| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Goodness of St. Rocque and Other Stories by Alice Dunbar: entrance, and pausing one instant by the great sun-dial to see if
the heavens and the hour were propitious, glided into the tiny
chapel, dim and stifling with heavy air from myriad wish-candles
blazing on the wide table before the altar-rail. She said her
prayer and lighting her candle placed it with the others.
Mon Dieu! how brightly the sun seemed to shine now, she thought,
pausing at the door on her way out. Her small finger-tips, still
bedewed with holy water, rested caressingly on a gamin's head.
The ivy which enfolds the quaint chapel never seemed so green;
the shrines which serve as the Way of the Cross never seemed so
artistic; the baby graves, even, seemed cheerful.
The Goodness of St. Rocque and Other Stories |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from She Stoops to Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith: Enter MISS HARDCASTLE, as returned from walking, a bonnet, etc.
HASTINGS. (Introducing them.) Miss Hardcastle, Mr. Marlow. I'm
proud of bringing two persons of such merit together, that only want to
know, to esteem each other.
MISS HARDCASTLE. (Aside.) Now for meeting my modest gentleman with a
demure face, and quite in his own manner. (After a pause, in which he
appears very uneasy and disconcerted.) I'm glad of your safe arrival,
sir. I'm told you had some accidents by the way.
MARLOW. Only a few, madam. Yes, we had some. Yes, madam, a good many
accidents, but should be sorry--madam--or rather glad of any
accidents--that are so agreeably concluded. Hem!
She Stoops to Conquer |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Hellenica by Xenophon: the exception of the Eleians, swore to.
[1] I.e. in B.C. 387, the peace "of" Antalcidas. See Grote, "H. G." x.
274.
[2] See Busolt, op. cit. p. 186.
B.C. 371-370. As an immediate consequence of this agreement, the
Mantineans, on the assumption that they were now absolutely
independent, met in a body and passed a decree to make Mantinea into a
single state and to fortify the town.[3] The proceeding was not
overlooked by the Lacedaemonians, who thought it would be hard if this
were done without their consent. Accordingly they despatched Agesilaus
as ambassador to the Mantineans, choosing him as the recognised
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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 Plain Tales from the Hills by Rudyard Kipling: two were engaged.
The Senior Subaltern was so pleased with getting his Company and his
acceptance at the same time that he forgot to bother The Worm. The
girl was a pretty girl, and had money of her own. She does not come
into this story at all.
One night, at the beginning of the hot weather, all the Mess, except
The Worm, who had gone to his own room to write Home letters, were
sitting on the platform outside the Mess House. The Band had
finished playing, but no one wanted to go in. And the Captains'
wives were there also. The folly of a man in love is unlimited.
The Senior Subaltern had been holding forth on the merits of the
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