| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Within the Tides by Joseph Conrad: "Well - let him be a scoundrel then. What the devil do I care."
"But hold on! You haven't heard the end of the story."
Renouard, his hat on his head already, sat down with the disdainful
smile of a man who had discounted the moral of the story. Still he
sat down and the Editor swung his revolving chair right round. He
was full of unction.
"Imprudent, I should say. In many ways money is as dangerous to
handle as gunpowder. You can't be too careful either as to who you
are working with. Anyhow there was a mighty flashy burst up, a
sensation, and - his familiar haunts knew him no more. But before
he vanished he went to see Miss Moorsom. That very fact argues for
Within the Tides |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin: Artichoke, Jerusalem
Ascension, plants of
Asclepias, pollen of
Asparagus
Aspicarpa
Asses, striped
Ateuchus
Audubon, on habits of frigate-bird; on variation in birds'-nests; on heron
eating seeds
Australia, animals of; dogs of; extinct animals of; European plants in
Azara on flies destroying cattle
On the Origin of Species |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey: Lassiter. There was a faint smile upon his face and a beautiful
light.
Venters saw, and knew that Lassiter saw, how Jane Withersteen's
tortured soul wrestled with hate and threw it--with scorn doubt,
suspicion, and overcame all.
"Bern, if in my misery I accused you unjustly, I crave
forgiveness," she said. "I'm not what I once was. Tell me--who is
this girl?"
"Jane, she is Oldring's daughter, and his Masked Rider. Lassiter
will tell you how I shot her for a rustler, saved her life--all
the story. It's a strange story, Jane, as wild as the sage. But
Riders of the Purple Sage |
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 To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf: lamentation in her voice, and a suffusion in her large brown eyes,
looking down, looking up, as she sat by Mr Ramsay, which roused his
chivalry so that he bantered her.
How could she be such a goose, he asked, as to scramble about the rocks
in jewels?
She was by way of being terrified of him--he was so fearfully clever,
and the first night when she had sat by him, and he talked about George
Eliot, she had been really frightened, for she had left the third
volume of MIDDLEMARCH in the train and she never knew what happened in
the end; but afterwards she got on perfectly, and made herself out even
more ignorant than she was, because he liked telling her she was a
To the Lighthouse |
