| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Wrong Box by Stevenson & Osbourne: and raised the lid.
In what antics of agony, in what fits of flighty resolution, in
what collapses of despair, Gideon consumed the night, it would be
ungenerous to enquire too closely.
That trill of tiny song with which the eaves-birds of London
welcome the approach of day found him limp and rumpled and
bloodshot, and with a mind still vacant of resource. He rose and
looked forth unrejoicingly on blinded windows, an empty street,
and the grey daylight dotted with the yellow lamps. There are
mornings when the city seems to awake with a sick headache; this
was one of them; and still the twittering reveille of the
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Tanglewood Tales by Nathaniel Hawthorne: Thasus laid aside his purple robe and crown, and sceptre, and
bade his worthiest subjects distribute justice to the people in
his stead. Then, grasping the pilgrim's staff that had
supported him so long, he set forth again, hoping still to
discover some hoof-mark of the snow-white bull, some trace of
the vanished child. He returned after a lengthened absence, and
sat down wearily upon his throne. To his latest hour,
nevertheless, King Thasus showed his true-hearted remembrance
of Europa, by ordering that a fire should always be kept
burning in his palace, and a bath steaming hot, and food ready
to be served up, and a bed with snow-white sheets, in case the
Tanglewood Tales |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Virginian by Owen Wister: living with her cow-boy lover broke the voices of the world. She
could hear them from afar. She could see the eyes of Bennington
watching this man at her side. She could imagine the ears of
Bennington listening for slips in his English. There loomed upon
her the round of visits which they would have to make. The
ringing of the door-bells, the waiting in drawing-rooms for the
mistress to descend and utter her prepared congratulations, while
her secret eye devoured the Virginian's appearance, and his
manner of standing and sitting. He would be wearing gloves,
instead of fringed gauntlets of buckskin. In a smooth black coat
and waistcoat, how could they perceive the man he was? During
The Virginian |
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 Four Arthurian Romances by Chretien DeTroyes: occasion to-day for further reproof." To this she vouchsafed no
reply, holding his threats in slight esteem, and the Count
strikes her upon the face. At this she shrieks, and the barons
present blame the Count. "Hold. sire!" they cry to the Count;
"you ought to be ashamed of having struck this lady because she
will not eat. You have done a very ugly deed. If this lady is
distressed because of her lord whom she now sees dead, no one
should say that she is wrong." "Keep silence, all." the Count
replies; "the dame is mine and I am hers, and I will do with her
as I please." At this she could not hold her peace, but swears
she will never be his. And the Count springs up and strikes her
|
