| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Lady Susan by Jane Austen: I call on you, dear Alicia, for congratulations: I am my own self, gay
and triumphant! When I wrote to you the other day I was, in truth, in high
irritation, and with ample cause. Nay, I know not whether I ought to be
quite tranquil now, for I have had more trouble in restoring peace than I
ever intended to submit to--a spirit, too, resulting from a fancied sense
of superior integrity, which is peculiarly insolent! I shall not easily
forgive him, I assure you. He was actually on the point of leaving
Churchhill! I had scarcely concluded my last, when Wilson brought me word
of it. I found, therefore, that something must be done; for I did not
choose to leave my character at the mercy of a man whose passions are so
violent and so revengeful. It would have been trifling with my reputation
Lady Susan |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Return of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs: dish of water in his hand. A nasty grin contorted his features.
"Here is water," he said. "But first let me remind you that
you maligned me before the girl--that you kept her to
yourself, and would not share her with me--"
Clayton interrupted him. "Stop!" he cried. Stop!
What manner of cur are you that you traduce the character
of a good woman whom we believe dead! God! I was a fool
ever to let you live--you are not fit to live even in
this vile land."
"Here is your water," said the Russian. "All you will
get," and he raised the basin to his lips and drank; what
The Return of Tarzan |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Songs of Innocence and Experience by William Blake: He'd have God for his father, and never want joy.
And so Tom awoke, and we rose in the dark,
And got with our bags and our brushes to work.
Though the morning was cold, Tom was happy and warm:
So, if all do their duty, they need not fear harm.
THE LITTLE BOY LOST
'Father, father, where are you going?
O do not walk so fast!
Speak, father, speak to your little boy,
Or else I shall be lost.'
The night was dark, no father was there,
Songs of Innocence and Experience |
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 Amy Foster by Joseph Conrad: change, all the relaxation. She never seemed to
wish for anything more. And then she fell in love.
She fell in love silently, obstinately--perhaps help-
lessly. It came slowly, but when it came it worked
like a powerful spell; it was love as the Ancients
understood it: an irresistible and fateful impulse--
a possession! Yes, it was in her to become haunted
and possessed by a face, by a presence, fatally, as
though she had been a pagan worshipper of form
under a joyous sky--and to be awakened at last
from that mysterious forgetfulness of self, from
Amy Foster |
