| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Malbone: An Oldport Romance by Thomas Wentworth Higginson: She said it, as if guided by an instinct, to sound the depth of
his love for her. Starting with amazement, he looked at her,
and then, divining her feeling, he only replied by an
expression of reproach, and by kissing her hands with an
habitual tenderness that had grown easy to him,--and they were
such lovely hands! But his heart told him that no spent swimmer
ever transferred more eagerly to another's arms some precious
burden beneath which he was consciously sinking, than he would
yield her up to any one whom she would consent to love, and who
could be trusted with the treasure. Until that ecstasy of
release should come, he would do his duty,--yes, his duty.
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Animal Farm by George Orwell: mentioned sheets; but as it was there on the wall, it must have done so.
And Squealer, who happened to be passing at this moment, attended by two
or three dogs, was able to put the whole matter in its proper perspective.
"You have heard then, comrades," he said, "that we pigs now sleep in the
beds of the farmhouse? And why not? You did not suppose, surely, that
there was ever a ruling against beds? A bed merely means a place to sleep
in. A pile of straw in a stall is a bed, properly regarded. The rule was
against sheets, which are a human invention. We have removed the sheets
from the farmhouse beds, and sleep between blankets. And very comfortable
beds they are too! But not more comfortable than we need, I can tell you,
comrades, with all the brainwork we have to do nowadays. You would not rob
Animal Farm |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Boys' Life of Abraham Lincoln by Helen Nicolay: wavered, and delayed, while they grew bold under his lack of
decision, imagining that they would have a bloodless victory, and
even boasting that they would take Washington for their capital;
or, if the new President should thwart them and make them fight,
that they would capture Philadelphia and dictate the peace they
wanted from Independence Hall.
By the time Mr. Lincoln came into office the conspiracy had grown
beyond control by any means then in the hands of a President,
though men on both sides still vainly hoped that the troubles of
the country might be settled without fighting. Mr. Lincoln
especially wished to make very sure that if it ever came to a
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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 Little Women by Louisa May Alcott: an eligible opportunity for `going to the devil', as he once
forcibly expressed it, for he had plenty of money and nothing
to do, and Satan is proverbially fond of providing employment
for full and idle hands. The poor fellow had temptations
enough from without and from within, but he withstood them
pretty well, for much as he valued liberty, he valued good
faith and confidence more, so his promise to his grandfather,
and his desire to be able to look honestly into the eyes of
the women who loved him, and say "All's well," kept him safe
and steady.
Very likely some Mrs. Grundy will observe, "I don't believe it,
Little Women |
