| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte: I, with an enthusiasm of which I immediately repented; for I
thought it must have sounded essentially silly.
'Oh, yes, you could,' said he, with a thoughtful smile. 'The ties
that bind us to life are tougher than you imagine, or than anyone
can who has not felt how roughly they may be pulled without
breaking. You might be miserable without a home, but even YOU
could live; and not so miserably as you suppose. The human heart
is like india-rubber; a little swells it, but a great deal will not
burst it. If "little more than nothing will disturb it, little
less than all things will suffice" to break it. As in the outer
members of our frame, there is a vital power inherent in itself
Agnes Grey |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from From London to Land's End by Daniel Defoe: deeper for their search into it.
The downs and plains in this part of England being so open, and the
surface so little subject to alteration, there are more remains of
antiquity to be seen upon them than in other places. For example,
I think they tell us there are three-and-fifty ancient encampments
or fortifications to be seen in this one county--some whereof are
exceeding plain to be seen; some of one form, some of another; some
of one nation, some of another--British, Danish, Saxon, Roman--as
at Ebb Down, Burywood, Oldburgh Hill, Cummerford, Roundway Down,
St. Ann's Hill, Bratton Castle, Clay Hill, Stournton Park,
Whitecole Hill, Battlebury, Scrathbury, Tanesbury, Frippsbury,
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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 Rape of Lucrece by William Shakespeare: For stones dissolv'd to water do convert.
O, if no harder than a stone thou art,
Melt at my tears, and be compassionate!
Soft pity enters at an iron gate.
'In Tarquin's likeness I did entertain thee;
Hast thou put on his shape to do him shame?
To all the host of heaven I complain me,
Thou wrong'st his honour, wound'st his princely name.
Thou art not what thou seem'st; and if the same,
Thou seem'st not what thou art, a god, a king;
For kings like gods should govern every thing.
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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 Life of the Spider by J. Henri Fabre: grasses, close to the ground, the Epeira's nest has also to protect
its contents from the winter cold. Let us cut the wrapper with our
scissors. Underneath, we find a thick layer of reddish-brown silk,
not worked into a fabric this time, but puffed into an extra-fine
wadding. It is a fleecy cloud, an incomparable quilt, softer than
any swan's-down. This is the screen set up against loss of heat.
And what does this cosy mass protect? See: in the middle of the
eiderdown hangs a cylindrical pocket, round at the bottom, cut
square at the top and closed with a padded lid. It is made of
extremely fine satin; it contains the Epeira's eggs, pretty little
orange-coloured beads, which, glued together, form a globule the
The Life of the Spider |
