| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Second Inaugural Address by Abraham Lincoln: providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued
through his appointed time, he now wills to remove, and that he
gives to both North and South this terrible war, as the woe due
to those by whom the offense came, shall we discern therein any
departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a
living God always ascribe to him? Fondly do we hope--fervently
do we pray--that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away.
Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by
the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil
shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn by the lash
shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said
Second Inaugural Address |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Of The Nature of Things by Lucretius: And never in their habits they agree,
Nor find the same foods equally delightsome-
Sooth, as one oft may see the bearded goats
Batten upon the hemlock which to man
Is violent poison. Once again, since flame
Is wont to scorch and burn the tawny bulks
Of the great lions as much as other kinds
Of flesh and blood existing in the lands,
How could it be that she, Chimaera lone,
With triple body- fore, a lion she;
And aft, a dragon; and betwixt, a goat-
Of The Nature of Things |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Agesilaus by Xenophon: has attained at last to blessedness.[6]
[5] See "Cyr." III. iii. 58, and for the word {deisidaimon}, see Jebb,
"Theophr. Char." p. 263 foll.; Mr. Ruskin, Preface to "Bibl.
Past." vol. i. p. xxv.
[6] See Herod. i. 34; Soph. "Oed. Tyr." 1529; and Prof. Jebb's note ad
loc.
In his judgment it was a greater misfortune to neglect things good and
virtuous, knowing them to be so, than in ignorance. Nor was he
enamoured of any reputation, the essentials of which he had not
laboriously achieved.[7]
[7] Or, "for which he did not qualify himself by the appropriate
|
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 Island Nights' Entertainments by Robert Louis Stevenson: Then the HALL came, and the whaleboat carried him on board. The
after-part of the ship was full of Haoles (6) who had been to visit
the volcano, as their custom is; and the midst was crowded with
Kanakas, and the forepart with wild bulls from Hilo and horses from
Kau; but Keawe sat apart from all in his sorrow, and watched for
the house of Kiano. There it sat, low upon the shore in the black
rocks, and shaded by the cocoa palms, and there by the door was a
red holoku, no greater than a fly, and going to and fro with a
fly's busyness. "Ah, queen of my heart," he cried, "I'll venture
my dear soul to win you!"
Soon after, darkness fell, and the cabins were lit up, and the
|
