| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Bucky O'Connor by William MacLeod Raine: the paper to the locket and let the child continue to carry it.
Some years after the death of the child, Frances, his wife had
lost the locket with the map.
"And this chain and locket--when did you lose them?" demanded
Bucky sharply.
"It must have been about two months ago, down at Nogales, that I
sold it to a fellow. I was playing faro and losing. He gave me
five dollars for it."
And to that he stuck stoutly, nor could he be shaken from it.
Both O'Connor and the sheriff believed he was lying, for they
were convinced that he was the bandit with the red wig who had
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Shakespeare's Sonnets by William Shakespeare: For nothing hold me, so it please thee hold
That nothing me, a something sweet to thee:
Make but my name thy love, and love that still,
And then thou lov'st me for my name is 'Will.'
CXXXVII
Thou blind fool, Love, what dost thou to mine eyes,
That they behold, and see not what they see?
They know what beauty is, see where it lies,
Yet what the best is take the worst to be.
If eyes, corrupt by over-partial looks,
Be anchor'd in the bay where all men ride,
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| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Divine Comedy (translated by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow) by Dante Alighieri: And I, who had beforehand my reply
In readiness, forthwith began to speak:
"O soul, that down below there art concealed,
Romagna thine is not and never has been
Without war in the bosom of its tyrants;
But open war I none have left there now.
Ravenna stands as it long years has stood;
The Eagle of Polenta there is brooding,
So that she covers Cervia with her vans.
The city which once made the long resistance,
And of the French a sanguinary heap,
The Divine Comedy (translated by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow) |
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 Augsburg Confession by Philip Melanchthon: none are admitted except they be first examined. The people
are also advised concerning the dignity and use of the
Sacrament, how great consolation it brings anxious
consciences, that they may learn to believe God, and to expect
and ask of Him all that is good. [In this connection they are
also instructed regarding other and false teachings on the
Sacrament.] This worship pleases God; such use of the
Sacrament nourishes true devotion toward God. It does not,
therefore, appear that the Mass is more devoutly celebrated
among our adversaries than among us.
But it is evident that for a long time this also has been the
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