| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Dynamiter by Robert Louis Stevenson and Fanny Van De Grift Stevenson: his character, besides, developed step by step; and Somerset,
as the time fled, not only outgrew some of the discomfort of
his false position, but began to regard the conspirator with
a familiarity that verged upon contempt. In any
circumstances, he had a singular inability to leave the
society in which he found himself; company, even if
distasteful, held him captive like a limed sparrow; and on
this occasion, he suffered hour to follow hour, was easily
persuaded to sit down once more to table, and did not even
attempt to withdraw till, on the approach of evening, Zero,
with many apologies, dismissed his guest. His fellow-
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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 Dunwich Horror by H. P. Lovecraft: house - a spacious, peak-roofed affair whose rear end was buried
entirely in the rocky hillside, and whose three least-ruined ground-floor
rooms had always been sufficient for himself and his daughter.
There must have been prodigious reserves of strength in the
old man to enable him to accomplish so much hard labour; and though
he still babbled dementedly at times, his carpentry seemed to
show the effects of sound calculation. It had already begun as
soon as Wilbur was born, when one of the many tool sheds had been
put suddenly in order, clapboarded, and fitted with a stout fresh
lock. Now, in restoring the abandoned upper storey of the house,
he was a no less thorough craftsman. His mania showed itself only
The Dunwich Horror |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton: I've just done something so much more unconventional."
The faint tinge of irony lingered in her eyes. "I've just
refused to take back a sum of money--that belonged to
me."
Archer sprang up and moved a step or two away.
She had furled her parasol and sat absently drawing
patterns on the gravel. Presently he came back and
stood before her.
"Some one--has come here to meet you?"
"Yes."
"With this offer?"
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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 The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath by H. P. Lovecraft: with their little green cottages and neatly fenced farms; and
still pleasanter was the quaint town itself, with its old peaked
roofs and overhanging upper stories and numberless chimney-pots
and narrow hill streets where one can see old cobbles whenever
the graceful cats afford space enough. Carter, the cats being
somewhat dispersed by the half-seen Zoogs, picked his way directly
to the modest Temple of the Elder Ones where the priests and old
records were said to be; and once within that venerable circular
tower of ivied stone - which crowns Ulthar's highest hill - he
sought out the patriarch Atal, who had been up the forbidden peak
Hatheg-Kia in the stony desert and had come down again alive.
The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath |
