| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Master of Ballantrae by Robert Louis Stevenson: My lord was the most uneasy man I ever saw; even in his old face
the blood came up. "I think this is not a very wisely chosen
moment, Henry, for complaints," said he. "This takes away from the
merit of your generosity."
"Do not deceive yourself, my lord," said Mr. Henry. "This
injustice is not done from generosity to him, but in obedience to
yourself."
"Before strangers . . . " begins my lord, still more unhappily
affected.
"There is no one but Mackellar here," said Mr. Henry; "he is my
friend. And, my lord, as you make him no stranger to your frequent
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy: inflection of the lover pure, which Henchard had never heard
in full resonance of his lips before, "you are sure to be
much sought after for your position, wealth, talents, and
beauty. But will ye resist the temptation to be one of
those ladies with lots of admirers--ay--and be content to
have only a homely one?"
"And he the speaker?" said she, laughing. "Very well, sir,
what next?"
"Ah! I'm afraid that what I feel will make me forget my
manners!"
"Then I hope you'll never have any, if you lack them only
The Mayor of Casterbridge |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce: eyes were blinded by the sunlight; his chest expanded
convulsively, and with a supreme and crowning agony his lungs
engulfed a great draught of air, which instantly he expelled
in a shriek!
He was now in full possession of his physical senses. They
were, indeed, preternaturally keen and alert. Something in
the awful disturbance of his organic system had so exalted
and refined them that they made record of things never before
perceived. He felt the ripples upon his face and heard their
separate sounds as they struck. He looked at the forest on
the bank of the stream, saw the individual trees, the leaves
An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge |
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 Baby Mine by Margaret Mayo: can take her to the theatre and all those places and keep her
cheered until Alfred comes home."
"Home?" repeated Jimmy in alarm. Was it possible that Alfred had
already relented?
"Oh, he doesn't know it yet," explained Aggie, "but he's coming.
We'll tell you all about it at dinner." And they did.
While waiting for Aggie, Jimmy had thought himself hungry, but
once the two women had laid before him their "nefarious
baby-snatching scheme"--food lost its savour for him, and one
course after another was taken away from him untouched.
Each time that Jimmy ventured a mild objection to his part in the
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