| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Bucolics by Virgil: Vexed the Dulichian ships, and, in the deep
Swift-eddying whirlpool, with her sea-dogs tore
The trembling mariners? or how he told
Of the changed limbs of Tereus- what a feast,
What gifts, to him by Philomel were given;
How swift she sought the desert, with what wings
Hovered in anguish o'er her ancient home?
All that, of old, Eurotas, happy stream,
Heard, as Apollo mused upon the lyre,
And bade his laurels learn, Silenus sang;
Till from Olympus, loth at his approach,
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Poor and Proud by Oliver Optic: were willing to buy the article. She met with about the same
treatment from those to whom she offered her wares; one spoke
kindly, and purchased by wholesale, and another spoke gruffly,
and would not buy even a single stick. Here she was driven out of
doors, and there she was petted, and made large sales.
So far as Katy's person and manners were concerned, she was
admirably adapted to the business she had chosen. She was rather
small in stature for one of her age, but she was very well
formed, and her movements were agile and graceful. Her face was
not as pretty as it might have been, but her expression was
artless and winning. Her light brown hair hung in curls upon her
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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 King James Bible: PSA 14:3 They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy:
there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
PSA 14:4 Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my
people as they eat bread, and call not upon the LORD.
PSA 14:5 There were they in great fear: for God is in the generation of
the righteous.
PSA 14:6 Ye have shamed the counsel of the poor, because the LORD is
his refuge.
PSA 14:7 Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! when
the LORD bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice,
and Israel shall be glad.
King James Bible |
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 Collected Articles by Frederick Douglass: while those claimed by Congress have been confirmed.
Of the spirit and magnitude of the canvass nothing need be said.
The appeal was to the people, and the verdict was worthy of the tribunal.
Upon an occasion of his own selection, with the advice and approval
of his astute Secretary, soon after the members of the Congress had returned
to their constituents, the President quitted the executive mansion,
sandwiched himself between two recognized heroes,--men whom the whole country
delighted to honor,--and, with all the advantage which such company
could give him, stumped the country from the Atlantic to the Mississippi,
advocating everywhere his policy as against that of Congress.
It was a strange sight, and perhaps the most disgraceful exhibition
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