| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Twenty Years After by Alexandre Dumas: "And what shall I say to the people?"
"That they must have patience," said Anne, "as I have."
The fiery Spanish woman spoke in a tone so imperative that
the marechal made no reply; he bowed and went out.
(D'Artagnan turned to Porthos. "How will this end?" he said.
"We shall soon see," said Porthos, in his tranquil way.)
In the meantime Anne of Austria approached Comminges and
conversed with him in a subdued tone, whilst Mazarin glanced
uneasily at the corner occupied by D'Artagnan and Porthos.
Ere long the door opened and the marechal entered, followed
by the coadjutor.
Twenty Years After |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin: one--not as a very striking case, but as likewise illustrating one step in
the separation of the sexes of plants, presently to be alluded to. Some
holly-trees bear only male flowers, which have four stamens producing
rather a small quantity of pollen, and a rudimentary pistil; other
holly-trees bear only female flowers; these have a full-sized pistil, and
four stamens with shrivelled anthers, in which not a grain of pollen can be
detected. Having found a female tree exactly sixty yards from a male tree,
I put the stigmas of twenty flowers, taken from different branches, under
the microscope, and on all, without exception, there were pollen-grains,
and on some a profusion of pollen. As the wind had set for several days
from the female to the male tree, the pollen could not thus have been
On the Origin of Species |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie: "Yes."
"A patriotic one?"
The girl flushed.
"I guess you've no right to ask such a thing! Of course I am!"
"Don't be offended. You wouldn't be if you knew how much there
was at stake. But I've got to trust some one--and it must be a
woman."
"Why?"
"Because of 'women and children first.' " He looked round and
lowered his voice. "I'm carrying papers--vitally important
papers. They may make all the difference to the Allies in the
Secret Adversary |
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 I Have A Dream by Martin Luther King, Jr.: the Negro is still not free. One hundred years later, the life of
the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation
and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the
Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast
ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro
is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds
himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to
dramatize an appalling condition.
In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check.
When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words
of the Constitution and the declaration of Independence, they
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