| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Glaucus/The Wonders of the Shore by Charles Kingsley: that to know that saying, is to know the key-note of the world to
come. Believe me, to know it, and all it means, is to know the
keynote of this world also, from the fall of dynasties and the fate
of nations, to the sea-weed which rots upon the beach.
It may seem startling, possibly (though I hope not, for my readers'
sake, irreverent), to go back at once after such thoughts, be they
true or false, to the weeds upon the cliff above our heads. But He
who is not here, but is risen, yet is here, and has appointed them
their services in a wonderful order; and I wish that on some day,
or on many days, when a quiet sea and offshore breezes have
prevented any new objects from coming to land with the rising tide,
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald: pasty color of a dead manrather a sort of virile pallornor
unhealthy, you'd have called it; but like a strong man who'd
worked in a mine or done night shifts in a damp climate. Amory
looked him over carefully and later he could have drawn him after
a fashion, down to the merest details. His mouth was the kind
that is called frank, and he had steady gray eyes that moved
slowly from one to the other of their group, with just the shade
of a questioning expression. Amory noticed his hands; they
weren't fine at all, but they had versatility and a tenuous
strength ... they were nervous hands that sat lightly along the
cushions and moved constantly with little jerky openings and
This Side of Paradise |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Dust by Mr. And Mrs. Haldeman-Julius: rage, but he was so weaponless, so completely in his father's
power--there was no escape from this tyranny. He knew he could
not live without him; even his mother could not do that. His
mother! What a sense of rest would come over him when he sat in
her capacious lap, his head on her soft shoulder. With her cheek
against his and her kind hand gently patting the back of his
still chubby one, something hard in him always melted away.
"Why do I love you so, mama," he asked once, "and hate papa so?"
Mrs. Wade realized what was in his sore heart and hers ached for
him, but she answered quietly: "You mustn't hate anybody, dear.
You shouldn't."
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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 Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe: He'll do very well, as long as he's taken care of,--that's all."
"But, then, consider," said Miss Ophelia, "when you set
him up for sale, the chances of his getting a bad master."
"O, that's all humbug!" said Marie; "it isn't one time in
a hundred that a good fellow gets a bad master; most masters are
good, for all the talk that is made. I've lived and grown up here,
in the South, and I never yet was acquainted with a master that
didn't treat his servants well,--quite as well as is worth while.
I don't feel any fears on that head."
"Well," said Miss Ophelia, energetically, "I know it was
one of the last wishes of your husband that Tom should have his
Uncle Tom's Cabin |
