| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Odyssey by Homer: beauty and strength of understanding."
To this Penelope replied, "Eurymachus, heaven robbed me of all
my beauty whether of face or figure when the Argives set sail
for Troy and my dear husband with them. If he were to return and
look after my affairs, I should both be more respected and show
a better presence to the world. As it is, I am oppressed with
care, and with the afflictions which heaven has seen fit to heap
upon me. My husband foresaw it all, and when he was leaving home
he took my right wrist in his hand--'Wife,' he said, 'we shall
not all of us come safe home from Troy, for the Trojans fight
well both with bow and spear. They are excellent also at
The Odyssey |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Case of The Lamp That Went Out by Grace Isabel Colbron and Augusta Groner: only in terms of the tenderest affection and respect.
And indeed, seldom has any condemned murderer met with the respect
of the entire community as Herbert Thorne did. The tone of the
newspapers, and public opinion, evinced by hundreds of letters from
friends, acquaintances, and from strangers, was a great boon to
the solitary man in his cell, and to the three loving hearts in the
old house. And at the end of two years the clemency of the Monarch
ended his term of imprisonment, and Herbert Thorne was set free, a
step which met with the approval of the entire city.
He returned to the home where love and affection awaited him, ready
to make him forget what he had suffered. But the silver threads in
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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 The Gentle Grafter by O. Henry: under my chin, while the police are calling it an inside job just
because the old lady's nephew teaches a Bible class. I first make an
impression on the girl,' says Bill, 'and when she lets me inside I
make an impression on the locks. But this one in Little Rock done me,'
says he. 'She saw me taking a trolley ride with another girl, and when
I came 'round on the night she was to leave the door open for me it
was fast. And I had keys made for the doors upstairs. But, no sir. She
had sure cut off my locks. She was a Delilah,' says Bill Bassett.
"It seems that Bill tried to break in anyhow with his jimmy, but the
girl emitted a succession of bravura noises like the top-riders of a
tally-ho, and Bill had to take all the hurdles between there 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 Princess by Alfred Tennyson: Not to be molten out.'
And roughly spake
My father, 'Tut, you know them not, the girls.
Boy, when I hear you prate I almost think
That idiot legend credible. Look you, Sir!
Man is the hunter; woman is his game:
The sleek and shining creatures of the chase,
We hunt them for the beauty of their skins;
They love us for it, and we ride them down.
Wheedling and siding with them! Out! for shame!
Boy, there's no rose that's half so dear to them
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