| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane: down this road. They tumbled teams about
with a fine feeling that it was no matter so long
as their column got to the front in time. This
importance made their faces grave and stern.
And the backs of the officers were very rigid.
As the youth looked at them the black weight
of his woe returned to him. He felt that he was
regarding a procession of chosen beings. The
separation was as great to him as if they had
marched with weapons of flame and banners of
sunlight. He could never be like them. He
The Red Badge of Courage |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Tono Bungay by H. G. Wells: coat and a black tie with blue spots. Still, he was large, with
side whiskers, even if his clean-shaven mouth was weak and
little. I sat among these people on a high, hard, early
Gregorian chair, trying to exist, like a feeble seedling amidst
great rocks, and my mother sat with an eye upon me, resolute to
suppress the slightest manifestation of vitality. It was hard on
me, but perhaps it was also hard upon these rather over-fed,
ageing, pretending people, that my youthful restlessness and
rebellious unbelieving eyes should be thrust in among their
dignities.
Tea lasted for nearly three-quarters of an hour, and I sat it out
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