| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare: tell them, that I Piramus am not Piramus, but Bottome the
Weauer; this will put them out of feare
Quin. Well, we will haue such a Prologue, and it shall
be written in eight and sixe
Bot. No, make it two more, let it be written in eight
and eight
Snout. Will not the Ladies be afear'd of the Lyon?
Star. I feare it, I promise you
Bot. Masters, you ought to consider with your selues, to
bring in (God shield vs) a Lyon among Ladies, is a most
dreadfull thing. For there is not a more fearefull wilde
A Midsummer Night's Dream |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Madam How and Lady Why by Charles Kingsley: south-west of Ireland, long, long ago; and was such a brave sturdy
little plant, that it clambered up to the top of the highest
mountains, and over all the rocks. But when it got to the rich
lowlands to the eastward, in county Cork, it found all the ground
taken up already with other plants; and as they had enough to do
to live themselves, they would not let St. Patrick's cabbage
settle among them; and it had to be content with living here in
the far-west--and, what was very sad, had no means of sending word
to its brothers and sisters in the Pyrenees how it was getting on.
What do you mean? Are you making fun of me?
Not the least. I am only telling you a very strange story, which
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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 Westward Ho! by Charles Kingsley: still call Cabot's Tower; nor have you, perhaps, heard of the
strange tale which will ever make the tower a sacred spot to all
true lovers.
"For when he returned to Spain the year after, he left in his tower
a garrison of a hundred and twenty men, under the command of Nuno
de Lara, Ruiz Moschera, and Sebastian da Hurtado, old friends and
fellow-soldiers of my invincible grandfather Don Ferdinando da
Soto; and with them a jewel, than which Spain never possessed one
more precious, Lucia Miranda, the wife of Hurtado, who, famed in
the court of the emperor no less for her wisdom and modesty than
for her unrivalled beauty, had thrown up all the pomp and ambition
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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 The Great God Pan by Arthur Machen: excessive liberality, and the impression was general that she
would one day inherit a large sum of money from her relative.
The parents of Rachel were therefore not averse from their
daughter's friendship with the girl, and even encouraged the
intimacy, though they now bitterly regret having done so.
Helen still retained her extraordinary fondness for the forest,
and on several occasions Rachel accompanied her, the two
friends setting out early in the morning, and remaining in the
wood until dusk. Once or twice after these excursions Mrs. M.
thought her daughter's manner rather peculiar; she seemed
languid and dreamy, and as it has been expressed, "different
The Great God Pan |
