| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Persuasion by Jane Austen: with any of the Musgrove family; she had only time, however,
for a general answer, and a wish that such another woman
were at Uppercross, before all subjects suddenly ceased,
on seeing Louisa and Captain Wentworth coming towards them.
They came also for a stroll till breakfast was likely to be ready;
but Louisa recollecting, immediately afterwards that she had something
to procure at a shop, invited them all to go back with her into the town.
They were all at her disposal.
When they came to the steps, leading upwards from the beach, a gentleman,
at the same moment preparing to come down, politely drew back,
and stopped to give them way. They ascended and passed him;
Persuasion |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Ozma of Oz by L. Frank Baum: disappeared, and a pretty, fair-haired boy stood beside her. At the
same time a bell rang somewhere in the distance, and as Dorothy started
back, partly in surprise and partly in joy, the little one exclaimed:
"Where am I? And who are you? And what has happened to me?"
"Well, I declare!" said Dorothy. "I've really done it."
"Done what?" asked the boy.
"Saved myself from being an ornament," replied the girl, with a laugh,
"and saved you from being forever a purple kitten."
"A purple kitten?" he repeated. "There IS no such thing."
"I know," she answered. "But there was, a minute ago. Don't you
remember standing on a corner of the mantel?"
Ozma of Oz |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Dream Life and Real Life by Olive Schreiner: asked, slowly.
"Oh, no woman ever could be to him what I would be. I would live for him.
He belongs to me." She bent herself forward, not crying, but her shoulders
moving. "It is such a terrible thing to be a woman, to be able to do
nothing and say nothing!"
The woman put her hand on her shoulder; the younger woman looked up into
her face; then the elder turned away and stood looking into the fire.
There was such quiet, you could hear the clock tick above the writing-
table.
The woman said: "There is one thing I can do for you. I do not know if it
will be of any use--I will do it." She turned away.
|
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 Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy: and proceeded in his search.
Among the other papers had been placed the contents of his
wife's little desk, the keys of which had been handed to him
at her request. Here was the letter addressed to him with
the restriction, "NOT TO BE OPENED TILL ELIZABETH-JANE'S
WEDDING-DAY."
Mrs. Henchard, though more patient than her husband, had
been no practical hand at anything. In sealing up the
sheet, which was folded and tucked in without an envelope,
in the old-fashioned way, she had overlaid the junction with
a large mass of wax without the requisite under-touch of the
The Mayor of Casterbridge |
