| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells: leather.
Two large dark-coloured eyes were regarding me stead-
fastly. The mass that framed them, the head of the thing, was
rounded, and had, one might say, a face. There was a mouth
under the eyes, the lipless brim of which quivered and
panted, and dropped saliva. The whole creature heaved and
pulsated convulsively. A lank tentacular appendage gripped
the edge of the cylinder, another swayed in the air.
Those who have never seen a living Martian can scarcely
imagine the strange horror of its appearance. The peculiar
V-shaped mouth with its pointed upper lip, the absence of
War of the Worlds |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Pierre Grassou by Honore de Balzac: "If he would only paint the portrait of your Virginie it would be
worth a thousand times more than mine," replied Fougeres, vehemently.
Hearing that reply the bourgeois beat a quiet retreat to his wife, who
was stupefied by the invasion of this ferocious animal, and very
uneasy at his co-operation in her daughter's portrait.
"Here, follow these indications," said Bridau, returning the palette,
and taking the note. "I won't thank you. I can go back now to
d'Arthez' chateau, where I am doing a dining-room, and Leon de Lora
the tops of the doors--masterpieces! Come and see us."
And off he went without taking leave, having had enough of looking at
Virginie.
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from In a German Pension by Katherine Mansfield: Everything here's filthy, the whole place might be down with the plague,
and will be, too, if this street's not swept away. I'd like to have a hand
on the government ropes." He braced his shoulders. "Now for this doctor."
"Doctor Erb is at breakfast," the maid informed him. She showed him into
the waiting-room, a dark and musty place, with some ferns under a
glass-case by the window. "He says he won't be a minute, please, sir, and
there is a paper on the table."
"Unhealthy hole," thought Binzer, walking over to the window and drumming
his fingers on the glass fern-shade. "At breakfast, is he? That's the
mistake I made: turning out early on an empty stomach."
A milk cart rattled down the street, the driver standing at the back,
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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 Ballads by Robert Louis Stevenson: As, when in days of summer, through open windows, the fly
Swift as a breeze and loud as a trump goes by,
But when frosts in the field have pinched the wintering mouse,
Blindly noses and buzzes and hums in the firelit house:
So the sound of the feast gallantly trampled at night,
So it staggered and drooped, and droned in the morning light.
IV. THE RAID
IT chanced that as Rua sat in the valley of silent falls,
He heard a calling of doves from high on the cliffy walls.
Fire had fashioned of yore, and time had broken, the rocks;
There were rooting crannies for trees and nesting-places for flocks;
Ballads |
