| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Enchanted Island of Yew by L. Frank Baum: surrounded the prince and thanked him earnestly for releasing them.
The little Lady Seseley and her friends, Berna and Helda, were a bit
shy in the presence of so many strangers; but they alone knew the
prince's secret, and that he was a fairy transformed for a year; so
they regarded him as an old and intimate acquaintance, and after being
introduced by him to the others of his party they became more at ease.
The sweet little High Ki maids at once attracted Seseley, and she
loved them almost at first sight. But it was Nerle who became the
little lady's staunchest friend; for there was something rather
mystical and unnatural to him about the High Ki, who seemed almost
like fairies, while in Seseley he recognized a hearty, substantial
The Enchanted Island of Yew |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Octopus by Frank Norris: yet, there was no menace in it, no anger. It was confusion
merely, bewilderment, the first long-drawn "oh!" that greets the
news of some great tragedy. The people had taken no thought as
yet. Curiosity was their dominant impulse. Every one wanted to
see what had been done; failing that, to hear of it, and failing
that, to be near the scene of the affair. The crowd of people
packed the road in front of the house for nearly a quarter of a
mile in either direction. They balanced themselves upon the
lower strands of the barbed wire fence in their effort to see
over each others' shoulders; they stood on the seats of their
carts, buggies, and farm wagons, a few even upon the saddles of
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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 A Pair of Blue Eyes by Thomas Hardy: the balanced judgment of an unbiassed spectator. His naturally
sanguine spirit built hope upon hope, till scarcely a doubt
remained in his mind that her lingering tenderness for him had in
some way been perceived by Knight, and had provoked their parting.
To go and see Elfride was the suggestion of impulses it was
impossible to withstand. At any rate, to run down from St.
Launce's to Castle Poterel, a distance of less than twenty miles,
and glide like a ghost about their old haunts, making stealthy
inquiries about her, would be a fascinating way of passing the
first spare hours after reaching home on the day after the morrow.
He was now a richer man than heretofore, standing on his own
A Pair of Blue Eyes |
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 Paz by Honore de Balzac: knew the countess, disguised to the teeth, intended to come there with
two friends, all three accompanied by their husbands, and look on at
the curious spectacle of one of these crowded balls.
On Shrove Tuesday, of the year 1838, at four o'clock in the morning,
the countess, wrapped in a black domino and sitting on the lower step
of the platform in the Babylonian hall, where Valentino has since then
given his concerts, beheld Thaddeus, as Robert Macaire, threading the
galop with Malaga in the dress of a savage, her head garnished with
plumes like the horse of a hearse, and bounding through the crowd like
a will-o-the-wisp.
"Ah!" said Clementine to her husband, "you Poles have no honor at all!
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