| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Dynamiter by Robert Louis Stevenson and Fanny Van De Grift Stevenson: sought to dissuade him, urging the dangers of the place; in
vain that I begged to be allowed to follow, pleading the
black blood that I now knew to circulate in my veins: to all
my appeals he turned a deaf ear, and, bending back a portion
of the screen of bushes, disappeared into the pestilential
silence of the swamp.
At the end of a full hour, the bushes were once more thrust
aside; and my father stepped from out the thicket, and paused
and almost staggered in the first shock of the blinding
sunlight. His face was of a singular dusky red; and yet for
all the heat of the tropical noon, he did not seem to sweat.
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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 Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave by Frederick Douglass: placing me at the beck and call of about seventy-five
men. I was to regard all these as masters. Their
word was to be my law. My situation was a most
trying one. At times I needed a dozen pair of hands.
I was called a dozen ways in the space of a single
minute. Three or four voices would strike my ear
at the same moment. It was--"Fred., come help me
to cant this timber here."--"Fred., come carry this
timber yonder."--"Fred., bring that roller here."--
"Fred., go get a fresh can of water."--"Fred., come
help saw off the end of this timber."--"Fred., go
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Twenty Years After by Alexandre Dumas: have said two words to Mordaunt in this little desert. It is
an excellent spot for bringing down a man in proper style."
"I think, decidedly," observed Aramis, "gentlemen, that the
son hasn't his mother's energy."
"What, my good fellow!" replied Athos, "wait awhile; we have
scarcely left him two hours ago -- he does not know yet in
what direction we came nor where we are. We may say that he
is not equal to his mother when we put foot in France, if we
are not poisoned or killed before then."
"Meanwhile, let us dine," suggested Porthos.
"I'faith, yes," said Athos, "for I am hungry."
Twenty Years After |
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 Intentions by Oscar Wilde: ERNEST. The critic, then, being limited to the subjective form,
will necessarily be less able fully to express himself than the
artist, who has always at his disposal the forms that are
impersonal and objective.
GILBERT. Not necessarily, and certainly not at all if he
recognises that each mode of criticism is, in its highest
development, simply a mood, and that we are never more true to
ourselves than when we are inconsistent. The aesthetic critic,
constant only to the principle of beauty in all things, will ever
be looking for fresh impressions, winning from the various schools
the secret of their charm, bowing, it may be, before foreign
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