| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Tanglewood Tales by Nathaniel Hawthorne: if there be a sail upon the sea. And, dearest Theseus, if by
some happy chance, you should escape the jaws of the Minotaur,
then tear down those dismal sails, and hoist others that shall
be bright as the sunshine. Beholding them on the horizon,
myself and all the people will know that you are coming back
victorious, and will welcome you with such a festal uproar as
Athens never heard before."
Theseus promised that he would do so. Then going on board, the
mariners trimmed the vessel's black sails to the wind, which
blew faintly off the shore, being pretty much made up of the
sighs that everybody kept pouring forth on this melancholy
Tanglewood Tales |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Wrong Box by Stevenson & Osbourne: allowance and a great deal of advice, couched in language that
would probably have been judged intemperate on board a pirate
ship. Mr Bloomfield was indeed a figure quite peculiar to the
days of Mr Gladstone; what we may call (for the lack of an
accepted expression) a Squirradical. Having acquired years
without experience, he carried into the Radical side of politics
those noisy, after-dinner-table passions, which we are more
accustomed to connect with Toryism in its severe and senile
aspects. To the opinions of Mr Bradlaugh, in fact, he added the
temper and the sympathies of that extinct animal, the Squire; he
admired pugilism, he carried a formidable oaken staff, he was a
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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 Adventure by Jack London: for Hughie's sake, I swear, than my own. He was bound up in it.
You see, he was a persistent chap, and hated to acknowledge defeat.
It--it makes me uncomfortable to think of it myself. We were
running slowly behind, but with the Jessie we hoped to muddle
through in some fashion."
"You were muddlers, the pair of you, without doubt. But you
needn't sell to Morgan and Raff. I shall go down to Sydney on the
next steamer, and I'll come back in a second-hand schooner. I
should be able to buy one for five or six thousand dollars--"
He held up his hand in protest, but she waved it aside.
"I may manage to freight a cargo back as well. At any rate, the
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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 Dracula by Bram Stoker: me look at it, for I knew that I might find some clue to his trouble,
but I suppose he must have seen my wish in my eyes, for he sent me
over to the window, saying he wanted to be quite alone for a moment.
"Then he called me back, and he said to me very solemnly,
`Wilhelmina', I knew then that he was in deadly earnest, for he has
never called me by that name since he asked me to marry him,
`You know, dear, my ideas of the trust between husband and wife.
There should be no secret, no concealment. I have had a great shock,
and when I try to think of what it is I feel my head spin round,
and I do not know if it was real of the dreaming of a madman.
You know I had brain fever, and that is to be mad.
Dracula |
