| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Charmides by Plato: other questions familiar to the moderns, which have no place in ancient
philosophy. The world has grown older in two thousand years, and has
enlarged its stock of ideas and methods of reasoning. Yet the germ of
modern thought is found in ancient, and we may claim to have inherited,
notwithstanding many accidents of time and place, the spirit of Greek
philosophy. There is, however, no continuous growth of the one into the
other, but a new beginning, partly artificial, partly arising out of the
questionings of the mind itself, and also receiving a stimulus from the
study of ancient writings.
Considering the great and fundamental differences which exist in ancient
and modern philosophy, it seems best that we should at first study them
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Lady Chatterley's Lover by D. H. Lawrence: be? Where was there a man?
'Oh, it's so good for you, if you go out and see a bit of company
sometimes,' said Mrs Bolton. 'I was saying to Sir Clifford, it would do
her ladyship a world of good if she'd go out among people more.'
'Yes, I'm glad I went, and such a quaint dear cheeky baby, Clifford,'
said Connie. 'It's got hair just like spider-webs, and bright orange,
and the oddest, cheekiest, pale-blue china eyes. Of course it's a girl,
or it wouldn't be so bold, bolder than any little Sir Francis Drake.'
'You're right, my Lady--a regular little Flint. They were always a
forward sandy-headed family,' said Mrs Bolton.
'Wouldn't you like to see it, Clifford? I've asked them to tea for you
Lady Chatterley's Lover |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Country Doctor by Honore de Balzac: He followed the road along the valley until he reached the bridle-path
that led to La Fosseuse's cottage. From the slope above the house he
saw that the door was fastened and the shutters closed. In some
anxiety he returned to the highway, and rode on under the poplars, now
bare and leafless. Before long he overtook the old laborer, who was
dressed in his Sunday best, and creeping slowly along the road. There
was no bag of tools on his shoulder.
"Good-day, old Moreau!"
"Ah! good-day, sir. . . . I mind who you are now!" the old fellow
exclaimed after a moment. "You are a friend of monsieur, our late
mayor! Ah! sir, would it not have been far better if God had only
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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 At the Sign of the Cat & Racket by Honore de Balzac: was holding her prayer-book upside down. She was about to speak to her
strongly, when, lowering her veil, she interrupted her own devotions
to look in the direction where her daughter's eyes found attraction.
By the help of her spectacles she saw the young artist, whose
fashionable elegance seemed to proclaim him a cavalry officer on leave
rather than a tradesman of the neighborhood. It is difficult to
conceive of the state of violent agitation in which Madame Guillaume
found herself--she, who flattered herself on having brought up her
daughters to perfection--on discovering in Augustine a clandestine
passion of which her prudery and ignorance exaggerated the perils. She
believed her daughter to be cankered to the core.
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