| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare: When I from Thebes came last a Conqueror
Lis. The thrice three Muses, mourning for the death
of learning, late deceast in beggerie
The. That is some Satire keene and criticall,
Not sorting with a nuptiall ceremonie
Lis. A tedious breefe Scene of yong Piramus,
And his loue Thisby; very tragicall mirth
The. Merry and tragicall? Tedious, and briefe? That
is, hot ice, and wondrous strange snow. How shall wee
finde the concord of this discord?
Ege. A play there is, my Lord, some ten words long,
A Midsummer Night's Dream |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Return of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs: in the idea, but absolutely refused to be married until they
had returned to London. As the cruise was to consume a year
at least, for they were to stop for indefinite periods at
various points of interest, Clayton mentally anathematized
Tennington for ever suggesting such a ridiculous trip.
It was Lord Tennington's plan to cruise through the
Mediterranean, and the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean, and
thus down the East Coast, putting in at every port that
was worth the seeing.
And so it happened that on a certain day two vessels passed
in the Strait of Gibraltar. The smaller, a trim white
The Return of Tarzan |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy: "I'm so glad you've come. You'll live with me a long time,
won't you?"
Elizabeth as a watch-dog to keep her father off--what a new
idea. Yet it was not unpleasing. Henchard had neglected
her all these days, after compromising her indescribably in
the past. The least he could have done when he found
himself free, and herself affluent, would have been to
respond heartily and promptly to her invitation.
Her emotions rose, fell, undulated, filled her with wild
surmise at their suddenness; and so passed Lucetta's
experiences of that day.
The Mayor of Casterbridge |
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 Beauty and The Beast by Bayard Taylor: hand in his.
"Mrs. Lawrie," he began, after another silence, "we are hanging by
a hair on the edge of life, but I shall gladly let that hair break,
since I may tell you now, purely and in the hearing of God, how I
have tried to rise to you out of the low place in which you found
me. At first you seemed too far; but you yourself led me the first
step of the way, and I have steadily kept my eyes on you, and
followed it. When I had learned my trade, I came to the city. No
labor was too hard for me, no study too difficult. I was becoming
a new man, I saw all that was still lacking, and how to reach it,
and I watched you, unknown, at a distance. Then I heard of your
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