| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Call of the Wild by Jack London: greeting or a cheering word, and to sit down for a long talk with
them ("gas" he called it) was as much his delight as theirs. He
had a way of taking Buck's head roughly between his hands, and
resting his own head upon Buck's, of shaking him back and forth,
the while calling him ill names that to Buck were love names.
Buck knew no greater joy than that rough embrace and the sound of
murmured oaths, and at each jerk back and forth it seemed that his
heart would be shaken out of his body so great was its ecstasy.
And when, released, he sprang to his feet, his mouth laughing, his
eyes eloquent, his throat vibrant with unuttered sound, and in
that fashion remained without movement, John Thornton would
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Expression of Emotion in Man and Animals by Charles Darwin: movements combined, and immediately afterwards a slight suffusion
of tears. A thrill of nerve-force is transmitted along several
habitual channels, and produces an effect on any point where the will
has not acquired through long habit much power of interference.
The above actions may be considered as rudimental vestiges of the
screaming-fits, which are so frequent and prolonged during infancy.
In this case, as well as in many others, the links are indeed wonderful
which connect cause and effect in giving rise to various expressions
on the human countenance; and they explain to us the meaning of
certain movements, which we involuntarily and unconsciously perform,
whenever certain transitory emotions pass through our minds.
Expression of Emotion in Man and Animals |
