| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The King of the Golden River by John Ruskin: the thirst for gold prevailed over his fear, and he rushed on. And
the bank of black cloud rose to the zenith, and out of it came
bursts of spiry lightning, and waves of darkness seemed to heave and
float, between their flashes, over the whole heavens. And the sky
where the sun was setting was all level and like a lake of blood;
and a strong wind came out of that sky, tearing its crimson clouds
into fragments and scattering them far into the darkness. And when
Sclnvartz stood by the brink of the Golden River, its waves were
black like thunder clouds, but their foam was like fire; and the
roar of the waters below and the thunder above met as he cast the
flask into the stream. And as he did so the lightning glared in his
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Life in the Iron-Mills by Rebecca Davis: Mitchell started back, half-frightened, as, suddenly turning a
corner, the white figure of a woman faced him in the darkness,--
a woman, white, of giant proportions, crouching on the ground,
her arms flung out in some wild gesture of warning.
"Stop! Make that fire burn there!" cried Kirby, stopping short.
The flame burst out, flashing the gaunt figure into bold relief.
Mitchell drew a long breath.
"I thought it was alive," he said, going up curiously.
The others followed.
"Not marble, eh?" asked Kirby, touching it.
One of the lower overseers stopped.
Life in the Iron-Mills |
