| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from A Book of Remarkable Criminals by H. B. Irving: wife we have a perfect instance of the latter class. No sooner
have the witches prophesied that Macbeth shall be a king than the
"horrid image" of the suggestion to murder Duncan presents itself
to his mind, and, on returning to his wife, he answers her
question as to when Duncan is to leave their house by the
significant remark, "To-morrow--as he proposes." To Lady Macbeth
from the moment she has received her husband's letter telling of
the prophecy of the weird sisters, murder occurs as a means of
accomplishing their prediction. In the minds of Macbeth and his
wife the suggestion of murder is originally an auto-suggestion,
coming to them independently of each other as soon as they learn
A Book of Remarkable Criminals |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Confessio Amantis by John Gower: Of note and the condicion.
Mathematique of his science
Hath yit the thridde intelligence
Full of wisdom and of clergie
And cleped is Geometrie,
Thurgh which a man hath thilke sleyhte,
Of lengthe, of brede, of depthe, of heyhte 180
To knowe the proporcion
Be verrai calculacion
Of this science: and in this wise
These olde Philosophres wise,
Confessio Amantis |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Marie by H. Rider Haggard: my miseries.
These, however, so far as the bodily side of them was concerned, were, I
think, surpassed by those of my henchman Hans, who, as a matter of fact,
had never before set foot in any kind of boat. Perhaps this was
fortunate, since had he known the horrors of the ocean, much as he loved
me, he would, I am sure, by one means or another, have left me to voyage
in the Seven Stars alone. There he lay upon the floor of my little
cabin, rolling to and fro with the violent motion of the brig, overcome
with terror. He was convinced that we were going to be drowned, and in
the intervals of furious sea-sickness uttered piteous lamentations in
Dutch, English, and various native tongues, mingled with curses and
Marie |
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 Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll: table, and managed to pull herself down again.
`Take care of yourself!' screamed the White Queen, seizing
Alice's hair with both her hands. `Something's going to happen!'
And then (as Alice afterwards described it) all sorts of thing
happened in a moment. The candles all grew up to the ceiling,
looking something like a bed of rushes with fireworks at the top.
As to the bottles, they each took a pair of plates, which they
hastily fitted on as wings, and so, with forks for legs, went
fluttering about in all directions: `and very like birds they
look,' Alice thought to herself, as well as she could in the
dreadful confusion that was beginning.
Through the Looking-Glass |
