| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Paradise Lost by John Milton: 'First Man, of men innumerable ordained
'First Father! called by thee, I come thy guide
'To the garden of bliss, thy seat prepared.'
So saying, by the hand he took me raised,
And over fields and waters, as in air
Smooth-sliding without step, last led me up
A woody mountain; whose high top was plain,
A circuit wide, enclosed, with goodliest trees
Planted, with walks, and bowers; that what I saw
Of Earth before scarce pleasant seemed. Each tree,
Loaden with fairest fruit that hung to the eye
Paradise Lost |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from End of the Tether by Joseph Conrad: candid bravado. The engineer's round soft cheeks quiv-
ered still, but he said quietly enough--
"You are only worrying my head off," and Sterne
met him with a confident little smile.
"A chap in business I know (well up in the world
he is now) used to tell me that this was the proper way.
'Always push on to the front,' he would say. 'Keep
yourself well before your boss. Interfere whenever you
get a chance. Show him what you know. Worry him
into seeing you.' That was his advice. Now I know
no other boss than you here. You are the owner, and
End of the Tether |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Blix by Frank Norris: Just a little while ago I was only nineteen, but I think, dear,
that by loving you I have become--all of a sudden and without
knowing it--a woman."
A little trembling ran through her with the words. She stopped
and put both arms around his neck, her head tipped back, her eyes
half closed, her sweet yellow hair rolling from her forehead. Her
whole dear being radiated with that sweet, clean perfume that
seemed to come alike from her clothes, her neck, her arms, her
hair, and mouth--the delicious, almost divine, feminine aroma that
was part of herself.
|
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 Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin A. Abbot: the Circular class, that it is very rare to find a Nobleman
of that position in society, who has neglected to place his first-born
in the Circular Neo-Therapeutic Gymnasium before he has attained
the age of a month.
One year determines success or failure. At the end of that time
the child has, in all probability, added one more to the tombstones
that crowd the Neo-Therapeutic Cemetery; but on rare occasions
a glad procession bears back the little one to his exultant parents,
no longer a Polygon, but a Circle, at least by courtesy:
and a single instance of so blessed a result induces multitudes
of Polygonal parents to submit to similar domestic sacrifices,
Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions |
