| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Men of Iron by Howard Pyle: struggled violently to wrench the gisarm away from Myles. In that
short, fierce struggle Myles was dragged to his knees, and then,
still holding the weapon with one hand, he clutched the trappings
of the Earl's horse with the other. The next moment he was upon
his feet. The other struggled to thrust him away, but Myles,
letting go the gisarm, which he held with his left hand, clutched
him tightly by the sword-belt in the intense, vise-like grip of
despair. In vain the Earl strove to beat him loose with the shaft
of the gisarm, in vain he spurred and reared his horse to shake
him off; Myles held him tight, in spite of all his struggles.
He felt neither the streaming blood nor the throbbing agony of
Men of Iron |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from 'Twixt Land & Sea by Joseph Conrad: my footsteps; she can't help it; she'll hear me open and shut that
door. And I closed it as gently behind me as if I had been a thief
retreating with his ill-gotten booty. During that stealthy act I
experienced the last touch of emotion in that house, at the thought
of the girl I had left sitting there in the obscurity, with her
heavy hair and empty eyes as black as the night itself, staring
into the walled garden, silent, warm, odorous with the perfume of
imprisoned flowers, which, like herself, were lost to sight in a
world buried in darkness.
The narrow, ill-lighted, rustic streets I knew so well on my way to
the harbour were extremely quiet. I felt in my heart that the
'Twixt Land & Sea |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad: way, which we can find out without much trouble."
His countenance had that look of grave, overbearing indifference
once well known and much dreaded by the better sort of thieves.
Chief Inspector Heat, though what is called a man, was not a
smiling animal. But his inward state was that of satisfaction at
the passively receptive attitude of the Assistant Commissioner, who
murmured gently:
"And you really think that the investigation should be made in that
direction?"
"I do, sir."
"Quite convinced?
The Secret Agent |
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 Maggie: A Girl of the Streets by Stephen Crane: and the lambrequin, with its immense sheaves of yellow wheat
and red roses of equal size, had been returned, in a worn and sorry
state, to its position at the mantel. Maggie's jacket and hat were
gone from the nail behind the door.
Jimmie walked to the window and began to look through the
blurred glass. It occurred to him to vaguely wonder, for an
instant, if some of the women of his acquaintance had brothers.
Suddenly, however, he began to swear.
"But he was me frien'! I brought 'im here! Dat's deh hell of it!"
He fumed about the room, his anger gradually rising to the
furious pitch.
Maggie: A Girl of the Streets |
