| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from At the Mountains of Madness by H. P. Lovecraft: flight from several points on the wing. They arrived at our base
at midnight, and all hands at once discussed the next move. It
was risky business sailing over the antarctic in a single aeroplane
without any line of bases, but no one drew back from what seemed
like the plainest necessity. We turned in at two o’clock for a
brief rest after some preliminary loading of the plane, but were
up again in four hours to finish the loading and packing.
At
7:15 A.M., January 25th, we started flying northwestward under
McTighe’s pilotage with ten men, seven dogs, a sledge, a fuel
and food supply, and other items including the plane’s wireless
At the Mountains of Madness |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Light of Western Stars by Zane Grey: interfere with the meal being somewhat in the nature of a picnic.
While they ate and talked and laughed the cowboys were packing
horses and burros and throwing the diamond-hitch, a procedure so
interesting to Castleton that he got up with coffee-cup in hand
and tramped from one place to another.
"Heard of that diamond-hitch-up," he observed to a cowboy.
"Bally nice little job!"
As soon as the pack-train was in readiness Stewart started it off
in the lead to break trail. A heavy growth of shrub interspersed
with rock and cactus covered the slopes; and now all the trail
appeared to be uphill. It was not a question of comfort for
The Light of Western Stars |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Ballads by Robert Louis Stevenson: And hung the basket again in the shade, in a cloud of flies
- "And there is a sauce to your dinner, king of the crafty eyes!"
Soon as the oven was open, the fish smelt excellent good.
In the shade, by the house of Rahero, down they sat to their food,
And cleared the leaves (6) in silence, or uttered a jest and laughed,
And raising the cocoanut bowls, buried their faces and quaffed.
But chiefly in silence they ate; and soon as the meal was done,
Rahero feigned to remember and measured the hour by the sun,
And "Tamatea," quoth he, "it is time to be jogging, my lad."
So Tamatea arose, doing ever the thing he was bade,
And carelessly shouldered the basket, and kindly saluted his host;
Ballads |
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 Margret Howth: A Story of To-day by Rebecca Harding Davis: sight all possible life that might have called her true self into
being, and clung to this present shallow duty and shallow reward.
Pitiful and vain so to cling! It is the way of women. As if any
human soul could bury that which might have been, in that which
is!
The Doctor, peering into her thought with sharp, suspicious eyes,
heeded the transient flush of enthusiasm but little. Even the
pleasant cheery talk that pleased her father so was but
surface-deep, he knew. The woman he must conquer for his great
end lay beneath, dark and cold. It was only for that end he
cared for her. Through what cold depths of solitude her soul
Margret Howth: A Story of To-day |
