| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Dunwich Horror by H. P. Lovecraft: he still babbled dementedly at times, his carpentry seemed to
show the effects of sound calculation. It had already begun as
soon as Wilbur was born, when one of the many tool sheds had been
put suddenly in order, clapboarded, and fitted with a stout fresh
lock. Now, in restoring the abandoned upper storey of the house,
he was a no less thorough craftsman. His mania showed itself only
in his tight boarding-up of all the windows in the reclaimed section
- though many declared that it was a crazy thing to bother with
the reclamation at all.
Less inexplicable was his fitting up
of another downstairs room for his new grandson - a room which
The Dunwich Horror |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin: fertility of varieties when crossed, I must refer the reader to the
recapitulation of the facts given at the end of the eighth chapter, which
seem to me conclusively to show that this sterility is no more a special
endowment than is the incapacity of two trees to be grafted together, but
that it is incidental on constitutional differences in the reproductive
systems of the intercrossed species. We see the truth of this conclusion
in the vast difference in the result, when the same two species are crossed
reciprocally; that is, when one species is first used as the father and
then as the mother.
The fertility of varieties when intercrossed and of their mongrel offspring
cannot be considered as universal; nor is their very general fertility
On the Origin of Species |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Songs of Innocence and Experience by William Blake: They rise upon clouds, and sport in the wind:
And the angel told Tom, if he'd be a good boy,
He'd have God for his father, and never want joy.
And so Tom awoke, and we rose in the dark,
And got with our bags and our brushes to work.
Though the morning was cold, Tom was happy and warm:
So, if all do their duty, they need not fear harm.
THE LITTLE BOY LOST
'Father, father, where are you going?
O do not walk so fast!
Speak, father, speak to your little boy,
Songs of Innocence and Experience |
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 Happy Prince and Other Tales by Oscar Wilde: the flutter of the bird's wings, and when he looked up he found the
beautiful sapphire lying on the withered violets.
"I am beginning to be appreciated," he cried; "this is from some
great admirer. Now I can finish my play," and he looked quite
happy.
The next day the Swallow flew down to the harbour. He sat on the
mast of a large vessel and watched the sailors hauling big chests
out of the hold with ropes. "Heave a-hoy!" they shouted as each
chest came up. "I am going to Egypt"! cried the Swallow, but
nobody minded, and when the moon rose he flew back to the Happy
Prince.
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