| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Silverado Squatters by Robert Louis Stevenson: broad hint were necessary, he had the broadest in the world.
For a large board had been nailed by the crown prince on the
very front of our house, between the door and window, painted
in cinnabar - the pigment of the country - with doggrel
rhymes and contumelious pictures, and announcing, in terms
unnecessarily figurative, that the trick was already played,
the claim already jumped, and Master Sam the legitimate
successor of Mr. Ronalds. But no, nothing could save that
man; QUEM DEUS VULT PERDERE, PRIUS DEMENTAT. As he came so
he went, and left his rights depending.
Late at night, by Silverado reckoning, and after we were all
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Damaged Goods by Upton Sinclair: She would not stay under her husband's roof, and she would take
her child with her. It was her right, and no one could refuse
her.
The infant had been crying for hours, but that made no
difference. Henriette insisted that a cab should be called at
once.
So she went back to the home of Monsieur Loches and told him the
hideous story. Never before in her life had she discussed such
subjects with any one, but now in her agitation she told her
father all. As George had declared to the doctor, Monsieur
Loches was a person of violent temper; at this revelation, at the
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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 The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe: the specious totality of old wood-work which has rotted for long
years in some neglected vault, with no disturbance from the
breath of the external air. Beyond this indication of
extensive decay, however, the fabric gave little token of
instability. Perhaps the eye of a scrutinizing observer might
have discovered a barely perceptible fissure, which, extending
from the roof of the building in front, made its way down the
wall in a zigzag direction, until it became lost in the sullen
waters of the tarn.
Noticing these things, I rode over a short causeway to the
house. A servant in waiting took my horse, and I entered the
The Fall of the House of Usher |
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 Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain: the keeper of the light must come in a skiff a great distance
to discharge his trust,--and often in desperate weather.
Yet I was told that the work is faithfully performed,
in all weathers; and not always by men, sometimes by women,
if the man is sick or absent. The Government furnishes oil,
and pays ten or fifteen dollars a month for the lighting and tending.
A Government boat distributes oil and pays wages once a month.
The Ship Island region was as woodsy and tenantless as ever.
The island has ceased to be an island; has joined itself compactly
to the main shore, and wagons travel, now, where the steamboats used
to navigate. No signs left of the wreck of the 'Pennsylvania.'
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