| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Letters of Robert Louis Stevenson by Robert Louis Stevenson: The presence of people is the great obstacle to letter-writing. I
deny that letters should contain news (I mean mine; those of other
people should). But mine should contain appropriate sentiments and
humorous nonsense, or nonsense without the humour. When the house
is empty, the mind is seized with a desire - no, that is too strong
- a willingness to pour forth unmitigated rot, which constitutes
(in me) the true spirit of correspondence. When I have no remarks
to offer (and nobody to offer them to), my pen flies, and you see
the remarkable consequence of a page literally covered with words
and genuinely devoid of sense. I can always do that, if quite
alone, and I like doing it; but I have yet to learn that it is
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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 Ebb-Tide by Stevenson & Osbourne: 'I don't know,' he said. 'It's only California; it's good
enough, I believe.'
Attwater seemed to make up his mind. 'Well then, I'll tell you
what: you three gentlemen come ashore this evening and bring a
basket of wine with you; I'll try and find the food,' he said.
'And by the by, here is a question I should have asked you when
I come on board: have you had smallpox?'
'Personally, no,' said Herrick. 'But the schooner had it.'
'Deaths?' from Attwater.
'Two,' said Herrick.
'Well, it is a dreadful sickness,' said Attwater.
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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 Art of Writing by Robert Louis Stevenson: acknowledged currency of our daily affairs, there are here
possible none of those suppressions by which other arts
obtain relief, continuity, and vigour: no hieroglyphic
touch, no smoothed impasto, no inscrutable shadow, as in
painting; no blank wall, as in architecture; but every word,
phrase, sentence, and paragraph must move in a logical
progression, and convey a definite conventional import.
Now the first merit which attracts in the pages of a good
writer, or the talk of a brilliant conversationalist, is the
apt choice and contrast of the words employed. It is,
indeed, a strange art to take these blocks, rudely conceived
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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 The People That Time Forgot by Edgar Rice Burroughs: truthfully, toying with his spear in a most suggestive manner.
"My name is Tom," I explained, "and I am from a country
beyond Caspak." I thought it best to propitiate him if possible,
because of the necessity of conserving ammunition as well as to
avoid the loud alarm of a shot which might bring other Band-lu
warriors upon us. "I am from America, a land of which you
never heard, and I am seeking others of my countrymen who are
in Caspak and from whom I am lost. I have no quarrel with you
or your people. Let us go our way in peace."
"You are going there?" he asked, and pointed toward the north.
"I am," I replied.
The People That Time Forgot |
