| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Nada the Lily by H. Rider Haggard: throat.
"I saw him, and whirling the Watcher aloft, I smote with all my
strength. The blow met him in mid-air; it fell full on his chest and
struck him backwards to the earth. But there he would not say, for,
rising before I could smite again, once more he sprang at me. This
time I leaped aside and struck downwards, and the blow fell upon his
right leg and broke it, so that he could spring no more. Yet he ran at
me on three feet, and, though the club fell on his side, he seized me
with his teeth, biting through that leather bag, which was wound about
my middle, into the flesh behind. Then I yelled with pain and rage,
and lifting the Watcher endways, drove it down with both hands, as a
Nada the Lily |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Common Sense by Thomas Paine: of which may be far more fatal than all the malice of Britain.
Thousands are already ruined by British barbarity; (thousands more will
probably suffer the same fate) Those men have other feelings than us who
have nothing suffered. All they NOW possess is liberty, what they before
enjoyed is sacrificed to its service, and having nothing more to lose,
they disdain submission. Besides, the general temper of the colonies,
towards a British government, will be like that of a youth,
who is nearly out of his time; they will care very little about her.
And a government which cannot preserve the peace, is no government at all,
and in that case we pay our money for nothing; and pray what is it that
Britain can do, whose power will he wholly on paper. should a civil
Common Sense |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Little Women by Louisa May Alcott: "Amy felt that there was something behind this, but would
not guess what, and said quietly, feeling hurt, and showing that
she did, "Perhaps you had rather I took no table at all?"
"Now, my dear, don't have any ill feeling, I beg. It's
merely a matter of expediency, you see, my girls will naturally
take the lead, and this table is considered their proper place.
I think it very appropriate to you, and feel very grateful for
your efforts to make it so pretty, but we must give up our private
wishes, of course, and I will see that you have a good place
elsewhere. Wouldn't you like the flower table? The little girls
undertook it, but they are discouraged. You could make a charming
Little Women |
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 Lily of the Valley by Honore de Balzac: We all left the room and went into the salon during the last
confession. I approached Madeleine. In presence of others she could
not escape me without a breach of civility; but, like her mother, she
looked at no one, and kept silence without even once turning her eyes
in my direction.
"Dear Madeleine," I said in a low voice, "What have you against me?
Why do you show such coldness in the presence of death, which ought to
reconcile us all?"
"I hear in my heart what my mother is saying at this moment," she
replied, with a look which Ingres gave to his "Mother of God,"--that
virgin, already sorrowful, preparing herself to protect the world for
The Lily of the Valley |
