| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne: hanging upon his trembling lips ready to depart as he uttered this:--yet
still it was uttered with something of a Cervantick tone;--and as he spoke
it, Eugenius could perceive a stream of lambent fire lighted up for a
moment in his eyes;--faint picture of those flashes of his spirit, which
(as Shakespeare said of his ancestor) were wont to set the table in a roar!
Eugenius was convinced from this, that the heart of his friend was broke:
he squeezed his hand,--and then walked softly out of the room, weeping as
he walked. Yorick followed Eugenius with his eyes to the door,--he then
closed them, and never opened them more.
He lies buried in the corner of his church-yard, in the parish of. . .,
under a plain marble slab, which his friend Eugenius, by leave of his
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Statesman by Plato: past. And although they had nothing of this sort, the earth gave them
fruits in abundance, which grew on trees and shrubs unbidden, and were not
planted by the hand of man. And they dwelt naked, and mostly in the open
air, for the temperature of their seasons was mild; and they had no beds,
but lay on soft couches of grass, which grew plentifully out of the earth.
Such was the life of man in the days of Cronos, Socrates; the character of
our present life, which is said to be under Zeus, you know from your own
experience. Can you, and will you, determine which of them you deem the
happier?
YOUNG SOCRATES: Impossible.
STRANGER: Then shall I determine for you as well as I can?
Statesman |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Prufrock/Other Observations by T. S. Eliot: But they knew that it was modern.
Upon the glazen shelves kept watch
Matthew and Waldo, guardians of the faith,
The army of unalterable law."
Mr. Apollinax
When Mr. Apollinax visited the United States
His laughter tinkled among the teacups.
I thought of Fragilion, that shy figure among the birch-trees,
And of Priapus in the shrubbery
Gaping at the lady in the swing.
Prufrock/Other Observations |
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 Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen: the Elder-flowers came forth so fresh and white, and shot up long branches.
Out of the spout even did they spread themselves on all sides, and grew larger
and larger; it was a splendid Elderbush, a whole tree; and it reached into the
very bed, and pushed the curtains aside. How it bloomed! And what an odour! In
the middle of the bush sat a friendly-looking old woman in a most strange
dress. It was quite green, like the leaves of the elder, and was trimmed with
large white Elder-flowers; so that at first one could not tell whether it was
a stuff, or a natural green and real flowers.
"What's that woman's name?" asked the little boy.
"The Greeks and Romans," said the old man, "called her a Dryad; but that we do
not understand. The people who live in the New Booths* have a much better name
Fairy Tales |
