| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Pericles by William Shakespeare: [To Lysimachus.]
Shall we refresh us, sir, upon your shore,
And give you gold for such provision
As our intents will need?
LYSIMACHUS.
Sir,
With all my heart; and when you come ashore,
I have another suit.
PERICLES.
You shall prevail,
Were you to woo my daughter; for it seems
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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 Goodness of St. Rocque and Other Stories by Alice Dunbar: breakwaters and showed white teeth, far to the south.
As chickens creep from under shelter after a rain, so the people
of Mandeville crept out again on the piers, on the bath-houses,
on the breakwater edge, and watched eagerly for the boats.
Slowly upon the horizon appeared white sails, and the little
craft swung into sight. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven,
eight, nine, counted Mandeville. Every one coming in! Bravo!
And a great cheer that swept the whole length of the town from
the post-office to Black Bayou went up. Bravo! Every boat was
coming in. But--was every man?
This was a sobering thought, and in the hush which followed it
The Goodness of St. Rocque and Other Stories |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Resurrection by Leo Tolstoy: something, accompanied by quick gestures, to a gipsy man in a
blue coat, girdled tightly below the waist. Next the gipsy man, a
soldier sat on the ground talking to prisoner; next the soldier,
leaning close to the net, stood a young peasant, with a fair
beard and a flushed face, keeping back his tears with difficulty.
A pretty, fair-haired prisoner, with bright blue eyes, was
speaking to him. These two were Theodosia and her husband. Next
to them was a tramp, talking to a broad-faced woman; then two
women, then a man, then again a woman, and in front of each a
prisoner. Maslova was not among them. But some one stood by the
window behind the prisoners, and Nekhludoff knew it was she. His
Resurrection |
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 Poems by Oscar Wilde: Through Bagley wood at evening found the Attic poets' spring, -
Ah! tiny sober-suited advocate
That pleadest for the moon against the day!
If thou didst make the shepherd seek his mate
On that sweet questing, when Proserpina
Forgot it was not Sicily and leant
Across the mossy Sandford stile in ravished wonderment, -
Light-winged and bright-eyed miracle of the wood!
If ever thou didst soothe with melody
One of that little clan, that brotherhood
Which loved the morning-star of Tuscany
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