| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Woodlanders by Thomas Hardy: could be reached without passing through the street. In the dusk
of the late September day they went thither by secret ways,
walking mostly in silence side by side, each busied with her own
thoughts. Grace had a trouble exceeding Marty's--that haunting
sense of having put out the light of his life by her own hasty
doings. She had tried to persuade herself that he might have died
of his illness, even if she had not taken possession of his house.
Sometimes she succeeded in her attempt; sometimes she did not.
They stood by the grave together, and though the sun had gone
down, they could see over the woodland for miles, and down to the
vale in which he had been accustomed to descend every year, with
The Woodlanders |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom by William and Ellen Craft: ceived. A villain residing at a distance, hearing of
the circumstance, came forward and swore that he
was a relative of the deceased; and as this man
bore, or assumed, Mr. Slator's name, the case
was brought before one of those horrible tribunals,
presided over by a second Judge Jeffreys, and
calling itself a court of justice, but before whom
no coloured person, nor an abolitionist, was ever
known to get his full rights.
A verdict was given in favour of the plaintiff,
whom the better portion of the community thought
Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Glaucus/The Wonders of the Shore by Charles Kingsley: or Floris never dreamed of; with which he sweeps out of the sea-
water at every moment shoals of minute animalcules, and sucks them
into his tiny mouth. Mr. Gosse will tell you more of this marvel,
in his "Aquarium," p. 48.
Next, your sea-weeds, if they thrive as they ought to do, will sow
their minute spores in millions around them; and these, as they
vegetate, will form a green film on the inside of the glass,
spoiling your prospect: you may rub it off for yourself, if you
will, with a rag fastened to a stick; but if you wish at once to
save yourself trouble, and to see how all emergencies in nature are
provided for, you will set three or four live shells to do it for
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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 The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Bronte Sisters: breath of wind, you could not expect it to become a hardy tree,
like that which has grown up on the mountain-side, exposed to all
the action of the elements, and not even sheltered from the shock
of the tempest.'
'Granted; - but would you use the same argument with regard to a
girl?'
'Certainly not.'
'No; you would have her to be tenderly and delicately nurtured,
like a hot-house plant - taught to cling to others for direction
and support, and guarded, as much as possible, from the very
knowledge of evil. But will you be so good as to inform me why you
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall |
