| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Memoir of Fleeming Jenkin by Robert Louis Stevenson: adventurers one meets with and hears of in queer berths - raising
cavalry, building palaces, and using some petty Eastern king's long
purse with their long Scotch heads.
'Off Bona; June 4.
'I read your letter carefully, leaning back in a Maltese boat to
present the smallest surface of my body to a grilling sun, and
sailing from the ELBA to Cape Hamrah about three miles distant.
How we fried and sighed! At last, we reached land under Fort
Genova, and I was carried ashore pick-a-back, and plucked the first
flower I saw for Annie. It was a strange scene, far more novel
than I had imagined: the high, steep banks covered with rich,
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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 Shadow Line by Joseph Conrad: to be nasty--very nasty--had meant to say the
most crushing thing he could think of. My laugh
sounded deprecatory. Nobody but a friend could
be so angry as that. I became a little crestfallen.
Our chief engineer also took a characteristic view
of my action, but in a kindlier spirit.
He was young, too, but very thin, and with a
mist of fluffy brown beard all round his haggard
face. All day long, at sea or in harbour, he could
be seen walking hastily up and down the after-
deck, wearing an intense, spiritually rapt ex-
The Shadow Line |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Large Catechism by Dr. Martin Luther: of God abide upon us still, because we cannot keep what God demands of
us; but this [namely, the doctrine of faith] brings pure grace, and
makes us godly and acceptable to God. For by this knowledge we obtain
love and delight in all the commandments of God, because here we see
that God gives Himself entire to us, with all that He has and is able
to do, to aid and direct us in keeping the Ten Commandments -- the
Father, all creatures; the Son, His entire work; and the Holy Ghost,
all His gifts.
Let this suffice concerning the Creed to lay a foundation for the
simple, that they may not be burdened, so that, if they understand the
substance of it, they themselves may afterwards strive to acquire more,
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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 Misalliance by George Bernard Shaw: makes it impossible to live in the house with him.
JOHNNY. _[deeply hurt]_ It's twenty-seven years, mother, since you
had that row with me for licking Robert and giving Hypatia a black eye
because she bit me. I promised you then that I'd never raise my hand
to one of them again; and Ive never broken my word. And now because
this young whelp begins to cry out before he's hurt, you treat me as
if I were a brute and a savage.
MRS TARLETON. No dear, not a savage; but you know you must not call
our visitor naughty names.
BENTLEY. Oh, let him alone--
JOHNNY. _[fiercely]_ Dont you interfere between my mother and me:
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