| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Tour Through Eastern Counties of England by Daniel Defoe: county and some in the other, as Beccles, Bungay, Harlston, etc.,
all on the edge of the River Waveney, which parts here the counties
of Suffolk and Norfolk. And here in a bye-place, and out of common
remark, lies the ancient town of Hoxon, famous for being the place
where St. Edmund was martyred, for whom so many cells and shrines
have been set up and monasteries built, and in honour of whom the
famous monastery of St. Edmundsbury, above mentioned, was founded,
which most people erroneously think was the place where the said
murder was committed.
Besides the towns mentioned above, there are Halesworth,
Saxmundham, Debenham, Aye, or Eye, all standing in this eastern
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte: had examined all. Catherine's library was select, and its state of
dilapidation proved it to have been well used, though not
altogether for a legitimate purpose: scarcely one chapter had
escaped, a pen-and-ink commentary - at least the appearance of one
- covering every morsel of blank that the printer had left. Some
were detached sentences; other parts took the form of a regular
diary, scrawled in an unformed, childish hand. At the top of an
extra page (quite a treasure, probably, when first lighted on) I
was greatly amused to behold an excellent caricature of my friend
Joseph, - rudely, yet powerfully sketched. An immediate interest
kindled within me for the unknown Catherine, and I began forthwith
Wuthering Heights |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe: bargains, as I found by her discourse.
I found also that in following this trade she always melted
down the plate she bought, that it might not be challenged;
and she came to me and told me one morning that she was
going to melt, and if I would, she would put my tankard in,
that it might not be seen by anybody. I told her, with all my
heart; so she weighed it, and allowed me the full value in silver
again; but I found she did not do the same to the rest of her
customers.
Some time after this, as I was at work, and very melancholy,
she begins to ask me what the matter was, as she was used to
Moll Flanders |
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 Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson: peak of a nightcap bobbing up and down and back and forward, like
the head of a rabbit from a burrow. I had little welcome when I
came, and less kindness while I stayed; but at least I was
watched as I went away.
Alan and I went slowly forward upon our way, having little heart
either to walk or speak. The same thought was uppermost in both,
that we were near the time of our parting; and remembrance of all
the bygone days sate upon us sorely. We talked indeed of what
should be done; and it was resolved that Alan should keep to the
county, biding now here, now there, but coming once in the day to
a particular place where I might be able to communicate with him,
Kidnapped |
