| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Common Sense by Thomas Paine: And however our eyes may be dazzled with show, or our ears deceived by sound;
however prejudice may warp our wills, or interest darken our understanding,
the simple voice of nature and of reason will say, it is right.
I draw my idea of the form of government from a principle in nature,
which no art can overturn, viz. that the more simple any thing is,
the less liable it is to be disordered; and the easier repaired
when disordered; and with this maxim in view, I offer a few remarks
on the so much boasted constitution of England. That it was noble
for the dark and slavish times in which it was erected, is granted.
When the world was overrun with tyranny the least remove therefrom
was a glorious rescue. But that it is imperfect, subject to convulsions,
Common Sense |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from A Sentimental Journey by Laurence Sterne: for my own lecture, that I neither ascended the steps like a victim
to justice, who was to part with life upon the top most, - nor did
I mount them with a skip and a couple of strides, as I do when I
fly up, Eliza! to thee to meet it.
As I entered the door of the saloon I was met by a person, who
possibly might be the MAITRE D'HOTEL, but had more the air of one
of the under secretaries, who told me the Duc de C- was busy. - I
am utterly ignorant, said I, of the forms of obtaining an audience,
being an absolute stranger, and what is worse in the present
conjuncture of affairs, being an Englishman too. - He replied, that
did not increase the difficulty. - I made him a slight bow, and
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| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Dawn O'Hara, The Girl Who Laughed by Edna Ferber: not harmonize with the wall paper. Neither do you
criticize the blue and saffron roses that form the rug
pattern. 'Deedy not! Instead you warily punch the
mattress to see if it is rock-stuffed, and you snoop into
the clothes closet; you inquire the distance to the
nearest bath room, and whether the payments are weekly or
monthly, and if there is a baby in the room next door.
Oh, there's nothing like living in a boarding-house for
cultivating the materialistic side.
But I was to find that here at Knapf's things were
quite different. Not only was Ernst von Gerhard right in
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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 Pair of Blue Eyes by Thomas Hardy: the complexion of a virtue.
The following days were passed without any definite avowal from
Knight's lips. Such solitary walks and scenes as that witnessed
by Smith in the summer-house were frequent, but he courted her so
intangibly that to any but such a delicate perception as Elfride's
it would have appeared no courtship at all. The time now really
began to be sweet with her. She dismissed the sense of sin in her
past actions, and was automatic in the intoxication of the moment.
The fact that Knight made no actual declaration was no drawback.
Knowing since the betrayal of his sentiments that love for her
really existed, she preferred it for the present in its form of
A Pair of Blue Eyes |
