| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare: Fetch me that flower; the hearb I shew'd thee once,
The iuyce of it, on sleeping eye-lids laid,
Will make or man or woman madly dote
Vpon the next liue creature that it sees.
Fetch me this hearbe, and be thou heere againe,
Ere the Leuiathan can swim a league
Pucke. Ile put a girdle about the earth, in forty minutes
Ober. Hauing once this iuyce,
Ile watch Titania, when she is asleepe,
And drop the liquor of it in her eyes:
The next thing when she waking lookes vpon,
A Midsummer Night's Dream |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from A Footnote to History by Robert Louis Stevenson: criticisms, which they consider hypocritical, from men who would
import "labour" for themselves, if they could afford it, and would
probably maltreat them if they dared. It is said the whip is very
busy on some of the plantations; it is said that punitive extra-
labour, by which the thrall's term of service is extended, has
grown to be an abuse; and it is complained that, even where that
term is out, much irregularity occurs in the repatriation of the
discharged. To all this I can say nothing, good or bad. A certain
number of the thralls, many of them wild negritos from the west,
have taken to the bush, harbour there in a state partly bestial, or
creep into the back quarters of the town to do a day's stealthy
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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 Egmont by Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe: thus takes refuge behind her guards. The castle is strongly garrisoned. It is
even rumoured that she means to fly from the town.
Carpenter. Forth she shall not go! Her presence protects us, and we will
ensure her safety better than her mustachioed gentry. If she only maintains
our rights and privileges, we will stand faithfully by her.
[Enter a Soapboiler.
Soapboiler. An ugly business this! a bad business! Troubles are beginning;
all things are going wrong! Mind you keep quiet, or they'll take you also
for rioters.
Soest. Here come the seven wise men of Greece.
Soapboiler. I know there are many who in secret hold with the Calvinists,
Egmont |
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 Master of the World by Jules Verne: we looked to our revolvers, which might well prove of service.
Five minutes had passed since the men reached the woods, and we
expected their return at any moment. After that, we must wait at
least an hour before we made our attack; so that both the Captain and
his comrades might be deep in sleep. It was important that they
should have not a moment either to send their craft darting out upon
the waters of Lake Erie, or to plunge it beneath the waves where we
would have been entrapped with it.
In all my career I have never felt such impatience. It seemed to me
that the two men must have been detained in the woods. Something had
barred their return.
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