| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Love and Friendship by Jane Austen: peice with his general Character; for what could be expected from
a man who possessed not the smallest atom of Sensibility, who
scarcely knew the meaning of simpathy, and who actually snored--.
Adeiu
Laura.
LETTER the 15th
LAURA in continuation.
When we arrived at the town where we were to Breakfast, I was
determined to speak with Philander and Gustavus, and to that
purpose as soon as I left the Carriage, I went to the Basket and
tenderly enquired after their Health, expressing my fears of the
Love and Friendship |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Phantasmagoria and Other Poems by Lewis Carroll: Fayre Syr, how deemest thou of yt?
Yt ys - thys bytte of rhyme.
HIAWATHA'S PHOTOGRAPHING
[In an age of imitation, I can claim no special merit for this
slight attempt at doing what is known to be so easy. Any fairly
practised writer, with the slightest ear for rhythm, could compose,
for hours together, in the easy running metre of 'The Song of
Hiawatha.' Having, then, distinctly stated that I challenge no
attention in the following little poem to its merely verbal jingle,
I must beg the candid reader to confine his criticism to its
treatment of the subject.]
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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 On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin: curious to ascertain whether F. sanguinea could distinguish the pupae of F.
fusca, which they habitually make into slaves, from those of the little and
furious F. flava, which they rarely capture, and it was evident that they
did at once distinguish them: for we have seen that they eagerly and
instantly seized the pupae of F. fusca, whereas they were much terrified
when they came across the pupae, or even the earth from the nest of F.
flava, and quickly ran away; but in about a quarter of an hour, shortly
after all the little yellow ants had crawled away, they took heart and
carried off the pupae.
One evening I visited another community of F. sanguinea, and found a number
of these ants entering their nest, carrying the dead bodies of F. fusca
On the Origin of Species |
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 Adam Bede by George Eliot: you'll do anything as you can't ask God's blessing on."
"Nay, lad," said Adam, "don't be afraid. I'm for doing nought but
what's a man's duty."
The thought that if he betrayed his trouble to his mother, she
would only distress him by words, half of blundering affection,
half of irrepressible triumph that Hetty proved as unfit to be his
wife as she had always foreseen, brought back some of his habitual
firmness and self-command. He had felt ill on his journey home--
he told her when she came down--had stayed all night at
Tredddleston for that reason; and a bad headache, that still hung
about him this morning, accounted for his paleness and heavy eyes.
Adam Bede |
