| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf: life? That was all--a simple question; one that tended to close in on
one with years. The great revelation had never come. The great
revelation perhaps never did come. Instead there struck unexpectedly
in the dark; here was one. This, that, and the other; herself and
Charles Tansley and the breaking wave; Mrs Ramsay bringing them
together; Mrs Ramsay saying, "Life stand still here"; Mrs Ramsay making
of the moment something permanent (as in another sphere Lily herself
tried to make of the moment something permanent)--this was of the
nature of a revelation. In the midst of chaos there was shape; this
eternal passing and flowing (she looked at the clouds going and the
leaves shaking) was struck into stability. Life stand still here, Mrs
To the Lighthouse |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson by Mark Twain: and was ready and unembarrassed by hampering bedclothes,
for the weather was hot and we hadn't any. Suddenly that native rose
at the bedside, and bent over me with his right hand lifted and a
dirk in it aimed at my throat; but Luigi grabbed his wrist,
pulled him downward, and drove his own knife into the man's neck.
That is the whole story."
Wilson and Tom drew deep breaths, and after some general chat
about the tragedy, Pudd'nhead said, taking Tom's hand:
"Now, Tom, I've never had a look at your palms, as it happens;
perhaps you've got some little questionable privacies that need--hel-lo!"
Tom had snatched away his hand, and was looking a good deal confused.
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from A Legend of Montrose by Walter Scott: traveller?"
"A stout fellow," replied Anderson, "if all be good that is
upcome. I wish we had twenty such, to put our Teagues into some
sort of discipline."
"I differ from you, Anderson," said Lord Menteith; "I think this
fellow Dalgetty is one of those horse-leeches, whose appetite for
blood being only sharpened by what he has sucked in foreign
countries, he is now returned to batten upon that of his own.
Shame on the pack of these mercenary swordmen! they have made the
name of Scot through all Europe equivalent to that of a pitiful
mercenary, who knows neither honour nor principle but his month's
|
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 Under the Red Robe by Stanley Weyman: I was still foaming with rage when they returned.
'We have come to a determination,' the Lieutenant said, tugging
his grey moustachios, and standing like a ramrod. 'We shall
leave you the house and Madame, and you can take your own line to
find the man, for ourselves, we shall draw off our men to the
village, and we shall take our line. That is all, M. le
Capitaine, is it not?'
'I think so,' the Captain muttered, looking anywhere but at me.
'Then we bid you good-day, Monsieur,' the Lieutenant added, and
in a moment he turned his companion round, and the two retired up
the walk to the house, leaving me to look after them in a black
|
