| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Men of Iron by Howard Pyle: twice before venturing to enter the ladies' private garden. As it
was, he only shook his stubborn head, and said again, "I will
climb the wall and fetch it."
Now at the lower extremity of the court, and about twelve or
fifteen feet distant from the garden wall, there grew a
pear-tree, some of the branches of which overhung into the garden
beyond. So, first making sure that no one was looking that way,
and bidding the others keep a sharp lookout, Myles shinned up
this tree, and choosing one of the thicker limbs, climbed out
upon it for some little distance. Then lowering his body, he hung
at arm's-length, the branch bending with his weight, and slowly
Men of Iron |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Ferragus by Honore de Balzac: that united them, sufficiently strong to maintain themselves above the
law, bold enough to undertake all things, and fortunate enough to
succeed, nearly always, in their undertakings; having run the greatest
dangers, but keeping silence if defeated; inaccessible to fear;
trembling neither before princes, nor executioners, not even before
innocence; accepting each other for such as they were, without social
prejudices,--criminals, no doubt, but certainly remarkable through
certain of the qualities that make great men, and recruiting their
number only among men of mark. That nothing might be lacking to the
sombre and mysterious poesy of their history, these Thirteen men have
remained to this day unknown; though all have realized the most
Ferragus |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Complete Poems of Longfellow by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: For this you came!
Ah, how can I ever hope to requite
This honor from one so erudite?
LUCIFER.
The honor is mine, or will be when
I have cured your disease.
PRINCE HENRY.
But not till then.
LUCIFER.
What is your illness?
PRINCE HENRY.
|
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 What is Man? by Mark Twain: hitch ourselves to. It has always been so with the human race.
There was never a Claimant that couldn't get a hearing, nor one
that couldn't accumulate a rapturous following, no matter how
flimsy and apparently unauthentic his claim might be. Arthur
Orton's claim that he was the lost Tichborne baronet come to life
again was as flimsy as Mrs. Eddy's that she wrote SCIENCE AND
HEALTH from the direct dictation of the Deity; yet in England
nearly forty years ago Orton had a huge army of devotees and
incorrigible adherents, many of whom remained stubbornly
unconvinced after their fat god had been proven an impostor and
jailed as a perjurer, and today Mrs. Eddy's following is not only
What is Man? |
