| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe: the wall there hung a shield of shining brass with this legend
enwritten--
Who entereth herein, a conquerer hath bin;
Who slayeth the dragon, the shield he shall win;
and Ethelred uplifted his mace, and struck upon the head of the
dragon, which fell before him, and gave up his pesty breath, with
a shriek so horrid and harsh, and withal so piercing, that
Ethelred had fain to close his ears with his hands against the
dreadful noise of it, the like whereof was never before heard."
Here again I paused abruptly, and now with a feeling of wild
amazement--for there could be no doubt whatever that, in this
The Fall of the House of Usher |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Odyssey by Homer: white-toothed boar, whereon yet more was left, with rich
fat on either side:
'Lo, henchman, take this mess, and hand it to Demodocus,
that he may eat, and I will bid him hail, despite my
sorrow. For minstrels from all men on earth get their meed
of honour and worship; inasmuch as the Muse teacheth them
the paths of song, and loveth the tribe of minstrels.'
Thus he spake, and the henchman bare the mess, and set it
upon the knees of the lord Demodocus, and he took it, and
was glad at heart. Then they stretched forth their hands
upon the good cheer set before them. Now after they had put
The Odyssey |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Return of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs: fighter--that you all knew for many seasons?"
The apes all crowded forward now, but more in curiosity
than threatening. They muttered among themselves for
a few moments.
"What do you want among us now?" asked Karnath.
"Only peace," answered the ape-man.
Again the apes conferred. At length Karnath spoke again.
"Come in peace, then, Tarzan of the Apes," he said.
And so Tarzan of the Apes dropped lightly to the turf
into the midst of the fierce and hideous horde--he had
completed the cycle of evolution, and had returned to be once
The Return of Tarzan |
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 Tattine by Ruth Ogden [Mrs. Charles W. Ide]: following closely to find out what WHAT might be.
It was Joseph the gardener whom Tattine wanted, and she found him where she
thought she would, killing potato-bugs in the kitchen-garden.
"What do you think, Joseph? Betsy has a beautiful set of little setters under
the piazza. Come quick, please! and see how we can get them out."
Joseph followed obediently. "Guess we'll have to let them stay there till they
crawl out," said Joseph; "Betsy'll take as good care of them there as
anywhere," whereupon the children looked the picture of misery and despair. At
this moment Rudolph emerged from the hole a mass of grass and dirt stains,
and both Mabel and Tattine thought he had been pretty plucky, though quite too
much preoccupied to tell him so, but Rudolph happily felt himself repaid for
|
