| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Little Britain by Washington Irving: greatest potentate upon earth; his gilt coach with six horses as
the summit of human splendor; and his procession, with all the
Sheriffs and Aldermen in his train, as the grandest of earthly
pageants. How they exult in the idea that the King himself
dare not enter the city without first knocking at the gate of
Temple Bar, and asking permission of the Lord Mayor: for if
he did, heaven and earth! there is no knowing what might be
the consequence. The man in armor, who rides before the
Lord mayor, and is the city champion, has orders to cut down
everybody that offends against the dignity of the city; and then
there is the little man with a velvet porringer on his head, who
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Thuvia, Maid of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs: into one of the broad avenues, crept stealthily in the
shadows of the building toward the great central plaza
upon which were the buildings occupied by the green
warriors when they visited the deserted city.
When they had come to the plaza's edge Carthoris halted.
"Wait here," he whispered. "I go to fetch thoats,
since on foot we may never hope to escape the clutches
of these green fiends."
To reach the courtyard where the thoats were kept
it was necessary for Carthoris to pass through one of
the buildings which surrounded the square. Which were
Thuvia, Maid of Mars |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Lesson of the Master by Henry James: He had been told the ladies were at church, but this was corrected
by what he saw from the top of the steps - they descended from a
great height in two arms, with a circular sweep of the most
charming effect - at the threshold of the door which, from the long
bright gallery, overlooked the immense lawn. Three gentlemen, on
the grass, at a distance, sat under the great trees, while the
fourth figure showed a crimson dress that told as a "bit of colour"
amid the fresh rich green. The servant had so far accompanied Paul
Overt as to introduce him to this view, after asking him if he
wished first to go to his room. The young man declined that
privilege, conscious of no disrepair from so short and easy a
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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 Sylvie and Bruno by Lewis Carroll: I feel inclined to say, with Alexander Selkirk, 'Their tameness is
shocking to me'! And they never do any Midnight Murders.
They couldn't 'welter in gore,' to save their lives!"
"'Weltering in gore' is a very expressive phrase, certainly.
Can it be done in any fluid, I wonder?"
"I think not," the lady readily replied--quite as if she had thought
it out, long ago. "It has to be something thick. For instance, you
might welter in bread-sauce. That, being white, would be more suitable
for a Ghost, supposing it wished to welter!"
"You have a real good terrifying Ghost in that book?" I hinted.
"How could you guess?" she exclaimed with the most engaging frankness,
Sylvie and Bruno |
