| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Venus and Adonis by William Shakespeare: Shall cool the heat of this descending sun:
I'll make a shadow for thee of my hairs; 191
If they burn too, I'll quench them with my tears.
'The sun that shines from heaven shines but warm,
And lo! I lie between that sun and thee:
The heat I have from thence doth little harm,
Thine eye darts forth the fire that burneth me; 196
And were I not immortal, life were done
Between this heavenly and earthly sun.
'Art thou obdurate, flinty, hard as steel?
Nay, more than flint, for stone at rain relenteth: 200
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Hermione's Little Group of Serious Thinkers by Don Marquis: a lot of relations.
But one must always sacrifice something to gain
the worth-while things, mustn't one?
And what is more worth while than simplicity?
Simplicity! Simplicity! Isn't it truly WONDERFUL!
Nearly every night before I go to bed I ask my-
self: "have I been simple and genuine today? Or
have I FAILED?
Papa always has two maiden aunts to Thanks-
giving dinner. Dear old souls, I suppose, but
frumps, you know.
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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 Blue Flower by Henry van Dyke: counsel with a Hebrew rabbi. The venerable man, bending over
the rolls of parchment on which the prophecies of Israel were
written, read aloud the pathetic words which foretold the
sufferings of the promised Messiah--the despised and rejected
of men, the man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
"And remember, my son," said he, fixing his eyes upon the
face of Artaban, "the King whom thou seekest is not to be
found in a palace, nor among the rich and powerful. If the
light of the world and the glory of Israel had been appointed
to come with the greatness of earthly splendour, it must have
appeared long ago. For no son of Abraham will ever again
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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 Enemies of Books by William Blades: often seen in the backs of neglected books, but his ravages
are not of much importance.
Nor can we reckon the Codfish as very dangerous to literature, unless, indeed,
he be of the Roman obedience, like that wonderful Ichthiobibliophage
(pardon me, Professor Owen) who, in the year 1626, swallowed three Puritanical
treatises of John Frith, the Protestant martyr. No wonder, after such a meal,
he was soon caught, and became famous in the annals of literature.
The following is the title of a little book issued upon the occasion:
"Vox Piscis, or the Book-Fish containing Three Treatises, which were found
in the belly of a Cod-Fish in Cambridge Market on Midsummer Eve, A'0 1626."
Lowndes says (see under "Tracey,") "great was the consternation at Cambridge
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