| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Phantasmagoria and Other Poems by Lewis Carroll: Who shrieked "We'll wait no longer, John!
Tell them to set the dinner on!"
The vision passed: the ghosts were fled:
He saw once more that woman dread:
He heard once more the words she said.
He left her, and he turned aside:
He sat and watched the coming tide
Across the shores so newly dried.
He wondered at the waters clear,
The breeze that whispered in his ear,
The billows heaving far and near,
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from On the Duty of Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau: manufactures and agriculture. If we were left solely to the
wordy wit of legislators in Congress for our guidance,
uncorrected by the seasonable experience and the effectual
complaints of the people, America would not long retain her
rank among the nations. For eighteen hundred years, though
perchance I have no right to say it, the New Testament has
been written; yet where is the legislator who has wisdom and
practical talent enough to avail himself of the light which
it sheds on the science of legislation.
The authority of government, even such as I am willing
to submit to--for I will cheerfully obey those who know and
On the Duty of Civil Disobedience |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Ebb-Tide by Stevenson & Osbourne: as steadily looked upon the table and the pattering fingers;
there was a gentle oscillation of the anchored ship, and a big
patch of sunlight travelled to and fro between the one and the
other.
'Hear me!' Herrick burst out suddenly.
'No, you better hear me first,' said Davis. 'Hear me and
understand me. WE'VE got no use for that fellow, whatever you
may have. He's your kind, he's not ours; he's took to you, and
he's wiped his boots on me and Huish. Save him if you can!'
'Save him?' repeated Herrick.
'Save him, if you're able!' reiterated Davis, with a blow of his
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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 1492 by Mary Johntson: began to sing as they passed down the Bethlehem. The
_Margarita_ and we watched their going.
They went a league, and then another--we thought they
were wholly gone. But out of the river, though the skies
were clear, again rushed against them an enemy wind. They
lay at anchor in river mouth, waiting on propitiousness. But
we, up the river, thought they were gone. That night, before
dawn, Quibian attacked us.
We had several killed, and the Adelantado was hurt in
the breast, and many others had their wounds. But we
thundered with our cannon and we loosed two bloodhounds
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