| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Sanitary and Social Lectures by Charles Kingsley: to and fro across what seemed the mouth of the pit. The flame
increased--multiplied--at one point after another; till by ten
o'clock that night I seemed to be looking down upon Dante's
Inferno, and to hear the multitudinous moan and wail of the lost
spirits surging to and fro amid that sea of fire.
Right behind Brandon Hill--how can I ever forget it?--rose the
great central mass of fire; till the little mound seemed converted
into a volcano, from the peak of which the flame streamed up, not
red alone, but, delicately green and blue, pale rose and pearly
white, while crimson sparks leapt and fell again in the midst of
that rainbow, not of hope, but of despair; and dull explosions
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Twenty Years After by Alexandre Dumas: the direction where the vessel had disappeared, endeavoring
in vain to penetrate the darkness. After a minute or two
they were able to distinguish a man, who approached them,
swimming vigorously.
Athos extended his arm toward him, pointing him out to his
companions.
"Yes, yes, I see him well enough," said D'Artagnan.
"He -- again!" cried Porthos, who was breathing like a
blacksmith's bellows; "why, he is made of iron."
"Oh, my God!" muttered Athos.
Aramis and D'Artagnan whispered to each other.
Twenty Years After |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Seraphita by Honore de Balzac: but terrible heat of the sun with the shrewd ability which Norwegians
display in the two-fold struggle. The difficulty of communication with
the outer world, either by land where the roads are impassable, or by
sea where none but tiny boats can thread their way through the
maritime defiles that guard the entrance to the bay, hinder these
people from growing rich by the sale of their timber. It would cost
enormous sums to either blast a channel out to sea or construct a way
to the interior. The roads from Christiana to Trondhjem all turn
toward the Strom-fiord, and cross the Sieg by a bridge some score of
miles above its fall into the bay. The country to the north, between
Jarvis and Trondhjem, is covered with impenetrable forests, while to
Seraphita |
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 Adieu by Honore de Balzac: of fury, to the plain, where innumerable obstacles awaited it. It was
impossible to force a way without danger of crushing the sleeping men,
women, and even children, who refused to move when the grenadier awoke
them. In vain did Monsieur de Sucy endeavor to find the swathe cut by
the rear-guard through the mass of human beings; it was already
obliterated, like the wake of a vessel through the sea. They could
only creep along, being often stopped by soldiers who threatened to
kill their horses.
"Do you want to reach the bridge?" said the grenadier.
"At the cost of my life--at the cost of the whole world!"
"Then forward, march! you can't make omelets without breaking eggs."
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