| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Odyssey by Homer: tell none neither man nor woman of all the folk, that thou
hast indeed returned from wandering, but in silence endure
much sorrow, submitting thee to the despite of men.'
And Odysseus of many counsels answered her saying: 'Hard is
it, goddess, for a mortal man that meets thee to discern
thee, howsoever wise he be; for thou takest upon thee every
shape. But this I know well, that of old thou wast kindly
to me, so long as we sons of the Achaeans made war in Troy.
But so soon as we had sacked the steep city of Priam and
had gone on board our ships, and the god had scattered the
Achaeans, thereafter I have never beheld thee, daughter of
The Odyssey |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Wrecker by Stevenson & Osbourne: "Yes, it's a queer yarn," said his friend; "if you think you would
like, I'll tell it you."
Here follows the yarn of Loudon Dodd, not as he told it to his
friend, but as he subsequently wrote it.
THE YARN.
CHAPTER I.
A SOUND COMMERCIAL EDUCATION.
The beginning of this yarn is my poor father's character. There
never was a better man, nor a handsomer, nor (in my view) a
more unhappy--unhappy in his business, in his pleasures, in his
place of residence, and (I am sorry to say it) in his son. He had
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Beasts of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs: Anderssen rowed on as though quite sure of his ground,
and when after half an hour the moon broke through the
clouds there was revealed upon their left the mouth of a
tributary running into the Ugambi. Up this narrow channel
the Swede turned the prow of the small boat.
Jane Clayton wondered if the man knew where he was bound.
She did not know that in his capacity as cook he had
that day been rowed up this very stream to a little village
where he had bartered with the natives for such provisions
as they had for sale, and that he had there arranged the details
of his plan for the adventure upon which they were now
The Beasts 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 Elizabeth and her German Garden by Marie Annette Beauchamp: and the Viscountess Folkestones and Laurette Messimys have been
most beautiful, the latter being quite the loveliest things in the garden,
each flower an exquisite loose cluster of coral-pink petals, paling at
the base to a yellow-white. I have ordered a hundred standard tea-roses
for planting next month, half of which are Viscountess Folkestones,
because the tea-roses have such a way of hanging their little heads
that one has to kneel down to be able to see them well in the dwarf forms--
not but what I entirely approve of kneeling before such perfect beauty,
only it dirties one's clothes. So I am going to put standards down each
side of the walk under the south windows, and shall have the flowers on
a convenient level for worship. My only fear is, that they will stand the
Elizabeth and her German Garden |
