| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne: "What is done cannot be undone," replied Cyrus Harding. "We must consult
what it will now be best to do."
Such were the questions and answers which were rapidly exchanged between
Harding and his companions. It was certain that the bridge had been
crossed, that the shore had been invaded by animals, and that whatever they
might be they could by ascending the left bank of the Mercy reach Prospect
Heights. They must therefore be advanced against quickly and fought with if
necessary.
"But what are these beasts?" was asked a second time, as the yelpings
were again heard more loudly than before. These yelps made Herbert start,
and he remembered having heard them before during his first visit to the
The Mysterious Island |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Padre Ignacio by Owen Wister: "And have you been in America long?" inquired Gaston.
"Twenty years."
"And at Santa Ysabel how long?"
"Twenty years."
"I should have thought," said Gaston, looking lightly at the desert and
unpeopIed mountains, "that now and again you might have wished to
travel."
"Were I your age," murmured Padre Ignacio, "it might be so."
The evening had now ripened to the long after-glow of sunset. The sea was
the purple of grapes, and wine-colored hues flowed among the high
shoulders of the mountains.
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Symposium by Xenophon: treasure worth possessing.[110] But you, my friend, you got quite
angry. One would suppose I had given you an evil name in calling you a
first-rate matchmaker.
[109] Al. "and cement desirable matrimonial connections." Cf. Aristot.
"Pol." iii. 9, 13. 1280 B; v. 4, 5-8. 1303 B.
[110] See the conversation with Critobulus, so often referred to,
{peri philias}, in "Mem." II. vi.
Yes (he answered meekly), but now I am calm. It is clear enough, if I
possess these powers I shall find myself surcharged with spiritual
riches.
In this fashion the cycle of the speeches was completed.[111]
The Symposium |
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 To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf: to sit was empty. She was dead.
But why repeat this over and over again? Why be always trying to bring
up some feeling she had not got? There was a kind of blasphemy in it.
It was all dry: all withered: all spent. They ought not to have asked
her; she ought not to have come. One can't waste one's time at forty-
four, she thought. She hated playing at painting. A brush, the one
dependable thing in a world of strife, ruin, chaos--that one should not
play with, knowingly even: she detested it. But he made her. You
shan't touch your canvas, he seemed to say, bearing down on her, till
you've given me what I want of you. Here he was, close upon her again,
greedy, distraught. Well, thought Lily in despair, letting her right
To the Lighthouse |
