| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie: non-committal nature. The young man departed, and as he closed
the door Poirot's eyes met mine.
"Yes," he said, nodding gravely. "He will have evidence to give
at the inquest."
We went slowly upstairs again. I was opening my lips, when
Poirot stopped me with a gesture of his hand.
"Not now, not now, mon ami. I have need of reflection. My mind
is in some disorder--which is not well."
For about ten minutes he sat in dead silence, perfectly still,
except for several expressive motions of his eyebrows, and all
the time his eyes grew steadily greener. At last he heaved a
The Mysterious Affair at Styles |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Troll Garden and Selected Stories by Willa Cather: knew that a preacher married folks. She consoled herself by
thinking that she had always intended to marry Canute someday,
anyway.
She grew tired of crying and looking into the fire, so she got
up and began to look about her. She had heard queer tales about
the inside of Canute's shanty, and her curiosity soon got the
better of her rage. One of the first things she noticed was the
new black suit of clothes hanging on the wall. She was dull, but
it did not take a vain woman long to interpret anything so
decidedly flattering, and she was pleased in spite of herself. As
she looked through the cupboard, the general air of neglect and
The Troll Garden and Selected Stories |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Mountains by Stewart Edward White: refreshing shadows, a soft carpet of pine-needles
through which the faint furrow of the trail runs as
over velvet. And then, last of all, in a wide opening,
clear as though chopped and plowed by some back-
woodsman, a park of grass, fresh grass, green as a
precious stone.
This was our first sight of the mountain meadows.
From time to time we found others, sometimes a half
dozen in a day. The rough country came down close
about them, edging to the very hair-line of the magic
circle, which seemed to assure their placid sunny
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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 Letters from England by Elizabeth Davis Bancroft: On Friday evening we went to the Queen's Ball, and for the first
time saw Her Majesty dance, which she does very well, and so does
the Duchess of Sutherland, grandmother though she be.
On Monday evening we went to a concert given to the Queen by the
Duke of Wellington at Apsley House. This was an occasion not to be
forgotten, but I cannot describe it. On Tuesday I went for the
first time to hear a debate upon the Portugal interference in the
House of Lords. It brought out all the leaders, and I was so
fortunate as to hear a most powerful speech from Lord Stanley, one
from Lord Lansdowne in defence of the Ministry and one from the Duke
of Wellington, who, on this occasion, sided with the Ministers. On
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