| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Agesilaus by Xenophon: Agesilaus who spoke against the peace,[19] until he had forced the
states of Corinth and of Thebes to welcome back those of them who, for
Lacedaemon's sake, had suffered banishment.
[19] I.e. "of Antalcidas, B.C. 387." See "Hell." V. i. 36; Grote, "H.
G." ix. 537 note.
And still later,[20] again, he restored the exiles of the Phliasians,
who had suffered in the same cause, and with that object marched in
person against Phlius, a proceeding which, however liable to censure
on other grounds, showed unmistakable attachment to his party.[21]
[20] B.C. 383 and 380; see "Hell." V. ii. 10; iii. 10.
[21] See "Hell." V. iii. 16.
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe: constitutional and a family evil, and one for which he despaired
to find a remedy--a mere nervous affection, he immediately added,
which would undoubtedly soon pass off. It displayed itself in a
host of unnatural sensations. Some of these, as he detailed
them, interested and bewildered me; although, perhaps, the terms,
and the general manner of the narration had their weight. He
suffered much from a morbid acuteness of the senses; the most
insipid food was alone endurable; he could wear only garments of
certain texture; the odours of all flowers were oppressive; his
eyes were tortured by even a faint light; and there were but
peculiar sounds, and these from stringed instruments, which did
The Fall of the House of Usher |
