| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Westward Ho! by Charles Kingsley: They cut away, and the Rose, released from the strain, shook her
feathers on the wave-crest like a freed sea-gull, while all men
held their breaths.
Suddenly the glorious creature righted herself, and rose again, as
if in noble shame, for one last struggle with her doom. Her bows
were deep in the water, but her after-deck still dry. Righted: but
only for a moment, long enough to let her crew come pouring wildly
up on deck, with cries and prayers, and rush aft to the poop,
where, under the flag of Spain, stood the tall captain, his left
hand on the standard-staff, his sword pointed in his right.
"Back, men!" they heard him cry, "and die like valiant mariners."
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Memoir of Fleeming Jenkin by Robert Louis Stevenson: you get a proof, I will demonstrate that it is as much a trade as
bricklaying, and that you do not know it.' By the very next post,
a proof came. I opened it with fear; for he was indeed, as the
reader will see by these volumes, a formidable amateur; always
wrote brightly, because he always thought trenchantly; and
sometimes wrote brilliantly, as the worst of whistlers may
sometimes stumble on a perfect intonation. But it was all for the
best in the interests of his education; and I was able, over that
proof, to give him a quarter of an hour such as Fleeming loved both
to give and to receive. His subsequent training passed out of my
hands into those of our common friend, W. E. Henley. 'Henley and
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| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Cromwell by William Shakespeare: [Enter the States and Officers, with Halberts.]
GOVERNOUR.
What, have you won him? will he yield himself?
CROMWELL.
I have, an't please you, and the quiet Earl
Doth yield himself to be disposed by you.
GOVERNOUR.
Give him the money that we promised him;
So let him go, whether it please himself.
CROMWELL.
My business, sir, lies unto Mantua,
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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 Life of the Spider by J. Henri Fabre: etc
If the reader had the patience to work out the few initial terms of
this series, which has no limit, because the series of natural
numerals itself has none, he would find:
e=2.7182818...
With this weird number are we now stationed within the strictly
defined realm of the imagination? Not at all: the catenary
appears actually every time that weight and flexibility act in
concert. The name is given to the curve formed by a chain
suspended by two of its points which are not placed on a vertical
line. It is the shape taken by a flexible cord when held at each
The Life of the Spider |
