| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy: or two, and knocking at the doors of one of those strongholds
of learning of which he had dreamed so much. He might,
of course, have gone there now, in some capacity or other,
but he preferred to enter the city with a little more assurance
as to means than he could be said to feel at present.
A warm self-content suffused him when he considered
what he had already done. Now and then as he went along
he turned to face the peeps of country on either side of him.
But he hardly saw them; the act was an automatic repetition
of what he had been accustomed to do when less occupied;
and the one matter which really engaged him was the mental
Jude the Obscure |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy: "When did she begin?" he asked quickly.
"The night after you came. But as a punishment to her poor self.
He didn't wish it, but she insisted."
"Sue, my Sue--you darling fool--this is almost more than I can
endure! ... Mrs. Edlin--don't be frightened at my rambling--
I've got to talk to myself lying here so many hours alone--
she was once a woman whose intellect was to mine like a
star to a benzoline lamp: who saw all MY superstitions
as cobwebs that she could brush away with a word.
Then bitter affliction came to us, and her intellect broke,
and she veered round to darkness. Strange difference of sex,
Jude the Obscure |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Smalcald Articles by Dr. Martin Luther: their office], and would devote themselves to the Church and
the Gospel, it might be granted to them for the sake of love
and unity, but not from necessity, to ordain and confirm us
and our preachers; omitting, however, all comedies and
spectacular display [deceptions, absurdities, and appearances]
of unchristian [heathenish] parade and pomp. But because they
neither are, nor wish to be, true bishops, but worldly lords
and princes, who will neither preach, nor teach, nor baptize,
nor administer the Lord's Supper, nor perform any work or
office of the Church, and, moreover, persecute and condemn
those who discharge these functions, having been called to do
|
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 Moran of the Lady Letty by Frank Norris: in the Presidio Government reservation the land is solitary.
Wilbur followed the line of the beach to the old fort; and there,
on the very threshold of the Western world, at the very outpost of
civilization, sat down in the lee of the crumbling fortification,
and scene by scene reviewed the extraordinary events of the past
six months.
In front of him ran the narrow channel of the Golden Gate; to his
right was the bay and the city; at his left the open Pacific.
He saw himself the day of his advent aboard the "Bertha" in his
top hat and frock coat; saw himself later "braking down" at the
windlass, the "Petrel" within hailing distance.
|
