| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia by Samuel Johnson: when solitude should deliver him to the tyranny of reflection."
"This," said the Prince, "may be true of others since it is true of
me; yet, whatever be the general infelicity of man, one condition
is more happy than another, and wisdom surely directs us to take
the least evil in the CHOICE OF LIFE."
"The causes of good and evil," answered Imlac, "are so various and
uncertain, so often entangled with each other, so diversified by
various relations, and so much subject to accidents which cannot be
foreseen, that he who would fix his condition upon incontestable
reasons of preference must live and die inquiring and
deliberating."
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Perfect Wagnerite: A Commentary on the Niblung's Ring by George Bernard Shaw: seriousness of art) gave him exactly the libretto he required for
that outbreak of the old operatic Adam in him. So he changed it
into Die Gotterdammerung, retaining the traditional plot of
murder and jealousy, and with it, necessarily, his or~gmal second
act, in spite of the incongruity of its Siegfried and Brynhild
with the Siegfried and Brynhild of the allegory. As to the
legendary matter about the world-ash and the destruction of
Valhalla by Loki, it fitted in well enough; for though,
allegorically, the blow by which Siegfried breaks the god's spear
is the end of Wotan and of Valhalla, those who do not see the
allegory, and take the story literally, like children, are sure
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Tales of the Klondyke by Jack London: instant on a single runner, then shot Harrington into the snow.
Savoy was by like a flash. Harrington pulled to his feet and
watched him skimming across the river to the Gold Recorder's. He
could not help hearing what was said.
"Ah, him do vaire well," Joy Molineau was explaining to the
lieutenant. "Him--what you call--set the pace. Yes, him set the
pace vaire well."
AT THE RAINBOW'S END
It was for two reasons that Montana Kid discarded his "chaps" and
Mexican spurs, and shook the dust of the Idaho ranges from his
feet. In the first place, the encroachments of a steady, sober,
|
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 Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll: consequences.'
`Which reminds me--' the White Queen said, looking down and
nervously clasping and unclasping her hands, `we had SUCH a
thunderstorm last Tuesday--I mean one of the last set of
Tuesdays, you know.'
Alice was puzzled. `In OUR country,' she remarked, `there's
only one day at a time.'
The Red Queen said, `That's a poor thin way of doing things.
Now HERE, we mostly have days and nights two or three at a time,
and sometimes in the winter we take as many as five nights
together--for warmth, you know.'
Through the Looking-Glass |
