| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Heart of the West by O. Henry: and a little chicken curried with rice, and a cup custard with ice
cream, and--'
"'Go easy,' I interrupts; 'where's the chicken liver pie, and the
kidney /saute/ on toast, and the roast lamb, and--'
"'Oh,' cuts in Mame, all excited, 'with mint sauce, and the turkey
salad, and stuffed olives, and raspberry tarts, and--'
"'Keep it going,' says I. 'Hurry up with the fried squash, and the hot
corn pone with sweet milk, and don't forget the apple dumpling with
hard sauce, and the cross-barred dew-berry pie--'
"Yes, for ten minutes we kept up that kind of restaurant repartee. We
ranges up and down and backward and forward over the main trunk lines
Heart of the West |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Critias by Plato: given birth to endless religious or historical enquiries. (See
Introduction to the Timaeus.)
In contrasting the small Greek city numbering about twenty thousand
inhabitants with the barbaric greatness of the island of Atlantis, Plato
probably intended to show that a state, such as the ideal Athens, was
invincible, though matched against any number of opponents (cp. Rep.).
Even in a great empire there might be a degree of virtue and justice, such
as the Greeks believed to have existed under the sway of the first Persian
kings. But all such empires were liable to degenerate, and soon incurred
the anger of the gods. Their Oriental wealth, and splendour of gold and
silver, and variety of colours, seemed also to be at variance with the
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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 Love Songs by Sara Teasdale: But I must be till I am dead
Only a cry.
Gifts
I gave my first love laughter,
I gave my second tears,
I gave my third love silence
Through all the years.
My first love gave me singing,
My second eyes to see,
But oh, it was my third love
Who gave my soul to me.
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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 Lay Morals by Robert Louis Stevenson: these, then, the whip will be in the overseer's hand; and his
own sense of justice and the superintendence of a chaotic
popular assembly will be the only checks on its employment.
Now, you may be an industrious man and a good citizen, and
yet not love, nor yet be loved by, Dr. Fell the inspector.
It is admitted by private soldiers that the disfavour of a
sergeant is an evil not to be combated; offend the sergeant,
they say, and in a brief while you will either be disgraced
or have deserted. And the sergeant can no longer appeal to
the lash. But if these things go on, we shall see, or our
sons shall see, what it is to have offended an inspector.
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