| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Vailima Letters by Robert Louis Stevenson: I am on fair terms with the two Treaty officials, though all
such intimacies are precarious; with the consuls, I need not
say, my position is deplorable. The President (Herr Emil
Schmidt) is a rather dreamy man, whom I like. Lloyd, Graham
and I go to breakfast with him to-morrow; the next day the
whole party of us lunch on the CURACOA and go in the evening
to a BIERABEND at Dr. Funk's. We are getting up a paper-
chase for the following week with some of the young German
clerks, and have in view a sort of child's party for grown-up
persons with kissing games, etc., here at Vailima. Such is
the gay scene in which we move. Now I have done something,
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas: acknowledging the justice of your reclamation, I refuse it on
account of the form."
"The fact is," hazarded D'Artagnan, timidly, "I did not see the
handkerchief fall from the pocket of Monsieur Aramis. He had his
foot upon it, that is all; and I thought from having his foot
upon it the handkerchief was his."
"And you were deceived, my dear sir," replied Aramis, coldly,
very little sensible to the reparation. Then turning toward that
one of the guards who had declared himself the friend of Bois-
Tracy, "Besides," continued he, "I have reflected, my dear
intimate of Bois-Tracy, that I am not less tenderly his friend
The Three Musketeers |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Adam Bede by George Eliot: "Then we'll part now, Adam. You will see Mr. Irwine to-morrow,
and consult with him about everything."
"Are you going soon, sir?" said Adam.
"As soon as possible--after I've made the necessary arrangements.
Good-bye, Adam. I shall think of you going about the old place."
"Good-bye, sir. God bless you."
The hands were clasped once more, and Adam left the Hermitage,
feeling that sorrow was more bearable now hatred was gone.
As soon as the door was closed behind him, Arthur went to the
waste-paper basket and took out the little pink silk handkerchief.
Book Six
Adam Bede |
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 Pagan and Christian Creeds by Edward Carpenter: At length the man perceives it die away
And fade into the light of common day.
Wordsworth--though he had not the inestimable advantage
of a nineteenth-century education and the inheritance
of the Darwinian philosophy--does nevertheless put
the matter of the Genius of the Child in a way which
(with the alteration of a few conventional terms) we scientific
moderns are quite inclined to accept. We all admit now
that the Child does not come into the world with a mental
tabula rasa of entire forgetfulness but on the contrary
as the possessor of vast stores of sub-conscious memory, derived
Pagan and Christian Creeds |
