| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Little Rivers by Henry van Dyke: waters of the Discharge are drawn together here into one deep,
narrow, powerful stream, flowing between gloomy shores of granite.
In mid-channel the wicked island shows its scarred and bristling
head, like a giant ready to dispute the passage. The river rushes
straight at the rocky brow, splits into two currents, and raves
away on both sides of the island in a double chain of furious falls
and rapids.
In these wild waters we fished with immense delight and fair
success, scrambling down among the huge rocks along the shore, and
joining the excitement of an Alpine climb with the placid pleasures
of angling. At nightfall we were at home again in our camp, with
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from St. Ives by Robert Louis Stevenson: 'Yes, Mr. Anne,' said the docile youth. 'But about the shaving,
sir, you need be under no alarm. Mr. Powl says I 'ave excellent
dispositions.'
'Mr. Powl?' said I. 'That doesn't seem to me very like a French
name.'
'No, sir, indeed, my lord,' said he, with a burst of confidence.
'No, indeed, Mr. Anne, and it do not surely. I should say now, it
was more like Mr. Pole.'
'And Mr. Powl is the Viscount's man?'
'Yes, Mr. Anne,' said he. 'He 'ave a hard billet, he do. The
Viscount is a very particular gentleman. I don't think as you'll
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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 Little Britain by Washington Irving: oilman died, and left a widow with a large jointure and a family
of buxom daughters. The young ladies had long been repining
in secret at the parsimony of a prudent father, which kept down
all their elegant aspirings. Their ambition, being now no longer
restrained, broke out into a blaze, and they openly took the
field against the family of the butcher. It is true that the
Lambs, having had the first start, had naturally an advantage of
them in the fashionable career. They could speak a little bad
French, play the piano, dance quadrilles, and had formed high
acquaintances; but the Trotters were not to be distanced.
When the Lambs appeared with two feathers in their hats, the
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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 Elizabeth and her German Garden by Marie Annette Beauchamp: owls into a cage even for one night! I cannot forgive myself,
and shall never pander to the Man of Wrath's wishes again.
This morning I got up early to see how they were getting on,
and I found the door of the cage wide open and no owls to be seen.
I thought of course that somebody had stolen them--
some boy from the village, or perhaps the chastised cowherd.
But looking about I saw one perched high up in the branches of
the beech tree, and then to my dismay one lying dead on the ground.
The third was nowhere to be seen, and is probably safe in its nest.
The parents must have torn at the bars of the cage until by chance
they got the door open, and then dragged the little ones out
Elizabeth and her German Garden |
