| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Philosophy 4 by Owen Wister: war and took the business in '65. I'm not commonly to be met out this
late. About fifteen minutes earlier is my time for gettin' back, unless
I'm plannin' for a jamboree. But to-night I got to settin' and watchin'
that sunset, and listenin' to a darned red-winged blackbird, and I guess
Mrs. Higgs has decided to expect me somewheres about noon to-morrow or
Friday. Say, did Johnnie send you? "When he found that John had in a
measure been responsible for their journey, he filled with gayety. "Oh,
Johnnie's a bird!" said he. "He's that demure on first appearance.
Walked in last evening and wanted dinner. Did he tell you what he ate?
Guess he left out what he drank. Yes, he's demure."
You might suppose that upon their landlord's safe and sober return
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Sanitary and Social Lectures by Charles Kingsley: gotten. Some, as a fact, expected the assistance of the clergy,
and especially of the preachers of those denominations who believe
that every human being, by the mere fact of his birth into this
world, is destined to endless torture after death, unless the
preacher can find an opportunity to deliver him therefrom before
he dies. They supposed that to such preachers the mortal lives of
men would be inexpressibly precious; that any science which held
out a prospect of retarding death in the case of "lost millions"
would be hailed as a heavenly boon, and would be carried out with
the fervour of men who felt that for the soul's sake no exertion
was too great in behalf of the body.
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| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Aeneid by Virgil: For what, without thy knowledge and avow,
Nay more, thy dictate, durst Juturna do?
At last, in deference to my love, forbear
To lodge within thy soul this anxious care;
Reclin'd upon my breast, thy grief unload:
Who should relieve the goddess, but the god?
Now all things to their utmost issue tend,
Push'd by the Fates to their appointed
While leave was giv'n thee, and a lawful hour
For vengeance, wrath, and unresisted pow'r,
Toss'd on the seas, thou couldst thy foes distress,
Aeneid |
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 A Personal Record by Joseph Conrad: marble-like condition and their rich tone of young ivory. He was
the leader of a small caravan. The light of a headlong, exalted
satisfaction with the world of men and the scenery of mountains
illumined his clean-cut, very red face, his short, silver-white
whiskers, his innocently eager and triumphant eyes. In passing
he cast a glance of kindly curiosity and a friendly gleam of big,
sound, shiny teeth toward the man and the boy sitting like dusty
tramps by the roadside, with a modest knapsack lying at their
feet. His white calves twinkled sturdily, the uncouth Swiss
guide with a surly mouth stalked like an unwilling bear at his
elbow; a small train of three mules followed in single file the
A Personal Record |
