| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Betty Zane by Zane Grey: prevent him from walking to church with me."
"No, I suppose not, but are you entirely innocent of those sweet glances which
you gave him this morning?"
"I did not," cried Betty with an angry blush. "I won't be called a flirt by
you or by anyone else. The moment I am civil to some man all these old maids
and old women say I am flirting. It is outrageous."
"Now, Betty, don't get excited. We are getting from the question. Why are you
not civil to Clarke?" asked Col. Zane. She did not answer and after a moment
he continued. "If there is anything about Clarke that I do not know and that I
should know I want you to tell me. Personally I like the fellow. I am not
saying that to make you think you ought to like him because I do. You might
Betty Zane |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Songs of Travel by Robert Louis Stevenson: Led and was trusted by the strong;
And when spears were in the wood,
Like a tower of vantage stood: -
Whom, not till seventy years had sped,
Unscarred of breast, erect of head,
Still light of step, still bright of look,
The hunter, Death, had overtook.
III
His sons, the brothers twain, I sing,
Of whom the elder reigned a King.
No Childeric he, yet much declined
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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 An International Episode by Henry James: who were running about very quickly and stopping each other eagerly
at corners and in doorways. Passing into this brilliant building,
they were introduced by one of the keen-faced young men--
he was a charming fellow, in wonderful cream-colored garments
and a hat with a blue ribbon, who had evidently perceived them
to be aliens and helpless--to a very snug hydraulic elevator,
in which they took their place with many other persons,
and which, shooting upward in its vertical socket,
presently projected them into the seventh horizontal compartment
of the edifice. Here, after brief delay, they found themselves
face to face with the friend of their friend in London.
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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 Within the Tides by Joseph Conrad: invisible music, for the shadows of love, for the murmurs of
waters. After a time (he could not be always staring at the
ground) he would summon up all his resolution and look at her.
There was a sparkle in the clear obscurity of her eyes; and when
she turned them on him they seemed to give a new meaning to life.
He would say to himself that another man would have found long
before the happy release of madness, his wits burnt to cinders in
that radiance. But no such luck for him. His wits had come
unscathed through the furnaces of hot suns, of blazing deserts, of
flaming angers against the weaknesses of men and the obstinate
cruelties of hostile nature.
Within the Tides |
