| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from One Basket by Edna Ferber: I've got too much talent. If I only had a voice--I mean a singing
voice. But I haven't. But then, neither had Georgie Cohan, and
I can't see that it wrecked his life any. Now listen. I've got a
song. It's my own. That bit you played for me up at
Gottschalk's is part of the chorus. But it's the words that'll
go big. They're great. It's an aviation song, see? Airplane
stuff. They're yelling that it's the airyoplanes that're going
to win this war. Well, I'll help 'em. This song is going to put
the aviator where he belongs. It's going to be the big song of
the war. It's going to make `Tipperary' sound like a Moody and
Sankey hymn. It's the----"
One Basket |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from When a Man Marries by Mary Roberts Rinehart: angry that she got over it altogether.
"Kit, you are horrid," she choked. "Don't you see what a position
I am in? I am not going upstairs to face Anne and the rest of
them. You can just put me in the coal cellar."
"Isn't there a window you could get through?" I asked
desperately. "Locking the door doesn't shut up a whole house."
Bella's courage revived at that, and she said yes, there were
windows, plenty of them, only she didn't see how she could get
out. And I said she would HAVE to get out, because I was playing
Bella in the performance, and I didn't care to have an
understudy. Then the situation dawned on her, and she sat down
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Poems of Goethe, Bowring, Tr. by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: Let the bumper then go round!
For all sighs and groans of anguish
Thou to-day in joy hast drown'd.
SOLO.
To a little fellow, quiet,
Unpretending and subdued,
Has a big clown, running riot,
Been to-day extremely rude.
I bethought me of my duty,
And my courage swell'd apace,
So I spoil'd the rascal's beauty,
|
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 Tour Through Eastern Counties of England by Daniel Defoe: in the winter; for as the masters, so most of the men, especially
their mates, boatswains, carpenters, etc., were of the same place,
and lived in their proportions, just as the masters did; so that in
the winter there might be perhaps a thousand men in the town more
than in the summer, and perhaps a greater number.
To justify what I advance here, that this town was formerly very
full of people, I ask leave to refer to the account of Mr. Camden,
and what it was in his time. His words are these:- "Ipswich has a
commodious harbour, has been fortified with a ditch and rampart,
has a great trade, and is very populous, being adorned with
fourteen churches, and large private buildings." This confirms
|
