| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from End of the Tether by Joseph Conrad: weakness that prevented him from saying good-night
and walking away. It was as though he had been too
tired to make the effort. How queer. More queer than
any of Ned's instances. Or was it that overpowering
sense of idleness alone that made him stand there and
listen to these stories. Nothing very real had ever
troubled Ned Eliott; and gradually he seemed to detect
deep in, as if wrapped up in the gross wheezy rumble,
something of the clear hearty voice of the young captain
of the Ringdove. He wondered if he too had changed to
the same extent; and it seemed to him that the voice of
End of the Tether |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Art of Writing by Robert Louis Stevenson: our guest the mutilated members of THE SEA COOK; at the same
time, we would by no means stop our readings; and accordingly
the tale was begun again at the beginning, and solemnly re-
delivered for the benefit of Dr. Japp. From that moment on,
I have thought highly of his critical faculty; for when he
left us, he carried away the manuscript in his portmanteau.
Here, then, was everything to keep me up, sympathy, help, and
now a positive engagement. I had chosen besides a very easy
style. Compare it with the almost contemporary 'Merry Men',
one reader may prefer the one style, one the other - 'tis an
affair of character, perhaps of mood; but no expert can fail
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