| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Polly of the Circus by Margaret Mayo: could talk so much about her work, but before she could answer
the question, her mind drifted back to other days, to a garden
and flowers, and Jim stole away unmissed, and left her with
folded hands and wide, staring eyes, gazing into the distance.
The memory of these times made Jim helpless to-night. He had
gone on hoping from day to day that Barker might not notice the
"let-down" in her work, and now the blow had fallen. How could
he tell her?
One of the acts came tumbling out of the main tent. There was a
moment's confusion, as clowns, acrobats and animals passed each
other on their way to and from the ring, then the lot cleared
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The $30,000 Bequest and Other Stories by Mark Twain: then I would hide all day, and start on my journey when night came;
my journey to--well, anywhere where they would not know me and betray
me to the master. I was feeling almost cheerful now; then suddenly
I thought: Why, what would life be without my puppy!
That was despair. There was no plan for me; I saw that;
I must say where I was; stay, and wait, and take what might come--
it was not my affair; that was what life is--my mother had said it.
Then--well, then the calling began again! All my sorrows came back.
I said to myself, the master will never forgive. I did not know
what I had done to make him so bitter and so unforgiving, yet I
judged it was something a dog could not understand, but which was
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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 Witch, et. al by Anton Chekhov: at midday on the third two sailors came down and carried him out.
He was sewn up in sailcloth and to make him heavier they put with
him two iron weights. Sewn up in the sailcloth he looked like a
carrot or a radish: broad at the head and narrow at the feet. . .
. Before sunset they brought him up to the deck and put him on a
plank; one end of the plank lay on the side of the ship, the
other on a box, placed on a stool. Round him stood the soldiers
and the officers with their caps off.
"Blessed be the Name of the Lord . . ." the priest began. "As it
was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be."
"Amen," chanted three sailors.
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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 Ballads by Robert Louis Stevenson: Sleep in the shade of the trees on the couch of the kindly sods,
Sleep and dream of Taheia, Taheia will wake for you;
And whenever the land wind blows and the woods are heavy with dew,
Alone through the horror of night, (6) with food for the soul of her love,
Taheia the undissuaded will hurry true as the dove."
"Taheia, the pit of the night crawls with treacherous things,
Spirits of ultimate air and the evil souls of things;
The souls of the dead, the stranglers, that perch in the trees of the wood,
Waiters for all things human, haters of evil and good."
"Rua, behold me, kiss me, look in my eyes and read;
Are these the eyes of a maid that would leave her lover in need?
Ballads |
