The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Men of Iron by Howard Pyle: will fight thee, Blunt."
"So be it," said Blunt. "Then let us go at it straightway in the
armory yonder, for they be at dinner in the Great Hall, and just
now there be'st no one by to stay us."
"Thou shalt not fight him, Myles!" burst out Gascoyne. "He will
murther thee! Thou shalt not fight him, I say!"
Myles turned away without answering him.
"What is to do?" called one of those who were still looking out
of the windows as the crowd of boys passed beneath.
"Blunt and Falworth are going to fight it out hand to hand in the
armory," answered one of the bachelors, looking up.
 Men of Iron |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Walden by Henry David Thoreau: stretching cornfields occupies exactly such a "horrid chasm," from
which the waters have receded, though it requires the insight and
the far sight of the geologist to convince the unsuspecting
inhabitants of this fact. Often an inquisitive eye may detect the
shores of a primitive lake in the low horizon hills, and no
subsequent elevation of the plain have been necessary to conceal
their history. But it is easiest, as they who work on the highways
know, to find the hollows by the puddles after a shower. The amount
of it is, the imagination give it the least license, dives deeper
and soars higher than Nature goes. So, probably, the depth of the
ocean will be found to be very inconsiderable compared with its
 Walden |