| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Bickerstaff-Partridge Papers by Jonathan Swift: tripe in the markets) scour it as effectually as you have done
that of your patients, and the town will fare most deliciously on
Saturdays.
I cannot but congratulate human nature, upon this happy
transformation; the only expedient left to restore the liberties
and tranquillity of mankind. This is so evident, that it is
almost an affront to common sense to insist upon the proof: If
there can be any such stupid creature as to doubt it, I desire he
will make but the following obvious reflection. There are in
Europe alone, at present, about a million of sturdy fellows,
under the denomination of standing forces, with arms in their
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Symposium by Xenophon: dogs his victims.
[45] Phoenix addresses Achilles, "Il." ix. 443:
{muthon te reter' emenai, prektera te ergon}
Therefore sent he (Peleus) me to thee to teach thee all things,
To be both a speaker of words and a doer of deeds (W. Leaf).
[46] See "Il." xi. 831; "Hunting," ch. i., as to Cheiron and his
scholars, the last of whom is Achilles.
[47] {an periepoito}. "He will be scurvily treated." Cf. "Hell." III.
i. 19.
[48] Cf. "Mem." I. ii. 29.
If my language has a touch of turbulence,[49] do not marvel: partly
The Symposium |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Jungle Tales of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs: the eyeball of the ape-man, it is believable that he could
yet have remained wide-eyed and rigid; but it did not.
For a moment it loitered there close to the lower lid,
then it rose and buzzed away.
Down toward Rabba Kega it buzzed and the black man heard it,
saw it, struck at it, and was stung upon the cheek before
he killed it. Then he rose with a howl of pain and anger,
and as he turned up the trail toward the village of Mbonga,
the chief, his broad, black back was exposed to the silent
thing waiting above him.
And as Rabba Kega turned, a lithe figure shot outward
The Jungle Tales 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 Caesar's Commentaries in Latin by Julius Caesar: satis et ad laudem et ad utilitatem profectum arbitratus se in Galliam
recepit pontemque rescidit.
Exigua parte aestatis reliqua Caesar, etsi in his locis, quod omnis
Gallia ad septentriones vergit, maturae sunt hiemes, tamen in Britanniam
proficisci contendit, quod omnibus fere Gallicis bellis hostibus nostris
inde subministrata auxilia intellegebat, et si tempus anni ad bellum
gerendum deficeret, tamen magno sibi usui fore arbitrabatur, si modo
insulam adiisset, genus hominum perspexisset, loca, portus, aditus
cognovisset; quae omnia fere Gallis erant incognita. Neque enim temere
praeter mercatores illo adit quisquam, neque his ipsis quicquam praeter
oram maritimam atque eas regiones quae sunt contra Galliam notum est.
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