| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin: the order, yet M. Richard sagaciously saw, as Jussieu observes, that this
genus should still be retained amongst the Malpighiaceae. This case seems
to me well to illustrate the spirit with which our classifications are
sometimes necessarily founded.
Practically when naturalists are at work, they do not trouble themselves
about the physiological value of the characters which they use in defining
a group, or in allocating any particular species. If they find a character
nearly uniform, and common to a great number of forms, and not common to
others, they use it as one of high value; if common to some lesser number,
they use it as of subordinate value. This principle has been broadly
confessed by some naturalists to be the true one; and by none more clearly
On the Origin of Species |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Waste Land by T. S. Eliot: 401. 'Datta, dayadhvam, damyata' (Give, sympathize,
control). The fable of the meaning of the Thunder is found
in the _Brihadaranyaka--Upanishad_, 5, 1. A translation is found
in Deussen's _Sechzig Upanishads des Veda_, p. 489.
407. Cf. Webster, _The White Devil_, v. vi:
. . . they'll remarry
Ere the worm pierce your winding-sheet, ere the spider
Make a thin curtain for your epitaphs.
411. Cf. INFERNO, xxxiii. 46:
ed io sentii chiavar l'uscio di sotto
all'orribile torre.
The Waste Land |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Four Arthurian Romances by Chretien DeTroyes: all your men, what matters that to me? My heart does not quail
on that account; rather, so help me God, I am glad that he need
not feel concern for any one here but me; I do not wish you to do
on my account anything which might be construed as disloyalty or
treachery. Be as compassionate as you please, but let me be
cruel." "What? Wilt thou not change thy mind?" "No," he says.
"Then I will say nothing more. I will leave thee alone to do thy
best and will go now to speak with the knight. I wish to offer
and present to him my aid and counsel in all respects; for I am
altogether on his side."
(Vv. 3319-3490.) Then the king goes down and orders them to
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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 Essays of Travel by Robert Louis Stevenson: pertinent question in the circumstances. Another, from the invisible
horrors of a pen where he lay dog-sick upon the upper-shelf, found
courage, in a blink of his sufferings, to give us several verses of
the 'Death of Nelson'; and it was odd and eerie to hear the chorus
breathe feebly from all sorts of dark corners, and 'this day has done
his dooty' rise and fall and be taken up again in this dim inferno,
to an accompaniment of plunging, hollow-sounding bows and the
rattling spray-showers overhead.
All seemed unfit for conversation; a certain dizziness had
interrupted the activity of their minds; and except to sing they were
tongue-tied. There was present, however, one tall, powerful fellow
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