| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Rape of Lucrece by William Shakespeare: Till after a deep groan) 'Tarquin from, hence?'
'Madam, ere I was up,' replied the maid,
'The more to blame my sluggard negligence:
Yet with the fault I thus far can dispense;
Myself was stirring ere the break of day,
And, ere I rose, was Tarquin gone away.
'But, lady, if your maid may be so bold,
She would request to know your heaviness.'
'O peace!' quoth Lucrece: 'if it should be told,
The repetition cannot make it less;
For more it is than I can well express:
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from When the Sleeper Wakes by H. G. Wells: old man's words. "We have abolished Cram," he
said, a phrase Graham was beginning to interpret as
the abolition of all sustained work. The Surveyor-
General became sentimental. "We try and make the
elementary schools very pleasant for the little
children. They will have to work so soon. Just a few
simple principles--obedience--industry."
"You teach them very little?"
"Why should we? It only leads to trouble and discontent.
We amuse them. Even as it is--there are
troubles--agitations. Where the labourers get the
When the Sleeper Wakes |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from A Legend of Montrose by Walter Scott: add, that from the great strength and courage of Allan M'Aulay,
from his energetic and uncontrollable disposition, and from an
opinion generally entertained and encouraged by himself that he
holds communion with supernatural beings, and can predict future
events, the clan pay a much greater degree of deference to him
than even to his brother, who is a bold-hearted rattling
Highlander, but with nothing which can possibly rival the
extraordinary character of his younger brother."
"Such a character," said Anderson, "cannot but have the deepest
effect on the minds of a Highland host. We must secure Allan, my
lord, at all events. What between his bravery and his second
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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 Story of an African Farm by Olive Schreiner: instantly have vanished. For, having filled the salt-pot, he proceeded to
look for the box of books among the rubbish that filled the loft. Under a
pile of sacks he found it--a rough packing-case, nailed up, but with one
loose plank. He lifted that, and saw the even backs of a row of books. He
knelt down before the box, and ran his hand along its rough edges, as if to
assure himself of its existence. He stuck his hand in among the books, and
pulled out two. He felt them, thrust his fingers in among the leaves, and
crumpled them a little, as a lover feels the hair of his mistress. The
fellow gloated over his treasure. He had had a dozen books in the course
of his life; now here was a mine of them opened at his feet. After a while
he began to read the titles, and now and again opened a book and read a
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