| 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: "Falworth," said the King, placing his hand to his head. "The
name is not strange to mine ears, but I cannot place it. My head
hath troubled me sorely to-day, and I cannot remember."
At this point the Earl of Alban came quietly and deliberately
forward. "Sire," said he, "pardon my boldness in so venturing to
address you, but haply I may bring the name more clearly to your
mind. He is, as my Lord of Mackworth said, the whilom Baron
Falworth, the outlawed, attainted traitor; so declared for the
harboring of Sir John Dale, who was one of those who sought your
Majesty's life at Windsor eleven years ago. Sire, he is mine
enemy as well, and is brought hither by my proclaimed enemies.
Men of Iron |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Desert Gold by Zane Grey: with the secret. He seemed at once a little child and a strong man,
and something very old. What tortured him was the incomprehensibility
that the vaster the space the greater the silence! At one moment
Gale felt there was only death here, and that was the secret; at
another he heard the slow beat of a mighty heart.
He came at length to realize that the desert was a teacher. He
did not realize all that he had learned, but he was a different
man. And when he decided upon that, he was not thinking of the slow,
sure call to the primal instincts of man; he was thinking that the desert,
as much as he had experienced and no more, would absolutely overturn the
whole scale of a man's values, break old habits, form new ones, remake him.
Desert Gold |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy: "Lean on my arm, ma'am, till we get to the porch, and I
will try to open the door."
He supported her to the porch, and there depositing her on
a seat hastened to the back, climbed to a window by the
help of a ladder, and descending inside opened the door.
Next he assisted her into the room, where there was an
old-fashioned horsehair settee as large as a donkey wagon.
She lay down here, and Charley covered her with a cloak he
found in the hall.
"Shall I get you something to eat and drink?" he said.
"If you please, Charley. But I suppose there is no fire?"
Return of the Native |
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 Egmont by Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe: our rights and privileges, we will stand faithfully by her.
[Enter a Soapboiler.
Soapboiler. An ugly business this! a bad business! Troubles are beginning;
all things are going wrong! Mind you keep quiet, or they'll take you also
for rioters.
Soest. Here come the seven wise men of Greece.
Soapboiler. I know there are many who in secret hold with the Calvinists,
abuse the bishops, and care not for the king. But a loyal subject, a sincere
Catholic!--
(By degrees others join the speakers, and listen.)
[Enter Vansen.
Egmont |
