| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from At the Mountains of Madness by H. P. Lovecraft: and more hideously plain to us. In the end, however, we made the
plunge, and scrambled up over the rubble into the gaping embrasure.
The floor beyond was of great slate slabs, and seemed to form
the outlet of a long, high corridor with sculptured walls.
Observing
the many inner archways which led off from it, and realizing the
probable complexity of the nest of apartments within, we decided
that we must begin our system of hare-and-hound trail blazing.
Hitherto our compasses, together with frequent glimpses of the
vast mountain range between the towers in our rear, had been enough
to prevent our losing our way; but from now on, the artificial
At the Mountains of Madness |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Garden Party by Katherine Mansfield: as quickly swam in again, and away he rushed up the beach. He felt
cheated.
Jonathan stayed a little longer in the water. He floated, gently moving
his hands like fins, and letting the sea rock his long, skinny body. It
was curious, but in spite of everything he was fond of Stanley Burnell.
True, he had a fiendish desire to tease him sometimes, to poke fun at him,
but at bottom he was sorry for the fellow. There was something pathetic in
his determination to make a job of everything. You couldn't help feeling
he'd be caught out one day, and then what an almighty cropper he'd come!
At that moment an immense wave lifted Jonathan, rode past him, and broke
along the beach with a joyful sound. What a beauty! And now there came
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Bride of Lammermoor by Walter Scott: Ravenswood to his own reflections.
CHAPTER XX.
Lovelier in her own retired abode
....than Naiad by the side
Of Grecian brook--or Lady of the Mere
Lone sitting by the shores of old romance.
WORDSWORTH.
THE meditations of Ravenswood were of a very mixed
complexion. He saw himself at once in the very dilemma which he
had for some time felt apprehensive he might be placed in. The
pleasure he felt in Lucy's company had indeed approached to
The Bride of Lammermoor |
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 Reason Discourse by Rene Descartes: contain in them some truth; for otherwise it could not be that God, who is
wholly perfect and veracious, should have placed them in us. And because
our reasonings are never so clear or so complete during sleep as when we
are awake, although sometimes the acts of our imagination are then as
lively and distinct, if not more so than in our waking moments, reason
further dictates that, since all our thoughts cannot be true because of
our partial imperfection, those possessing truth must infallibly be found
in the experience of our waking moments rather than in that of our dreams.
PART V
I would here willingly have proceeded to exhibit the whole chain of truths
which I deduced from these primary but as with a view to this it would
Reason Discourse |
