| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Dracula by Bram Stoker: But the instant she had disappeared he pulled me, suddenly and forcibly,
into the dining room and closed the door.
Then, for the first time in my life, I saw Van Helsing break down.
He raised his hands over his head in a sort of mute despair,
and then beat his palms together in a helpless way.
Finally he sat down on a chair, and putting his hands before
his face, began to sob, with loud, dry sobs that seemed to come
from the very racking of his heart.
Then he raised his arms again, as though appealing to the
whole universe. "God! God! God!" he said. "What have we done,
what has this poor thing done, that we are so sore beset?
Dracula |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Gods of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs: prisoner in Zat Arras' pits.
That Zat Arras' spy had overheard our conversation relative
to the selection of a new Jeddak, I knew, and scarcely
a half-dozen minutes prior we had discussed the details
of the plan to rescue Dejah Thoris. The chances were that
that matter, too, was well known to him. Carthoris, Kantos
Kan, Tars Tarkas, Hor Vastus, and Xodar might even now
be the victims of Zat Arras' assassins, or else his prisoners.
I determined to make at least one more effort to learn
something, and to this end I adopted strategy when next
the youth came to my cell. I had noticed that he was a
The Gods of Mars |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from O Pioneers! by Willa Cather: letters for you." Alexandra came out from the
sitting-room and pinched Marie's cheek play-
fully. "You don't look as if the weather ever
froze you up. Never have colds, do you?
That's a good girl. She had dark red cheeks like
this when she was a little girl, Mrs. Lee. She
looked like some queer foreign kind of a doll.
I've never forgot the first time I saw you in
Mieklejohn's store, Marie, the time father was
lying sick. Carl and I were talking about that
before he went away."
O Pioneers! |
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 Waste Land by T. S. Eliot: 'My feet are at Moorgate, and my heart
Under my feet. After the event
He wept. He promised "a new start".
I made no comment. What should I resent?'
'On Margate Sands. 300
I can connect
Nothing with nothing.
The broken fingernails of dirty hands.
My people humble people who expect
Nothing.'
la la
The Waste Land |
