| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Symposium by Xenophon: if vulg. {antapedeizen}, transl. "would prove per contra each
bend," etc. Cf. Aristot. "Rhet." ii. 26. 3.
And since the girl had bent herself backwards and backwards, till she
was nearly doubled into the form of a hoop, so he must try to imitate
a hoop by stooping forwards and ducking down his head.
And as finally, the boy had won a round of plaudits for the manner in
which he kept each muscle of the body in full exercise whilst dancing,
so now the jester, bidding the flute-girl quicken the time (presto!
presto! prestissimo!), fell to capering madly, tossing legs and arms
and head together, until he was fairly tired out, and threw himself
dead beat upon the sofa, gasping:
The Symposium |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from King James Bible: king's substance.
CH2 35:8 And his princes gave willingly unto the people, to the
priests, and to the Levites: Hilkiah and Zechariah and Jehiel, rulers of
the house of God, gave unto the priests for the passover offerings two
thousand and six hundred small cattle and three hundred oxen.
CH2 35:9 Conaniah also, and Shemaiah and Nethaneel, his brethren, and
Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad, chief of the Levites, gave unto the
Levites for passover offerings five thousand small cattle, and five
hundred oxen.
CH2 35:10 So the service was prepared, and the priests stood in their
place, and the Levites in their courses, according to the king's
King James Bible |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Memoir of Fleeming Jenkin by Robert Louis Stevenson: 1816: Charles with an outfit suitable to his pretensions, a
twenty-guinea sextant and 120 dollars in silver, which were ordered
into the care of the gunner. 'The old clerks and mates,' he
writes, 'used to laugh and jeer me for joining the ship in a billy-
boat, and when they found I was from Kent, vowed I was an old
Kentish smuggler. This to my pride, you will believe, was not a
little offensive.'
THE CONQUEROR carried the flag of Vice-Admiral Plampin, commanding
at the Cape and St. Helena; and at that all-important islet, in
July, 1817, she relieved the flagship of Sir Pulteney Malcolm.
Thus it befel that Charles Jenkin, coming too late for the epic of
|
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 Arizona Nights by Stewart Edward White: THE MAN WITH NERVE
At about ten o'clock of the Fourth of July a rider topped the
summit of the last swell of land, and loped his animal down into
the single street of Pereza. The buildings on either side were
flat-roofed and coated with plaster. Over the sidewalks extended
wooden awnings, beneath which opened very wide doors into the
coolness of saloons. Each of these places ran a bar, and also
games of roulette, faro, craps, and stud poker. Even this early
in the morning every game was patronised.
The day was already hot with the dry, breathless, but
exhilarating, beat of the desert. A throng of men idling at the
|
