| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Pupil by Henry James: them they went on to another hotel, a dingier one than the first;
but Morgan rejoiced that his tutor had at least still not
sacrificed the advantage of a room outside. He clung to the
romantic utility of this when the day, or rather the night, should
arrive for their escape.
For the first time, in this complicated connexion, our friend felt
his collar gall him. It was, as he had said to Mrs. Moreen in
Venice, trop fort - everything was trop fort. He could neither
really throw off his blighting burden nor find in it the benefit of
a pacified conscience or of a rewarded affection. He had spent all
the money accruing to him in England, and he saw his youth going
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Virginian by Owen Wister: She now brought it downstairs and placed it in her aunt's hand.
"Mercy!" cried the old lady.
Molly was silent, but her eye grew warlike.
"Is that the way--" began the aunt. "Mercy!"she murmured; and she
sat staring at the picture.
Molly remained silent.
Her aunt looked slowly up at her. "Has a man like that
presumed--"
"He's not a bit like that. Yes, he's exactly like that," said
Molly. And she would have snatched the photograph away, but her
aunt retained it."Well," she said, "I suppose there are days when
The Virginian |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Water-Babies by Charles Kingsley: their heads.
But, when they try it, they get just the same answer as Tom did.
For, when he asked the second fairy, she told him just what the
first did, and in the very same words.
Tom was very unhappy at that. And, when Ellie went home on Sunday,
he fretted and cried all day, and did not care to listen to the
fairy's stories about good children, though they were prettier than
ever. Indeed, the more he overheard of them, the less he liked to
listen, because they were all about children who did what they did
not like, and took trouble for other people, and worked to feed
their little brothers and sisters instead of caring only for their
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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 The Memorabilia by Xenophon: and what is good for fever bad for hunger; or again, what is beautiful
for wrestling is often ugly for running; and in general everything is
good and beautiful when well adapted for the end in view, bad and ugly
when ill adapted for the same.
Similarly when he spoke about houses,[12] and argued that "the same
house must be at once beautiful and useful"--I could not help feeling
that he was giving a good lesson on the problem: "how a house ought to
be built." He investigated the matter thus:
[12] See K. Joel, op. cit. p. 488; "Classical Review," vii. 262.
Soc. "Do you admit that any one purposing to build a perfect house[13]
will plan to make it at once as pleasant and as useful to live in as
The Memorabilia |
