| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Emma by Jane Austen: through what she had to tell. "She had set out from Mrs. Goddard's
half an hour ago--she had been afraid it would rain--she had been
afraid it would pour down every moment--but she thought she might
get to Hartfield first--she had hurried on as fast as possible;
but then, as she was passing by the house where a young woman
was making up a gown for her, she thought she would just step
in and see how it went on; and though she did not seem to stay
half a moment there, soon after she came out it began to rain,
and she did not know what to do; so she ran on directly, as fast
as she could, and took shelter at Ford's."--Ford's was the principal
woollen-draper, linen-draper, and haberdasher's shop united;
Emma |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Oedipus Trilogy by Sophocles: Doer of foul deeds of bloodshed, horrors that no tongue can tell?
A foot for flight he needs
Fleeter than storm-swift steeds,
For on his heels doth follow,
Armed with the lightnings of his Sire, Apollo.
Like sleuth-hounds too
The Fates pursue.
(Ant. 1)
Yea, but now flashed forth the summons from Parnassus' snowy peak,
"Near and far the undiscovered doer of this murder seek!"
Now like a sullen bull he roves
Oedipus Trilogy |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Trooper Peter Halket of Mashonaland by Olive Schreiner: been killed here, I'd have taken a pistol and blown out the brains of the
great Panjandrum, and the little ones after him. Fine administration of a
country, this, to invite people to come in and live here, and then take
every fighting man out of the country on a gold hunting marauding
expedition to the Transvaal, and leave us to face the bitter end. I look
upon every man and woman who was killed here as murdered by the Chartered
Company."
"Well, Jameson only did what he was told. He had to obey orders, like the
rest of us. He didn't make the plan, and he's got the punishment."
"What business had he to listen? What's all this fine administration they
talk of? It's six years since I came to this country, and I've worked like
|
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 The Man in Lower Ten by Mary Roberts Rinehart: in the sand. I said little; there was no hurry. We were together,
and time meant nothing against that age-long wash of the sea. The
air blew her hair in small damp curls against her face, and little
by little the tide retreated, leaving our boat an oasis in a waste
of gray sand.
"If seven maids with seven mops swept it for half a year
Do you suppose, the walrus said, that they could get it clear?"
she threw at me once when she must have known I was going to speak.
I held her hand, and as long as I merely held it she let it lie warm
in mine. But when I raised it to my lips, and kissed the soft, open
palm, she drew it away without displeasure.
The Man in Lower Ten |
