| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Two Noble Kinsmen by William Shakespeare: ARCITE.
If you thinke so, Cosen,
You are deceived, for as I am a Soldier,
I will not spare you.
PALAMON.
That's well said.
ARCITE.
You'l finde it.
PALAMON.
Then, as I am an honest man and love
With all the justice of affection,
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Betty Zane by Zane Grey: herself; she had strange dreams; she cried seemingly without the slightest
cause and she was restless and unhappy. Finally she grew angry and scolded
herself. She said she was silly and sentimental. This had the effect of making
her bolder, but it did not quiet her unrest. Betty did not know that the
little blind God, who steals unawares on his victim, had marked her for his
own, and that all this sweet perplexity was the unconscious awakening of the
heart.
One afternoon, near the end of Betty's siege indoors, two of her friends,
Lydia Boggs and Alice Reynolds, called to see her.
Alice had bright blue eyes, and her nut brown hair hung in rebellious curls
around her demure and pretty face. An adorable dimple lay hidden in her rosy
Betty Zane |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Young Forester by Zane Grey: for we had decided that we would not telegraph. Leaving our horses in
Cless's corral, we went to the hotel and proceeded to compose the letter.
This turned out more of a task than we had bargained for. But we got it
finished at last, not forgetting to put in a word for Jim Williams, and
then we both signed it.
"There!" I cried. "Dick, something will be doing round Holston before many
days."
"That's no joke, you can bet," replied Dick, wiping his face. "Ken, it's
made me sweat just to see that letter start East. Buell is a tough sort,
and he'll make trouble. Well, he wants to steer clear of Jim and me."
After that we fell silent, and walked slowly back toward Cless's corral.
The Young Forester |
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 The Aspern Papers by Henry James: journey to the cemetery, the little red-walled island of tombs
which lies to the north of the town, on the way to Murano.
It appeared from these circumstances that the Misses Bordereau
were Catholics, a discovery I had never made, as the old woman
could not go to church and her niece, so far as I perceived,
either did not or went only to early mass in the parish,
before I was stirring. Certainly even the priests respected
their seclusion; I had never caught the whisk of the curato's skirt.
That evening, an hour later, I sent my servant down with five
words written on a card, to ask Miss Tita if she would see me
for a few moments. She was not in the house, where he had
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