| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen: with us last."
"You and I, Sir John," said Mrs. Jennings,
"should not stand upon such ceremony."
"Then you would be very ill-bred," cried Mr. Palmer.
"My love you contradict every body," said his wife
with her usual laugh. "Do you know that you are quite rude?"
"I did not know I contradicted any body in calling
your mother ill-bred."
"Ay, you may abuse me as you please," said the good-natured
old lady, "you have taken Charlotte off my hands, and cannot
give her back again. So there I have the whip hand of you."
Sense and Sensibility |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The House of Dust by Conrad Aiken: Two lovers, here at the corner, by the steeple,
Two lovers blow together like music blowing:
And the crowd dissolves about them like a sea.
Recurring waves of sound break vaguely about them,
They drift from wall to wall, from tree to tree.
'Well, am I late?' Upward they look and laugh,
They look at the great clock's golden hands,
They laugh and talk, not knowing what they say:
Only, their words like music seem to play;
And seeming to walk, they tread strange sarabands.
'I brought you this . . . ' the soft words float like stars
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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 The Sportsman by Xenophon: the nets, fix the forked props between the upper meshes,[15] adjust
the skirting ropes upon the tops, and close up gaps.
[9] See Pollux, v. 35.
[10] Al. "of the game to be hunted up."
[11] {omou}, "e propinquo." Schn. cf. "Cyrop." III. i. 2; VI. iii. 7.
[12] Or, "giving the funnel or belly a lift in the middle."
{kekruphalon}, Pollux, v. 31.
[13] This sentence according to Lenz is out of its place, referring
solely to the haye nets; the order of the words should be {ta de
diktua teineto en apedois stoikhizeto de, k.t.l.} If so, transl.
"He should stretch the hayes on level ground and fix, etc.; The
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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 Golden Threshold by Sarojini Naidu: I give thee back thy false, ephemeral vow;
But, O beloved comrade, ere we part,
Upon my mournful eyelids and my brow
Kiss me who hold thine image in my heart.
NIGHTFALL IN THE CITY OF HYDERABAD
See how the speckled sky burns like a pigeon's throat,
Jewelled with embers of opal and peridote.
See the white river that flashes and scintillates,
Curved like a tusk from the mouth of the city-gates.
Hark, from the minaret, how the muezzin's call
Floats like a battle-flag over the city wall.
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