| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from King Henry VI by William Shakespeare: O pity, pity! gentle heaven, pity!--
The red rose and the white are on his face,
The fatal colours of our striving houses;
The one his purple blood right well resembles,
The other his pale cheeks, methinks, presenteth.
Wither one rose, and let the other flourish!
If you contend, a thousand lives must wither.
SON.
How will my mother, for a father's death,
Take on with me and ne'er be satisfied!
FATHER.
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Memorabilia by Xenophon: obtain these selfsame honours in order that, being himself secure
against wrong-doing, he may be able to assist his friends in what is
right, and, raised to a high position,[20] may essay to confer some
blessing on the land of his fathers, what is there to hinder him from
working in harmony with some other of a like spirit? Will he, with the
"beautiful and noble" at his side, be less able to aid his friends? or
will his power to benfit the community be shortened because the flower
of that community are fellow-workers in that work? Why, even in the
contests of the games it is obvious that if it were possible for the
stoutest combatants to combine against the weakest, the chosen band
would come off victors in every bout, and would carry off all the
The Memorabilia |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe: proposal, and going myself; but my partner, wiser than myself,
persuaded me from it, representing the dangers, as well of the seas
as of the Japanese, who are a false, cruel, and treacherous people;
likewise those of the Spaniards at the Philippines, more false,
cruel, and treacherous than they.
But to bring this long turn of our affairs to a conclusion; the
first thing we had to do was to consult with the captain of the
ship, and with his men, and know if they were willing to go to
Japan. While I was doing this, the young man whom my nephew had
left with me as my companion came up, and told me that he thought
that voyage promised very fair, and that there was a great prospect
Robinson Crusoe |
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 The Rape of Lucrece by William Shakespeare: And with deep groans the diapason bear:
For burthen-wise I'll hum on Tarquin still,
While thou on Tereus descant'st better skill.
'And whiles against a thorn thou bear'st thy part,
To keep thy sharp woes waking, wretched I,
To imitate thee well, against my heart
Will fix a sharp knife, to affright mine eye;
Who, if it wink, shall thereon fall and die.
These means, as frets upon an instrument,
Shall tune our heart-strings to true languishment.
'And for, poor bird, thou sing'st not in the day,
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