| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Poems by Oscar Wilde: Poem: Fabien Dei Franchi
(To my Friend Henry Irving)
The silent room, the heavy creeping shade,
The dead that travel fast, the opening door,
The murdered brother rising through the floor,
The ghost's white fingers on thy shoulders laid,
And then the lonely duel in the glade,
The broken swords, the stifled scream, the gore,
Thy grand revengeful eyes when all is o'er, -
These things are well enough, - but thou wert made
For more august creation! frenzied Lear
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Ozma of Oz by L. Frank Baum: tear you into little bits!"
"Why are you so cruel to me?" asked Dorothy. "I'm a stranger in your
country, and have done you no harm."
"No harm!" cried one who seemed to be their leader. "Did you not pick
our lunch-boxes and dinner-pails? Have you not a stolen dinner-pail
still in your hand?"
"I only picked one of each," she answered. "I was hungry, and I
didn't know the trees were yours."
"That is no excuse," retorted the leader, who was clothed in a most
gorgeous suit. "It is the law here that whoever picks a dinner-pail
without our permission must die immediately."
Ozma of Oz |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Land that Time Forgot by Edgar Rice Burroughs: else but ran as fast as I could for the valve that let the sea
into the forward port diving-tank. It was wide open. To close
it and to have the pump started that would empty it were the work
of but a minute; but we had had a close call.
I knew that the valve had never opened itself. Some one had
opened it--some one who was willing to die himself if he might at
the same time encompass the death of all of us.
After that I kept a guard pacing the length of the narrow craft.
We worked upon the engine all that day and night and half the
following day. Most of the time we drifted idly upon the
surface, but toward noon we sighted smoke due west, and having
The Land that Time Forgot |
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 War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells: again--a decent, ordinary citizen. The silent common, the
impulse of my flight, the starting flames, were as if they had
been in a dream. I asked myself had these latter things indeed
happened? I could not credit it.
I rose and walked unsteadily up the steep incline of the
bridge. My mind was blank wonder. My muscles and nerves
seemed drained of their strength. I dare say I staggered
drunkenly. A head rose over the arch, and the figure of a
workman carrying a basket appeared. Beside him ran a little
boy. He passed me, wishing me good night. I was minded to
speak to him, but did not. I answered his greeting with a
War of the Worlds |
