| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Lair of the White Worm by Bram Stoker: danger. It provided a means of getting to the Severn, round which
lay the great Roman roads then coming into existence, and made
possible the great waterway to the heart of England--through the
Severn and its tributaries. It brought the east and the west
together by the swiftest and easiest ways known to those times.
And, finally, it provided means of descent on London and all the
expanse of country watered by the Thames.
"With such a centre, already known and organised, we can easily see
that each fresh wave of invasion--the Angles, the Saxons, the Danes,
and the Normans--found it a desirable possession and so ensured its
upholding. In the earlier centuries it was merely a vantage ground.
Lair of the White Worm |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Ann Veronica by H. G. Wells: I have any other thought but what is best for you."
"Only you won't let me live. Only you won't let me exist!"
Mr. Stanley lost patience. He bullied frankly.
"What nonsense is this? What raving! My dear child, you DO
live, you DO exist! You have this home. You have friends,
acquaintances, social standing, brothers and sisters, every
advantage! Instead of which, you want to go to some mixed
classes or other and cut up rabbits and dance about at nights in
wild costumes with casual art student friends and God knows who.
That--that isn't living! You are beside yourself. You don't
know what you ask nor what you say. You have neither reason nor
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