| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Letters from England by Elizabeth Davis Bancroft: the English newspapers, for, of course, English sympathies are all
entirely against it. They never like France, and a republic of any
kind still less. A peaceful and prosperous republic in the heart of
Europe would be more deprecated than a state of anarchy. The
discussion of French matters reveals to me every moment the deep
repugnance of the English to republican institutions. It lets in a
world of light upon opinions and feelings, which, otherwise, would
not have been discovered by me.
Sunday, March 19th
Yesterday we breakfasted at Mrs. Milman's. I was the only lady, but
there were Macaulay, Hallam, Lord Morpeth, and, above all, Charles
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from House of Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne: constituted,--so unfortunate, let us pronounce him, and forbear
to say, so guilty,--that our own Clifford, in fine, should be given
back to life, and its possibilities of enjoyment? Ah, you little
know me, Cousin Hepzibah! You little know this heart! It now throbs
at the thought of meeting him! There lives not the human being
(except yourself,--and you not more than I) who has shed so many
tears for Clifford's calamity. You behold some of them now.
There is none who would so delight to promote his happiness!
Try me, Hepzibah! --try me, cousin! --try the man whom you have
treated as your enemy and Clifford's! --try Jaffrey Pyncheon,
and you shall find him true, to the heart's core!"
House of Seven Gables |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Captain Stormfield by Mark Twain: you!"
Well, sir, I gained and gained, little by little, till at last I
went skimming sweetly by the magnificent old conflagration's nose.
By this time the captain of the comet had been rousted out, and he
stood there in the red glare for'ard, by the mate, in his shirt-
sleeves and slippers, his hair all rats' nests and one suspender
hanging, and how sick those two men did look! I just simply
couldn't help putting my thumb to my nose as I glided away and
singing out:
"Ta-ta! ta-ta! Any word to send to your family?"
Peters, it was a mistake. Yes, sir, I've often regretted that - it
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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 Barlaam and Ioasaph by St. John of Damascus: Constantinople. It was only after Europeans began to have
increased contacts with India that scholars began to notice the
similarities between the two sets of stories. Modern scholars
believe that the Buddha story came to Europe from Arabic,
Caucasus, and/or Persian sources, all of which were active in
trade between the European and Indian worlds.
---DBK
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SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY:
ORIGINAL TEXT --
Woodward, G.R. & H. Mattingly (Ed. & Trans.): "St. John
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