| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Flame and Shadow by Sara Teasdale: But we are watchers in the shade
Who speak with Wonder face to face.
The New Moon
Day, you have bruised and beaten me,
As rain beats down the bright, proud sea,
Beaten my body, bruised my soul,
Left me nothing lovely or whole --
Yet I have wrested a gift from you,
Day that dies in dusky blue:
For suddenly over the factories
I saw a moon in the cloudy seas --
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Wrecker by Stevenson & Osbourne: be so still) that stood out alone among its brethren in the West;
the others, down to their smallest item, were defaced with
capitals, head-lines, alliterations, swaggering misquotations,
and the shoddy picturesque and unpathetic pathos of the Harry
Millers: the _Occidental_ alone appeared to be written by a
dull, sane, Christian gentleman, singly desirous of
communicating knowledge. It had not only this merit, which
endeared it to me, but was admittedly the best informed on
business matters, which attracted Pinkerton.
"Loudon," said he, looking up from the journal, "you
sometimes think I have too many irons in the fire. My notion,
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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 Goodness of St. Rocque and Other Stories by Alice Dunbar: Monsieur LeConte simply as a study. He is entertaining; he talks
well of his travels, and as for refusing to recognise the
difference between us, why, he never dreamed of such a thing."
Suddenly a peremptory summons home from Annette's father put an
end to the fears of Philip. Annette pouted, but papa must be
obeyed. She blamed Philip and Aunt Nina for telling tales, but
Aunt Nina was uncommunicative, and Philip too obviously cheerful
to derive much satisfaction from.
That night she walked with the fisherman hand in hand on the
sands. The wind from the pines bore the scarcely recognisable,
subtle freshness of early autumn, and the waters had a hint of
The Goodness of St. Rocque and Other Stories |
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 Blix by Frank Norris:
These two interests had now absorbed his entire life for the
moment--his love for Blix, and his novel. Little by little "In
Defiance of Authority" took shape. The boom restaurant and the
club of the exiles were disposed of, Billy Isham began to come to
the front, the filibustering expedition and Senora Estrada (with
her torn calling card) had been introduced, and the expedition was
ready to put to sea. But here a new difficulty was encountered.
"What do I know about ships?" Condy confessed to Blix. "If Billy
Isham is going to command a filibustering schooner, I've got to
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