| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Death of the Lion by Henry James: therefore that the beautiful book plays a great part in our
existence. Why should I take the occasion of such distinguished
honours to say that I begin to see deeper into Gustave Flaubert's
doleful refrain about the hatred of literature? I refer you again
to the perverse constitution of man.
"The Princess is a massive lady with the organisation of an athlete
and the confusion of tongues of a valet de place. She contrives to
commit herself extraordinarily little in a great many languages,
and is entertained and conversed with in detachments and relays,
like an institution which goes on from generation to generation or
a big building contracted for under a forfeit. She can't have a
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The People That Time Forgot by Edgar Rice Burroughs: low meadow where we had seen antelope and small horses a short
time before. Here I brought down a young buck, the report of my
rifle sending the balance of the herd scampering for the woods,
where they were met by a chorus of hideous roars as the
carnivora took advantage of their panic and leaped among them.
With my hunting-knife I removed a hind-quarter, and then we
returned to camp. Here I gathered a great quantity of wood
from fallen trees, Ajor helping me; but before I built a fire,
I also gathered sufficient loose rock to build my barricade
against the frightful terrors of the night to come.
I shall never forget the expression upon Ajor's face as she saw
The People That Time Forgot |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from King James Bible: whole from that very hour.
MAT 15:29 And Jesus departed from thence, and came nigh unto the sea of
Galilee; and went up into a mountain, and sat down there.
MAT 15:30 And great multitudes came unto him, having with them those
that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down
at Jesus' feet; and he healed them:
MAT 15:31 Insomuch that the multitude wondered, when they saw the dumb
to speak, the maimed to be whole, the lame to walk, and the blind to
see: and they glorified the God of Israel.
MAT 15:32 Then Jesus called his disciples unto him, and said, I have
compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three
King James Bible |
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 Children of the Night by Edwin Arlington Robinson: By doing that, he only looked at me
And grinned, and said it was a way of his.
And though I know the fellow, I have spent
Long time a-wondering when I shall be
As happy as Cliff Klingenhagen is.
Charles Carville's Eyes
A melancholy face Charles Carville had,
But not so melancholy as it seemed, --
When once you knew him, -- for his mouth redeemed
His insufficient eyes, forever sad:
In them there was no life-glimpse, good or bad, --
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