| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Some Reminiscences by Joseph Conrad: possession of myself which is the first condition of good
service. And I have carried my notion of good service from my
earlier into my later existence. I, who have never sought in the
written word anything else but a form of the Beautiful, I have
carried over that article of creed from the decks of ships to the
more circumscribed space of my desk; and by that act, I suppose,
I have become permanently imperfect in the eyes of the ineffable
company of pure esthetes.
As in political so in literary action a man wins friends for
himself mostly by the passion of his prejudices and by the
consistent narrowness of his outlook. But I have never been able
Some Reminiscences |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from A Start in Life by Honore de Balzac: may prove to be the cause of your making a brilliant fortune; for,
really and truly, you were burying your energy and your capacity at
Presles."
Madame Clapart then went on to relate her visit to uncle Cardot, in
order to show Moreau that neither she nor her son need any longer be a
burden on him.
"He is right, that old fellow," said the ex-steward. "We must hold
Oscar in that path with an iron hand, and he will end as a barrister
or a notary. But he mustn't leave the track; he must go straight
through with it. Ha! I know how to help you. The legal business of
land-agents is quite important, and I have heard of a lawyer who has
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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 Enchanted Island of Yew by L. Frank Baum: "Not at all! Not at all!" cried Wul-Takim. "You promised to hang
fifty-nine thieves, and there is no doubt the fifty-nine thieves
deserved to be hung. But, consider! We have all reformed our ways
and become honest men; so it would be a sad and unkindly act to hang
fifty-nine honest men!"
"What think you, Nerle?" asked the Prince, turning to his esquire.
"Why, the rogue seems to speak truth," said Nerle, scratching his head
with a puzzled air, "yet, if he speaks truth, there is little
difference between a rogue and an honest man. Ask him, my master,
what caused them all to reform so suddenly."
"Because we were about to die, and we thought it a good way to save
The Enchanted Island of Yew |
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 Aspern Papers by Henry James: at the old woman's wrappings I could imagine that she had not wished
to allow people a reason to say that the great poet had overdone it.
But I did not waste my time in considering Miss Bordereau, in whom
the appearance of respiration was so slight as to suggest that no human
attention could ever help her more. I turned my eyes all over the room,
rummaging with them the closets, the chests of drawers, the tables.
Miss Tita met them quickly and read, I think, what was in them; but she did
not answer it, turning away restlessly, anxiously, so that I felt rebuked,
with reason, for a preoccupation that was almost profane in the presence
of our dying companion. All the same I took another look, endeavoring to
pick out mentally the place to try first, for a person who should wish
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