| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from End of the Tether by Joseph Conrad: Wyk would not have been able to learn any details had
it not been for Sterne, whom he met one day on the quay
near the bridge over the creek, almost on the very spot
where Captain Whalley, to preserve his daughter's five
hundred pounds intact, had turned to get a sampan
which would take him on board the Sofala.
From afar Mr. Van Wyk saw Sterne blink straight at
him and raise his hand to his hat. They drew into the
shade of a building (it was a bank), and the mate re-
lated how the boat with the crew got into Pangu Bay
about six hours after the accident, and how they had
End of the Tether |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Pericles by William Shakespeare: Look how thou stirrest now! come away, or I'll fetch thee with a
wanion.
THIRD FISHERMAN.
'Faith, master, I am thinking of the poor men that were cast away
before us even now.
FIRST FISHERMAN.
Alas, poor souls, it grieved my heart to hear what pitiful cries
they made to us to help them, when, well-a-day, we could scarce
help ourselves.
THIRD FISHERMAN.
Nay, master, said not I as much when I saw the porpus how he
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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 Dracula by Bram Stoker: "Professor, let me be your pet student again. Tell me
the thesis, so that I may apply your knowledge as you go on.
At present I am going in my mind from point to point
as a madman, and not a sane one, follows an idea.
I feel like a novice lumbering through a bog in a midst,
jumping from one tussock to another in the mere blind effort
to move on without knowing where I am going."
"That is a good image," he said. "Well, I shall tell you.
My thesis is this, I want you to believe."
"To believe what?"
"To believe in things that you cannot. Let me illustrate.
Dracula |
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 The Reign of King Edward the Third by William Shakespeare: My liege, the drum that stroke the lusty march,
Stands with Prince Edward, your thrice valiant son.
[Enter Prince Edward.]
KING EDWARD.
I see the boy; oh, how his mother's face,
Modeled in his, corrects my strayed desire,
And rates my heart, and chides my thievish eye,
Who, being rich enough in seeing her,
Yet seeks elsewhere: and basest theft is that
Which cannot cloak it self on poverty.--
Now, boy, what news?
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