crouch to the east. But I must tell you
our names." She pointed to the largest of the
islands, a great bare mass that looked as had it been,
when viscid, flung out in long folds from a central
Rezanov |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Padre Ignacio by Owen Wister: taken into his church. Some of it was ready fitted. By that afternoon
Felipe and his choir could have rendered "Ah! se l' error t' ingombra"
without slip or falter.
Those were strange rehearsals of Il Trovatore upon this California shore.
For the Padre looked to Gaston to say when they went too fast or too
slow, and to correct their emphasis. And since it was hot, the little
Erard piano was carried each day out into the mission garden. There, in
the cloisters among the jessamine, the orange blossoms, the oleanders, in
the presence of the round yellow hills and the blue triangle of sea, the
Miserere was slowly learned. The Mexicans and Indians gathered, swarthy
and black-haired, around the tinkling instrument that Felipe played; and
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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 Black Arrow by Robert Louis Stevenson: straight before him like a deer. The silver clearness of the moon
upon the open snow increased, by contrast, the obscurity of the
thickets; and the extreme dispersion of the vanquished led the
pursuers into wildly divergent paths. Hence, in but a little
while, Dick and Joanna paused, in a close covert, and heard the
sounds of the pursuit, scattering abroad, indeed, in all
directions, but yet fainting already in the distance.
"An I had but kept a reserve of them together," Dick cried,
bitterly, "I could have turned the tables yet! Well, we live and
learn; next time it shall go better, by the rood."
"Nay, Dick," said Joanna, "what matters it? Here we are together
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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 Maggie: A Girl of the Streets by Stephen Crane: began to put on his coat. He took his hat and went out, with a
dragging, reluctant step.
The woman in black came forward and again besought the mourner.
"Yeh'll fergive her, Mary! Yeh'll fergive yer bad, bad,
chil'! Her life was a curse an' her days were black an' yeh'll
fergive yer bad girl? She's gone where her sins will be judged."
"She's gone where her sins will be judged," cried the other
women, like a choir at a funeral.
"Deh Lord gives and deh Lord takes away," said the woman in
black, raising her eyes to the sunbeams.
"Deh Lord gives and deh Lord takes away," responded the others.
Maggie: A Girl of the Streets |
