| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe: enough? I think 'tis plain, and pretty rough too.' 'Well, but,'
says the mother, 'you talk of conditions that you cannot grant;
what does she want--a settlement? Her jointure ought to be
according to her portion; but what fortune does she bring you?'
'Nay, as to fortune,' says Robin, 'she is rich enough; I am
satisfied in that point; but 'tis I that am not able to come up
to her terms, and she is positive she will not have me without.'
Here the sisters put in. 'Madam,' says the second sister, ''tis
impossible to be serious with him; he will never give a direct
answer to anything; you had better let him alone, and talk no
more of it to him; you know how to dispose of her out of his
Moll Flanders |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Little Rivers by Henry van Dyke: syrup on every man's flapjack.
The charm of Bartlett's for the angler was the stretch of rapid
water in front of the house. The Saranac River, breaking from its
first resting-place in the Upper Lake, plunged down through a great
bed of rocks, making a chain of short falls and pools and rapids,
about half a mile in length. Here, in the spring and early summer,
the speckled trout--brightest and daintiest of all fish that swim--
used to be found in great numbers. As the season advanced, they
moved away into the deep water of the lakes. But there were always
a few stragglers left, and I have taken them in the rapids at the
very end of August. What could be more delightful than to spend an
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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 Mountains by Stewart Edward White: possible to your Texas cowman, and both differ from
the Wyoming or South Dakota article. I should be
puzzled to define exactly the habitat of the "typical"
cowboy. No matter where you go, you will find
your individual acquaintance varying from the type
in respect to some of the minor details.
Certain characteristics run through the whole tribe,
however. Of these some are so well known or have
been so adequately done elsewhere that it hardly
seems wise to elaborate on them here. Let us assume
that you and I know what sort of human beings cowboys
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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 Dark Lady of the Sonnets by George Bernard Shaw: mine own, will I flatter a monarch who forgets what is due to my
family. I deny not that my father was brought down to be a poor
bankrupt; but twas his gentle blood that was ever too generous for
trade. Never did he disown his debts. Tis true he paid them not; but
it is an attested truth that he gave bills for them; and twas those
bills, in the hands of base hucksters, that were his undoing.
ELIZABETH. _[grimly]_ The son of your father shall learn his place
in the presence of the daughter of Harry the Eighth.
SHAKESPEAR. _[swelling with intolerant importance]_ Name not that
inordinate man in the same breath with Stratford's worthiest alderman.
John Shakespear wedded but once: Harry Tudor was married six times.
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