| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from When the World Shook by H. Rider Haggard: at Delhi and Agra, especially the Taj Mahal. This, he declared,
was reminiscent of some of the palaces that stood at Pani, the
capital city of the Sons of Wisdom, before it was destroyed by
the Barbarians.
The English administration of the country also attracted a word
of praise from him, I think because of its rather autocratic
character. Indeed he went so far as to declare that, with certain
modifications, it should be continued in the future, and even to
intimate that he would bear the matter in mind. Democratic forms
of government had no charms for Oro.
Amongst other places, we stopped at Benares and watched the
When the World Shook |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: Crept and limped about the cornfields,
Mimicked in their gait and gestures
Some old man, bent almost double,
Singing singly or together:
"Wagemin, the thief of cornfields!
Paimosaid, who steals the maize-ear!"
Till the cornfields rang with laughter,
Till from Hiawatha's wigwam
Kahgahgee, the King of Ravens,
Screamed and quivered in his anger,
And from all the neighboring tree-tops
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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 Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Bronte Sisters: "yes."
'No,' I replied; 'but I have known her longer and studied her more
closely than you have done. - And I can tell you, Mr. Hattersley,
that Milicent loves you more than you deserve, and that you have it
in your power to make her very happy, instead of which you are her
evil genius, and, I will venture to say, there is not a single day
passes in which you do not inflict upon her some pang that you
might spare her if you would.'
'Well - it's not my fault,' said he, gazing carelessly up at the
ceiling and plunging his hands into his pockets: 'if my ongoings
don't suit her, she should tell me so.'
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall |
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 A treatise on Good Works by Dr. Martin Luther: should be so much the more gentle toward their servants, and
overlook some things, and yet have a care that the servants do
right and learn to fear God.
But see now, what good works a householder and a mistress can do,
how finely God offers us all good works so near at hand, so
manifold, so continuously, that we have no need of asking after
good works, and might well forget the other showy, far-off,
invented works of men, such as making pilgrimages, building
churches, seeking indulgence, and the like.
Here I ought naturally also to say how a wife ought to be
obedient, subject to her husband as to her superior, give way to
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