| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Twice Told Tales by Nathaniel Hawthorne: golden hue upon its waters--nor that one of Love had sighed
softly to their murmur--nor that one of Death had threatened to
crimson them with his blood--all, in the brief hour since he lay
down to sleep. Sleeping or waking, we hear not the airy footsteps
of the strange things that almost happen. Does it not argue a
superintending Providence that, while viewless and unexpected
events thrust themselves continually athwart our path, there
should still be regularity enough in mortal life to render
foresight even partially available?
THE HOLLOW OF THE THREE HILLS
In those strange old times, when fantastic dreams and madmen's
Twice Told Tales |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Prufrock/Other Observations by T. S. Eliot: My self-possession gutters; we are really in the dark.
"For everybody said so, all our friends,
They all were sure our feelings would relate
So closely! I myself can hardly understand.
We must leave it now to fate.
You will write, at any rate.
Perhaps it is not too late
shall sit here, serving tea to friends."
And I must borrow every changing
find expression ... dance, dance
Like a dancing bear,
Prufrock/Other Observations |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The United States Bill of Rights: nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself,
nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law;
nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation.
VI
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a
speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district
wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have
been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature
and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him;
to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor,
and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.
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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 Circular Staircase by Mary Roberts Rinehart: the hills. There was something baffling in the girl's eyes; and
gradually Halsey's boyish features lost their glow at seeing her
about again, and settled into grim lines. He was like his father
just then.
We sat until late afternoon, Halsey growing more and more moody.
Shortly before six, he got up and went into the house, and in a
few minutes he came out and called me to the telephone. It was
Anna Whitcomb, in town, and she kept me for twenty minutes,
telling me the children had had the measles, and how Madame
Sweeny had botched her new gown.
When I finished, Liddy was behind me, her mouth a thin line.
The Circular Staircase |
