| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from King Henry VI by William Shakespeare: His hands abroad display'd, as one that grasp'd
And tugg'd for life and was by strength subdu'd.
Look, on the sheets his hair, you see, is sticking;
His well-proportion'd beard made rough and rugged,
Like to the summer's corn by tempest lodged.
It cannot be but he was murther'd here;
The least of all these signs were probable.
SUFFOLK.
Why, Warwick, who should do the duke to death?
Myself and Beaufort had him in protection;
And we, I hope, sir, are no murtherers.
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Emma McChesney & Co. by Edna Ferber: in the living-room.
"That was what attracted me to this apartment in the first
place," Mrs. McChesney said, as they left the dining-room. "A
fireplace--a practical, real, wood-burning fireplace in a New
York apartment! I'd have signed the lease if the plaster had
been falling in chunks and the bathtub had been zinc."
"That's because fireplaces mean home--in our minds," said Buck.
He sat looking into the heart of the glow. There fell another of
those comfortable silences.
"T. A., I--I want to tell you that I know I've been acting the
cat ever since I got home from South America and found that you
Emma McChesney & Co. |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne: hot iron on Hester Prynne's forehead. Madame Hester would have
winced at that, I warrant me. But she -- the naughty baggage --
little will she care what they put upon the bodice of her gown
Why, look you, she may cover it with a brooch, or such like.
heathenish adornment, and so walk the streets as brave as ever"
"Ah, but," interposed, more softly, a young wife, holding a
child by the hand, "let her cover the mark as she will, the pang
of it will be always in her heart. "
"What do we talk of marks and brands, whether on the bodice of
The Scarlet Letter |
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 Within the Tides by Joseph Conrad: were raining on it outside, and flinging it open flew with his bare
hands at the throat of the first man he saw before him. They
rolled over together. Byrne's hazy intention was to break through,
to fly up the mountain path, and come back presently with Gonzales'
men to exact an exemplary vengeance. He fought furiously till a
tree, a house, a mountain, seemed to crash down upon his head - and
he knew no more.
* * * * *
Here Mr. Byrne describes in detail the skilful manner in which he
found his broken head bandaged, informs us that he had lost a great
deal of blood, and ascribes the preservation of his sanity to that
Within the Tides |
