| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde: tragedy voice, and a figure like a beer-barrel. Mercutio was almost
as bad. He was played by the low-comedian, who had introduced
gags of his own and was on most friendly terms with the pit.
They were both as grotesque as the scenery, and that looked as if it
had come out of a country-booth. But Juliet! Harry, imagine a girl,
hardly seventeen years of age, with a little, flowerlike face,
a small Greek head with plaited coils of dark-brown hair, eyes that were
violet wells of passion, lips that were like the petals of a rose.
She was the loveliest thing I had ever seen in my life.
You said to me once that pathos left you unmoved, but that beauty,
mere beauty, could fill your eyes with tears. I tell you, Harry, I could
The Picture of Dorian Gray |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from A Princess of Parms by Edgar Rice Burroughs: expedition to the ice-clad south, to make war upon the
natives there and despoil them of their furs, for such is
the manner of the green Barsoomian; he does not labor for
what he can wrest in battle from others.
"He was gone for four years, and when he returned all
had been over for three; for about a year after his departure,
and shortly before the time for the return of an expedition
which had gone forth to fetch the fruits of a community
incubator, the egg had hatched. Thereafter my mother
continued to keep me in the old tower, visiting me nightly
and lavishing upon me the love the community life would
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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 Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis: to Myra Babbitt and hold her hand under the table, I won't play--I'm goin'
home." In the dining-room they stood embarrassed while Mrs. Babbitt
fluttered, "Now, let me see--Oh, I was going to have some nice hand-painted
place-cards for you but--Oh, let me see; Mr. Frink, you sit there."
The dinner was in the best style of women's-magazine art, whereby the salad
was served in hollowed apples, and everything but the invincible fried chicken
resembled something else. Ordinarily the men found it hard to talk to the
women; flirtation was an art unknown on Floral Heights, and the realms of
offices and of kitchens had no alliances. But under the inspiration of the
cocktails, conversation was violent. Each of the men still had a number of
important things to say about prohibition, and now that each had a loyal
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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 Lost Princess of Oz by L. Frank Baum: Ugu is a bold and clever magician, and he had hidden me very
securely."
"You were in a fine peach," said Button-Bright, "the best I ever ate."
"The magician was foolish to make the peach so tempting," remarked the
Wizard, "but Ozma would lend beauty to any transformation."
"How did you manage to conquer Ugu the Shoemaker?"
inquired the girl Ruler of Oz.
Dorothy started to tell the story, and Trot helped her, and
Button-Bright wanted to relate it in his own way, and the Wizard tried
to make it clear to Ozma, and Betsy had to remind them of important
things they left out, and all together there was such a chatter that
The Lost Princess of Oz |
