| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Weir of Hermiston by Robert Louis Stevenson: the appealing sweetness of her smile stood between them like a guardian
angel.
For she turned to him and smiled, though without rising. There was a
shade in this cavalier greeting that neither of them perceived; neither
he, who simply thought it gracious and charming as herself; nor yet she,
who did not observe (quick as she was) the difference between rising to
meet the laird, and remaining seated to receive the expected admirer.
"Are ye stepping west, Hermiston?" said she, giving him his territorial
name after the fashion of the country-side.
"I was," said he, a little hoarsely, "but I think I will be about the
end of my stroll now. Are you like me, Miss Christina? The house would
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Men of Iron by Howard Pyle: "It is to say this to thee, Myles Falworth," said the other. "One
time, not long sin, thou didst challenge me to meet thee hand to
hand in the dormitory. Then thou didst put a vile affront upon
me, for the which I ha' brought on this battle to-day, for I knew
not then that thou wert going to try thy peasant tricks of
wrestling, and so, without guarding myself, I met thee as thou
didst desire."
"But thou hadst thy knife, and would have stabbed him couldst
thou ha' done so," said Gascoyne.
"Thou liest!" said Blunt. "I had no knife." And then, without
giving time to answer, "Thou canst not deny that I met thee then
Men of Iron |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from An Unsocial Socialist by George Bernard Shaw: "Ship aho-o-o-y! Stop crying, Hetty, for God's sake. You lacerate
my very soul."
"Ah-o-o-o-o-o-o-oy, master!" roared the bargee.
"Good arternoon, sir," said a man who, with a short whip in his
hand, trudged beside the white horse that towed the barge. "Come
up!" he added malevolently to the horse.
"I want to get on board, and go up to Lyvern with you," said
Trefusis. "He seems a well fed brute, that."
"Better fed nor me," said the man. "You can't get the work out of
a hunderfed 'orse that you can out of a hunderfed man or woman.
I've bin in parts of England where women pulled the barges. They
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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 A Hero of Our Time by M.Y. Lermontov: us round the mountain. At a turning we met
four or five Ossetes, who offered us their services;
and, catching hold of the wheels, proceeded, with
a shout, to drag and hold up our cart. And, in-
deed, it is a dangerous road; on the right were
masses of snow hanging above us, and ready, it
seemed, at the first squall of wind to break off
and drop into the ravine; the narrow road was
partly covered with snow, which, in many places,
gave way under our feet and, in others, was
converted into ice by the action of the sun by
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