| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Early Short Fiction of Edith Wharton by Edith Wharton: same secret drawer, unlocked the door beneath the tapestry. They
walked down the passage in silence, and she stood aside with a
grave gesture, making Wyant pass before her into the room. Then
she crossed over and drew the curtain back from the picture.
The light of the early afternoon poured full on it: its surface
appeared to ripple and heave with a fluid splendor. The colors
had lost none of their warmth, the outlines none of their pure
precision; it seemed to Wyant like some magical flower which had
burst suddenly from the mould of darkness and oblivion.
He turned to Miss Lombard with a movement of comprehension.
"Ah, I understand--you couldn't part with it, after all!" he cried.
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Mosses From An Old Manse by Nathaniel Hawthorne: as if the information were of importance, that it was now the
twelfth of May. Her husband started.
"The twelfth of May! I should remember it well," muttered he,
while many thoughts occasioned a momentary confusion in his mind.
"Where am I? Whither am I wandering? Where did I leave him?"
Dorcas, too well accustomed to her husband's wayward moods to
note any peculiarity of demeanor, now laid aside the almanac and
addressed him in that mournful tone which the tender hearted
appropriate to griefs long cold and dead.
"It was near this time of the month, eighteen years ago, that my
poor father left this world for a better. He had a kind arm to
Mosses From An Old Manse |
