| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte: beneath the baneful influence of such a mode of life. The gross
vapours of earth were gathering around me, and closing in upon my
inward heaven; and thus it was that Mr. Weston rose at length upon
me, appearing like the morning star in my horizon, to save me from
the fear of utter darkness; and I rejoiced that I had now a subject
for contemplation that was above me, not beneath. I was glad to
see that all the world was not made up of Bloomfields, Murrays,
Hatfields, Ashbys, &c.; and that human excellence was not a mere
dream of the imagination. When we hear a little good and no harm
of a person, it is easy and pleasant to imagine more: in short, it
is needless to analyse all my thoughts; but Sunday was now become a
Agnes Grey |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Lucile by Owen Meredith: "No, no!"
"You alarm me!"
She droop'd down her head.
"If your thoughts have of late sought, or cared, to divine
The purpose of what has been passing in mine,
My farewell can scarcely alarm you."
ALFRED.
Lucile!
Your farewell! you go!
LUCILE.
Yes, Lord Alfred.
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| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Mother by Owen Wister: brought him every week to the room of our president; and so having a sort
of acquaintance with him, I felt it easier to consult him than to seek
any other among the brokers, to which class I was a well nigh total
stranger. He very kindly consented to be my adviser. I was well pleased
to find how much I had underrated the interest-bearing capacity of my
windfall. 'Four per cent!' he cried, when I told him this was the extent
of my expectations. 'Why, you're talking like a trustee.' And then seeing
that his meaning was beyond me, he explained in his bluff, humorous
manner. 'All a trustee cares for you know, is his reputation for safety.
It's not his own income he's nursing, and so he doesn't care how small he
makes it, provided only that his investments would be always called safe.
|
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 Almayer's Folly by Joseph Conrad: senses by the intensity of his delight, she walked up to him with
quick, resolute steps, and, with the appearance of one about to
leap from a dangerous height, threw both her arms round his neck
with a sudden gesture. A small blue gleam crept amongst the dry
branches, and the crackling of reviving fire was the only sound
as they faced each other in the speechless emotion of that
meeting; then the dry fuel caught at once, and a bright hot flame
shot upwards in a blaze as high as their heads, and in its light
they saw each other's eyes.
Neither of them spoke. He was regaining his senses in a slight
tremor that ran upwards along his rigid body and hung about his
Almayer's Folly |
