Today's Stichomancy for William Shakespeare

The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Secret Sharer by Joseph Conrad:

"The ship is on the off-shore tack and the wind may fail us."

"As long as I know that you understand," he whispered. "But of course you do. It's a great satisfaction to have got somebody to understand. You seem to have been there on purpose." And in the same whisper, as if we two whenever we talked had to say things to each other which were not fit for the world to hear, he added, "It's very wonderful."

We remained side by side talking in our secret way-- but sometimes silent or just exchanging a whispered word or two at long intervals. And as usual he stared through the port. A breath of wind came now and again into our faces.

The Secret Sharer

The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from U. S. Project Trinity Report by Carl Maag and Steve Rohrer:

ground zero. The highest exposure among these ten men was 0.3 roentgens (1).

The next party to approach ground zero consisted of a photographer and a radiological safety monitor. Wearing protective clothing and respirators, the two men were about 730 meters northwest of ground zero photographing "JUMBO" from 1100 to 1200 hours. "JUMBO," shown in figure 2-7, was a massive container built to contain the high-explosive detonation of the TRINITY device and to allow recovery of the fissionable material if the device failed to produce a nuclear detonation. The plan to use "JUMBO," however, was abandoned when the scientists concluded that a fairly large nuclear explosion was

The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Reign of King Edward the Third by William Shakespeare:

Famine shall combat where our swords are stopped.

[Enter six poor Frenchmen.]

DERBY. The promised aid, that made them stand aloof, Is now retired and gone an other way: It will repent them of their stubborn will. But what are these poor ragged slaves, my Lord?

KING EDWARD. Ask what they are; it seems, they come from Callis.

DERBY. You wretched patterns of despair and woe,

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 Moral Emblems by Robert Louis Stevenson:

And own, to give the devil his due, I have made more of life than you. Yet I nor sought nor risked a life; I shudder at an open knife; The perilous seas I still avoided And stuck to land whate'er betided. I had no gold, no marble quarry, I was a poor apothecary, Yet here I stand, at thirty-eight, A man of an assured estate.'

'Well,' answered Robin - 'well, and how?'