| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Sesame and Lilies by John Ruskin: Grate on their scrannel pipes of wretched straw;
The hungry sheep look up, and are not fed,
But, swoln with wind, and the rank mist they draw,
Rot inwardly, and foul contagion spread;
Besides what the grim wolf with privy paw
Daily devours apace, and nothing said.'"
Let us think over this passage, and examine its words.
First, is it not singular to find Milton assigning to St. Peter, not
only his full episcopal function, but the very types of it which
Protestants usually refuse most passionately? His "mitred" locks!
Milton was no Bishop-lover; how comes St. Peter to be "mitred"?
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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 Snow Image by Nathaniel Hawthorne: wreath of the new-fallen snow, blown hither and thither about the
garden by the intensely cold west-wind. There was certainly
something very singular in the aspect of the little stranger.
Among all the children of the neighborhood, the lady could
remember no such face, with its pure white, and delicate
rose-color, and the golden ringlets tossing about the forehead
and cheeks. And as for her dress, which was entirely of white,
and fluttering in the breeze, it was such as no reasonable woman
would put upon a little girl, when sending her out to play, in
the depth of winter. It made this kind and careful mother shiver
only to look at those small feet, with nothing in the world on
The Snow Image |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Commission in Lunacy by Honore de Balzac: time to avoid the blame which the Court would have a perfect right to
express in the saving clauses of the verdict if you could not show
your attitude to be absolutely honorable and clear.
"It is our duty to examine the motives of the applicant as well as to
listen to the plea of the witness under examination, to ascertain
whether the petitioner may not have been prompted by passion, by a
desire for money, which is unfortunately too common----"
The Marquise was on Saint Laurence's gridiron.
"And I must have explanations on this point. Madame, I have no wish to
call you to account; I only want to know how you have managed to live
at the rate of sixty thousand francs a year, and that for some years
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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 Lair of the White Worm by Bram Stoker: antediluvian monster, and that they had been waited on by up-to-date
men-servants.
Adam had returned, exhilarated by his walk, and more settled in his
mind than he had been for some time. Like Mimi, he had gone through
the phase of doubt and inability to believe in the reality of
things, though it had not affected him to the same extent. The
idea, however, that his wife was suffering ill-effects from her
terrible ordeal, braced him up. He remained with her for a time,
then he sought Sir Nathaniel in order to talk over the matter with
him. He knew that the calm common sense and self-reliance of the
old man, as well as his experience, would be helpful to them all.
Lair of the White Worm |
