| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Mirror of the Sea by Joseph Conrad: A very few years more and the hazardous difficulties of handling a
fleet under canvas shall have passed beyond the conception of
seamen who hold in trust for their country Lord Nelson's legacy of
heroic spirit. The change in the character of the ships is too
great and too radical. It is good and proper to study the acts of
great men with thoughtful reverence, but already the precise
intention of Lord Nelson's famous memorandum seems to lie under
that veil which Time throws over the clearest conceptions of every
great art. It must not be forgotten that this was the first time
when Nelson, commanding in chief, had his opponents under way - the
first time and the last. Had he lived, had there been other fleets
The Mirror of the Sea |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Vision Splendid by William MacLeod Raine: Recess! With the sound of the gong his heart leaped, but he kept
his place in the line with perfect decorum. It would never do to
be called back now for a momentary indiscretion. From the school
yard he slipped the back way and dived into a bank of great ferns.
In the heart of this he lay until the bell had called his
classmates back to work. Cautiously he crept from his hiding place
and ran down to the river.
Flinging himself on Big Rock, with his chin over the edge, he
looked into the deep holes under the bank where the trout lay
close to the strings of shiny moss, their noses to the current,
motionless save for the fanning tails.
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Firm of Nucingen by Honore de Balzac: a little dabbler like du Tillet, a jackal that gets on in life through
his sense of smell. He scents a carcass by instinct, and comes in time
to get the best bone. Besides, just look at the two men. The one has a
sharp-pointed face like a cat, he is thin and lanky; the other is
cubical, fat, heavy as a sack, imperturbable as a diplomatist.
Nucingen has a thick, heavy hand, and lynx eyes that never light up;
his depths are not in front, but behind; he is inscrutable, you never
see what he is making for. Whereas du Tillet's cunning, as Napoleon
said to somebody (I have forgotten the name), is like cotton spun too
fine, it breaks."
"I do not myself see that Nucingen has any advantage over du Tillet,"
|
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 Letters from England by Elizabeth Davis Bancroft: both Aylmer and Whitworth. Mr. Bancroft took out Lady Colchester,
and the old lady was wheeled out precisely as Grandma is.
At table she helped to the fish (cod, garnished round with smelts)
and insisted on carving the turkey herself, which she did extremely
well. By the way, I observe they never carve the breast of a turkey
LONGITUDINALLY, as we do, but in short slices, a little diagonally
from the centre. This makes many more slices, and quite large
enough where there are so many other dishes. The four ENTREE dishes
are always placed on the table when we sit down, according to our
old fashion, and not one by one. They have [them] warmed with hot
water, so that they keep hot while the soup and fish are eaten.
|
