| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Wrecker by Stevenson & Osbourne: Pinkerton's excitement had been growing steadily, and now
burned dangerously high; but we were spared extremities by
the intervention of a second clerk.
"Why! Mr. Dodd!" he exclaimed, running forward to the
counter. "Glad to see you, sir! Can I do anything in your
way?"
How virtuous actions blossom! Here was a young man to
whose pleased ears I had rehearsed _Just before the battle,
mother,_ at some weekly picnic; and now, in that tense
moment of my life, he came (from the machine) to be my
helper.
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from At the Mountains of Madness by H. P. Lovecraft: time in earth’s history - perhaps over fifty million years. How
much higher they had once been, it was futile to guess; but everything
about this strange region pointed to obscure atmospheric influences
unfavorable to change, and calculated to retard the usual climatic
processes of rock disintegration.
But it was the mountainside
tangle of regular cubes, ramparts, and cave mouths which fascinated
and disturbed us most. I studied them with a field glass and took
aerial photographs while Danforth drove; and at times I relieved
him at the controls - though my aviation knowledge was purely
an amateur’s - in order to let him use the binoculars. We could
At the Mountains of Madness |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Art of Writing by Robert Louis Stevenson: however transiently, their thoughts. When any subject falls
to be discussed, some scribbler on a paper has the invaluable
opportunity of beginning its discussion in a dignified and
human spirit; and if there were enough who did so in our
public press, neither the public nor the Parliament would
find it in their minds to drop to meaner thoughts. The
writer has the chance to stumble, by the way, on something
pleasing, something interesting, something encouraging, were
it only to a single reader. He will be unfortunate, indeed,
if he suit no one. He has the chance, besides, to stumble on
something that a dull person shall be able to comprehend; and
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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 The Blue Flower by Henry van Dyke: arrived at Bethlehem. And it was the third day after the three
Wise Men had come to that place and had found Mary and Joseph,
with the young child, Jesus, and had laid their gifts of gold and
frankincense and myrrh at his feet.
Then the Other Wise Man drew near, weary, but full of
hope, bearing his ruby and his pearl to offer to the King.
"For now at last," he said, "I shall surely find him, though
I be alone, and later than my brethren. This is the place of
which the Hebrew exile told me that the prophets had spoken,
and here I shall behold the rising of the great light. But I
must inquire about the visit of my brethren, and to what house
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