| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Poems by Oscar Wilde: V
I know not whether Laws be right,
Or whether Laws be wrong;
All that we know who lie in gaol
Is that the wall is strong;
And that each day is like a year,
A year whose days are long.
But this I know, that every Law
That men have made for Man,
Since first Man took his brother's life,
And the sad world began,
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Brother of Daphne by Dornford Yates: When Daphne pressed her point as only Daphne can, I felt really
too timid and bored with the whole affair to argue about it, so I
gave way. Accordingly, at ten minutes past five, I stood moodily
on the platform by my sister's side. The train steamed in, and
the passengers began to alight. Daphne scanned them eagerly.
"I don't see her," she said half to herself.
We were standing half-way down the platform, and I turned and
looked listlessly towards the front of the train. That end of
the platform was empty except for two people. One was a stoker
who had stepped off the foot-plate. The other was Alice. She
was in blue still- a blue coat and skirt, with a fox fur about
The Brother of Daphne |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Glimpses of the Moon by Edith Wharton: included, as a last concession, and because he had hitherto
forborne to play on it); and in the second, the five Fulmers,
the bonne, who at the eleventh hour had refused to be left, a
cage-full of canaries, and a foundling kitten who had murderous
designs on them; all of which had to be taken because, if the
bonne came, there would be nobody left to look after them.
At the corner Susy tore herself from Nick's arms and held up the
procession while she ran back to the second taxi to make sure
that the bonne had brought the house-key. It was found of
course that she hadn't but that Junie had; whereupon the caravan
got under way again, and reached the station just as the train
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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 A Passion in the Desert by Honore de Balzac: yourself? So you have been eating some Arab or other, have you? That
doesn't matter. They're animals just the same as you are; but don't
you take to eating Frenchmen, or I shan't like you any longer."
She played like a dog with its master, letting herself be rolled over,
knocked about, and stroked, alternately; sometimes she herself would
provoke the soldier, putting up her paw with a soliciting gesture.
Some days passed in this manner. This companionship permitted the
Provencal to appreciate the sublime beauty of the desert; now that he
had a living thing to think about, alternations of fear and quiet, and
plenty to eat, his mind became filled with contrast and his life began
to be diversified.
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