| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Tales and Fantasies by Robert Louis Stevenson: 'Dick!' cried his father, suddenly breaking forth, 'it is not
too late, is it? I have come here in time to save you.
Come, come away with me - come away from this place.'
And he fawned upon Dick with his hands.
'Keep your hands off me,' cried Dick, not meaning unkindness,
but because his nerves were shattered by so many successive
miseries.
'No, no,' said the old man, 'don't repulse your father, Dick,
when he has come here to save you. Don't repulse me, my boy.
Perhaps I have not been kind to you, not quite considerate,
too harsh; my boy, it was not for want of love. Think of old
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Caesar's Commentaries in Latin by Julius Caesar: Caesar equitatum misit.
Germani post tergum clamore audito, eum suos interfiei viderent, armis
abiectis signis militaribus relictis se ex castris eiecerunt, et eum ad
confluentem Mosae et Rheni pervenissent, reliqua fuga desperata, magno
numero interfecto, reliqui se in flumen praecipitaverunt atque ibi timore,
lassitudine, vi fluminis oppressi perierunt. Nostri ad unum omnes
incolumes, perpaucis vulneratis, ex tanti belli timore, cum hostium
numerus capitum CCCCXXX milium fuisset, se in castra receperunt. Caesar
iis quos in castris retinuerat discedendi potestatem fecit. Illi
supplicia cruciatusque Gallorum veriti, quorum agros vexaverant, remanere
se apud eum velle dixerunt. His Caesar libertatem concessit.
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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 Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy: had smiled sadly in dull rust for the last eighty years,
painted a bright green, and the heavy-barred, small-paned
Georgian sash windows enlivened with three coats of white.
He was as kind to her as a man, mayor, and churchwarden
could possibly be. The house was large, the rooms lofty,
and the landings wide; and the two unassuming women scarcely
made a perceptible addition to its contents.
To Elizabeth-Jane the time was a most triumphant one. The
freedom she experienced, the indulgence with which she was
treated, went beyond her expectations. The reposeful, easy,
affluent life to which her mother's marriage had introduced
The Mayor of Casterbridge |
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 St. Ives by Robert Louis Stevenson: exposure, it was best to pretend to none. And I dubbed myself a
young gentleman of a sufficient fortune and an idle, curious habit
of mind, rambling the country at my own charges, in quest of
health, information, and merry adventures.
At Newcastle, which was the first town I reached, I completed my
preparations for the part, before going to the inn, by the purchase
of a knapsack and a pair of leathern gaiters. My plaid I continued
to wear from sentiment. It was warm, useful to sleep in if I were
again benighted, and I had discovered it to be not unbecoming for a
man of gallant carriage. Thus equipped, I supported my character
of the light-hearted pedestrian not amiss. Surprise was indeed
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