| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Tin Woodman of Oz by L. Frank Baum: reflection, I considered the tin head far superior to
the meat one -- I am wearing it yet, so you can see its
beauty and grace of outline -- and the girl agreed with
me that a man all made of tin was far more perfect than
one formed of different materials. The tinsmith was as
proud of his workmanship as I was, and for three whole
days, all admired me and praised my beauty. "Being now
completely formed of tin, I had no more fear of the
Wicked Witch, for she was powerless to injure me.
Nimmie Amee said we must be married at once, for then
she could come to my cottage and live with me and keep
The Tin Woodman of Oz |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Lucile by Owen Meredith: And I thought that he too, very probably, spent
His evenings not wholly as first he had meant.
XI.
O source of the holiest joys we inherit,
O Sorrow, thou solemn, invisible spirit!
Ill fares it with man when, through life's desert sand,
Grown impatient too soon for the long-promised land,
He turns from the worship of thee, as thou art,
An expressless and imageless truth in the heart,
And takes of the jewels of Egypt, the pelf
And the gold of the Godless, to make to himself
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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 Lair of the White Worm by Bram Stoker: had gripped her round the throat. Then, apparently, she fainted."
"Gripped her round the throat! Then it cannot have been a dog."
"No, sir, that is my difficulty, and explains why I brought you out
here, where we cannot possibly be overheard. You have noticed, of
course, the peculiar sinuous way in which Lady Arabella moves--well,
I feel certain that the white thing that I saw in the wood was the
mistress of Diana's Grove!"
"Good God, boy, be careful what you say."
"Yes, sir, I fully realise the gravity of my accusation, but I feel
convinced that the marks on the child's throat were human--and made
by a woman."
Lair of the White Worm |
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 of Two Brides by Honore de Balzac: become necessary to me. I say to myself, "Once more, and then I will
speak."
His voice, my dear, is sweetly thrilling; his speaking is just like la
Fodor's singing. His manners are simple, entirely free from
affectation. And what teeth!
Just now, as he was leaving, he seemed to divine the interest I take
in him, and made a gesture--oh! most respectfully--as though to take
my hand and kiss it; then checked himself, apparently terrified at his
own boldness and the chasm he had been on the point of bridging. There
was the merest suggestion of all this, but I understood it and smiled,
for nothing is more pathetic than to see the frank impulse of an
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