| 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: Unto a stranger knight to be so bold:
He may my proffer take for an offence,
Since men take women's gifts for impudence.
SIMONIDES.
How!
Do as I bid you, or you'll move me else.
THAISA. [Aside]
Now, by the gods, he could not please me better.
SIMONIDES.
And furthermore tell him, we desire to know of him,
Of whence he is, his name and parentage.
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe: Some men, however, are decidedly bettered by being knocked down.
If a man lays them fairly flat in the dust, they seem
immediately to conceive a respect for him; and Legree was one of
this sort. As he rose, therefore, and brushed the dust from his
clothes, he eyed the slowly-retreating wagon with some evident
consideration; nor did he open his mouth till it was out of sight.
Beyond the boundaries of the plantation, George had noticed a dry,
sandy knoll, shaded by a few trees; there they made the grave.
"Shall we take off the cloak, Mas'r?" said the negroes,
when the grave was ready.
"No, no,--bury it with him! It's all I can give you, now,
Uncle Tom's Cabin |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Marie by H. Rider Haggard: brought upon us all! Well, I warned him that it would be so. Good-bye,
my dear boy, good-bye: my prayers will follow you, and for the rest--
Well, I am old, and what does it matter if my grey hairs come with
sorrow to the grave?"
I kissed him back, and with an aching heart sprang to the saddle. In
five more minutes the station was out of sight.
Thirteen and a half hours later I pulled rein upon the quay of Port
Elizabeth just, only just, in time to catch Captain Richardson as he was
entering his boat to row out to the Seven Stars, on which the canvas was
already being hoisted. As well as I could in my exhausted state, I
explained matters and persuaded him to wait till the next tide. Then,
Marie |
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 The Jungle by Upton Sinclair: Chicago, and of what had happened to them afterward--stories to make
your flesh creep, but Jurgis would only laugh. He had only been there
four months, and he was young, and a giant besides. There was too much
health in him. He could not even imagine how it would feel to be beaten.
"That is well enough for men like you," he would say, "silpnas, puny
fellows--but my back is broad."
Jurgis was like a boy, a boy from the country. He was the sort of man the
bosses like to get hold of, the sort they make it a grievance they cannot
get hold of. When he was told to go to a certain place, he would go there
on the run. When he had nothing to do for the moment, he would stand round
fidgeting, dancing, with the overflow of energy that was in him. If he
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