| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Frankenstein by Mary Shelley: antique glory of Italy--one among the schiavi ognor frementi,
who exerted himself to obtain the liberty of his country. He became
the victim of its weakness. Whether he had died or still lingered
in the dungeons of Austria was not known. His property was confiscated;
his child became an orphan and a beggar. She continued with her foster
parents and bloomed in their rude abode, fairer than a garden rose among
dark-leaved brambles. When my father returned from Milan, he found
playing with me in the hall of our villa a child fairer than pictured cherub
--a creature who seemed to shed radiance from her looks and whose form and
motions were lighter than the chamois of the hills. The apparition
was soon explained. With his permission my mother prevailed on her
Frankenstein |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Astoria by Washington Irving: arrive among the Indians, from whom the river takes its name.
Among these they would be sure to meet some of the Sioux tribe.
These would appraise their relatives, the piratical Sioux of the
Missouri, of the approach of a band of white traders; so that, in
the spring time, they would be likely to be waylaid and robbed on
their way down the river, by some party in ambush upon its banks.
Even should this prove to be the Quicourt or Rapid River, it
would not be prudent to winter much further down upon its banks,
as, though they might be out of the range of the Sioux, they
would be in the neighborhood of the Poncas, a tribe nearly as
dangerous. It was resolved, therefore, since they must winter
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