| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad: peculiar in the blackness of his wife's eyes disturbed his
optimism. At that precise moment Mrs Verloc began to look upon
herself as released from all earthly ties.
She had her freedom. Her contract with existence, as represented
by that man standing over there, was at an end. She was a free
woman. Had this view become in some way perceptible to Mr Verloc
he would have been extremely shocked. In his affairs of the heart
Mr Verloc had been always carelessly generous, yet always with no
other idea than that of being loved for himself. Upon this matter,
his ethical notions being in agreement with his vanity, he was
completely incorrigible. That this should be so in the case of his
The Secret Agent |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Symposium by Plato: witness, fleeing out of the way of age, who is swift enough, swifter truly
than most of us like:--Love hates him and will not come near him; but youth
and love live and move together--like to like, as the proverb says. Many
things were said by Phaedrus about Love in which I agree with him; but I
cannot agree that he is older than Iapetus and Kronos:--not so; I maintain
him to be the youngest of the gods, and youthful ever. The ancient doings
among the gods of which Hesiod and Parmenides spoke, if the tradition of
them be true, were done of Necessity and not of Love; had Love been in
those days, there would have been no chaining or mutilation of the gods, or
other violence, but peace and sweetness, as there is now in heaven, since
the rule of Love began. Love is young and also tender; he ought to have a
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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 Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte: my mother been with me in the house. I was a close and resolute
dissembler - in this one case at least. My prayers, my tears, my
wishes, fears, and lamentations, were witnessed by myself and
heaven alone.
When we are harassed by sorrows or anxieties, or long oppressed by
any powerful feelings which we must keep to ourselves, for which we
can obtain and seek no sympathy from any living creature, and which
yet we cannot, or will not wholly crush, we often naturally seek
relief in poetry - and often find it, too - whether in the
effusions of others, which seem to harmonize with our existing
case, or in our own attempts to give utterance to those thoughts
Agnes Grey |
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 Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs: also took his fancy, and this he transferred to his own leg.
He examined and admired the tattooing on the forehead
and breast. He marveled at the sharp filed teeth.
He investigated and appropriated the feathered headdress,
and then he prepared to get down to business, for Tarzan
of the Apes was hungry, and here was meat; meat of the kill,
which jungle ethics permitted him to eat.
How may we judge him, by what standards, this ape-man
with the heart and head and body of an English gentleman,
and the training of a wild beast?
Tublat, whom he had hated and who had hated him, he
Tarzan of the Apes |
