| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Brother of Daphne by Dornford Yates: good as a feast, and- "
"Which reminds me I'm awfully hungry. Oh, no, no, I didn't mean
that, Adam, dear, I didn't really."
And my companion leaned against the chimney-piece, laughing
helplessly.
"That's torn it," said I, laughing too.
"And now," said Eve, recovering, "take off your coat. You must
be so tired."
I drew my pumps out of the great pockets, and threw the coat off
me and across the back of a chair. Then I kicked off my great
high rubber boots, stepped into my pumps, and looked ruefully at
The Brother of Daphne |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Early Short Fiction of Edith Wharton by Edith Wharton: But it turned out that in the event they were not destined to,
for within three months of their conversation with Mrs. Stair
they were established at Lyng, and the life they had yearned for
to the point of planning it out in all its daily details had
actually begun for them.
It was to sit, in the thick December dusk, by just such a wide-
hooded fireplace, under just such black oak rafters, with the
sense that beyond the mullioned panes the downs were darkening to
a deeper solitude: it was for the ultimate indulgence in such
sensations that Mary Boyne had endured for nearly fourteen years
the soul-deadening ugliness of the Middle West, and that Boyne
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Essays of Travel by Robert Louis Stevenson: windows begin to be darkened and restrained in sight. Thus the study
of nature should be carried forward thoroughly and with system.
Every gratification should be rolled long under the tongue, and we
should be always eager to analyse and compare, in order that we may
be able to give some plausible reason for our admirations. True, it
is difficult to put even approximately into words the kind of
feelings thus called into play. There is a dangerous vice inherent
in any such intellectual refining upon vague sensation. The analysis
of such satisfactions lends itself very readily to literary
affectations; and we can all think of instances where it has shown
itself apt to exercise a morbid influence, even upon an author's
|
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 Z. Marcas by Honore de Balzac: Then we heard the humblest entreaties, the most fervent adjuration,
not to deprive the country of such superior talents. The man spoke of
patriotism, and Marcas uttered a significant "/Ouh! ouh!/" He laughed
at his would-be patron. Then the statesman was more explicit; he bowed
to the superiority of his erewhile counselor; he pledged himself to
enable Marcas to remain in office, to be elected deputy; then he
offered him a high appointment, promising him that he, the speaker,
would thenceforth be the subordinate of a man whose subaltern he was
only worthy to be. He was in the newly-formed ministry, and he would
not return to power unless Marcas had a post in proportion to his
merit; he had already made it a condition, Marcas had been regarded as
|
