| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Pericles by William Shakespeare: Look to your little mistress, on whose grace
You may depend hereafter. Come, my lord.
[Exeunt.]
SCENE IV. Ephesus. A room in Cerimon's house.
[Enter Cerimon and Thaisa.]
CERIMON.
Madam, this letter, and some certain jewels,
Lay with you in your coffer: which are now
At your command. Know you the character?
THAISA.
It is my lord's.
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Tales and Fantasies by Robert Louis Stevenson: yes - you shall give me your address, and you can count on
early news of me. We must do something for you, Fettes. I
fear you are out at elbows; but we must see to that for auld
lang syne, as once we sang at suppers.'
'Money!' cried Fettes; 'money from you! The money that I had
from you is lying where I cast it in the rain.'
Dr. Macfarlane had talked himself into some measure of
superiority and confidence, but the uncommon energy of this
refusal cast him back into his first confusion.
A horrible, ugly look came and went across his almost
venerable countenance. 'My dear fellow,' he said, 'be it as
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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 My Bondage and My Freedom by Frederick Douglass: that he made _white_ people to be masters and mistresses, and
_black_ people to be slaves. This did not satisfy me, nor lessen
my interest in the subject. I was told, too, that God was good,
and that He knew what was best for me, and best for everybody.
This was less satisfactory than the first statement; because it
came, point blank, against all my <70>notions of goodness. It
was not good to let old master cut the flesh off Esther, and make
her cry so. Besides, how did people know that God made black
people to be slaves? Did they go up in the sky and learn it? or,
did He come down and tell them so? All was dark here. It was
some relief to my hard notions of the goodness of God, that,
My Bondage and My Freedom |
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 Dynamiter by Robert Louis Stevenson and Fanny Van De Grift Stevenson: 'Sir,' returned the Mormon, 'my name is Grierson: you will
hear that name again; and you will then understand that my
duty was not to this caravan of paupers, but to mankind at
large.'
My father turned to the remainder of the party, who were now
sufficiently revived to hear; told them that he would set off
at once to bring help from his own party; 'and,' he added,
'if you be again reduced to such extremities, look round you,
and you will see the earth strewn with assistance. Here, for
instance, growing on the under side of fissures in this
cliff, you will perceive a yellow moss. Trust me, it is both
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