| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Little Women by Louisa May Alcott: came suddenly upon Mr. Brooke.
"I'm very sorry to hear of this, Miss March," he said, in the
kind, quiet tone which sounded very pleasantly to her perturbed
spirit. "I came to offer myself as escort to your mother. Mr.
Laurence has commissions for me in Washington, and it will give me
real satisfaction to be of service to her there."
Down dropped the rubbers, and the tea was very near following,
as Meg put out her hand, with a face so full of gratitude that Mr.
Brooke would have felt repaid for a much greater sacrifice than
the trifling one of time and comfort which he was about to take.
"How kind you all are! Mother will accept, I'm sure, and it
Little Women |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Malbone: An Oldport Romance by Thomas Wentworth Higginson: "So, Hope," said Philip, "you are bent on teaching music to
Mrs. Meredith's children."
"Indeed I am!" said Hope, eagerly. "O Philip, I shall enjoy it
so! I do not care so very much about her, but she has dear
little girls. And you know I am a born drudge. I have not been
working hard enough to enjoy an entire vacation, but I shall be
so very happy here if I can have some real work for an hour or
two every other day."
"Hope," said Philip, gravely, "look steadily at these people
whom we are meeting, and reflect. Should you like to have them
say, 'There goes Mrs. Meredith's music teacher'?"
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| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Adam Bede by George Eliot: began to press upon her like the invisible weight of air; she was
alone on her little island of dreams, and all around her was the
dark unknown water where Arthur was gone. She could gather no
elation of spirits now by looking forward, but only by looking
backward to build confidence on past words and caresses. But
occasionally, since Thursday evening, her dim anxieties had been
almost lost behind the more definite fear that Adam might betray
what he knew to her uncle and aunt, and his sudden proposition to
talk with her alone had set her thoughts to work in a new way.
She was eager not to lose this evening's opportunity; and after
tea, when the boys were going into the garden and Totty begged to
Adam Bede |
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 Coxon Fund by Henry James: the virtual promise. Mrs. Mulville let me know what was already
said: she was charming, this American girl, but really these
American fathers--! What was a man to do? Mr. Saltram, according
to Mrs. Mulville, was of opinion that a man was never to suffer his
relation to money to become a spiritual relation--he was to keep it
exclusively material. "Moi pas comprendre!" I commented on this;
in rejoinder to which Adelaide, with her beautiful sympathy,
explained that she supposed he simply meant that the thing was to
use it, don't you know? but not to think too much about it. "To
take it, but not to thank you for it?" I still more profanely
enquired. For a quarter of an hour afterwards she wouldn't look at
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