| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Odyssey by Homer: house you want, for Alcinous lives quite close to my own father.
I will go before you and show the way, but say not a word as you
go, and do not look at any man, nor ask him questions; for the
people here cannot abide strangers, and do not like men who come
from some other place. They are a sea-faring folk, and sail the
seas by the grace of Neptune in ships that glide along like
thought, or as a bird in the air."
On this she led the way, and Ulysses followed in her steps; but
not one of the Phaeacians could see him as he passed through the
city in the midst of them; for the great goddess Minerva in her
good will towards him had hidden him in a thick cloud of
The Odyssey |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Rape of Lucrece by William Shakespeare: Yea, the illiterate, that know not how
To cipher what is writ in learned books,
Will quote my loathsome trespass in my looks.
'The nurse, to still her child, will tell my story
And fright her crying babe with Tarquin's name;
The orator, to deck his oratory,
Will couple my reproach to Tarquin's shame:
Feast-finding minstrels, tuning my defame,
Will tie the hearers to attend each line,
How Tarquin wronged me, I Collatine.
'Let my good name, that senseless reputation,
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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 Silas Marner by George Eliot: Marner's simple words, felt rather angry again. It seemed to him
that the weaver was very selfish (a judgment readily passed by those
who have never tested their own power of sacrifice) to oppose what
was undoubtedly for Eppie's welfare; and he felt himself called
upon, for her sake, to assert his authority.
"I should have thought, Marner," he said, severely--"I should
have thought your affection for Eppie would make you rejoice in what
was for her good, even if it did call upon you to give up something.
You ought to remember your own life's uncertain, and she's at an age
now when her lot may soon be fixed in a way very different from what
it would be in her father's home: she may marry some low
Silas Marner |
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 A Collection of Beatrix Potter by Beatrix Potter: for supper.
THE END
THE TALE OF
BENJAMIN BUNNY
FOR THE CHILDREN OF SAWREY
FROM
OLD MR. BUNNY
ONE morning a little rabbit
sat on a bank.
He pricked his ears and
listened to the trit-trot,
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