| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Door in the Wall, et. al. by H. G. Wells: turned back from Cava, and we had tried to cross towards Taranto by
a pass over Mount Alburno, but we had been driven back for want of
food, and so we had come down among the marshes by Paestum, where
those great temples stand alone. I had some vague idea that by
Paestum it might be possible to find a boat or something, and take
once more to sea. And there it was the battle overtook us.
"A sort of soul-blindness had me. Plainly I could see that we
were being hemmed in; that the great net of that giant Warfare had
us in its toils. Many times we had seen the levies that had come
down from the north going to and fro, and had come upon them in the
distance amidst the mountains making ways for the ammunition and
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Travels with a Donkey in the Cevenne by Robert Louis Stevenson: boulders. The river in the bottom (for it was rapidly growing a
river, collecting on all hands as it trotted on its way) here
foamed a while in desperate rapids, and there lay in pools of the
most enchanting sea-green shot with watery browns. As far as I
have gone, I have never seen a river of so changeful and delicate a
hue; crystal was not more clear, the meadows were not by half so
green; and at every pool I saw I felt a thrill of longing to be out
of these hot, dusty, and material garments, and bathe my naked body
in the mountain air and water. All the time as I went on I never
forgot it was the Sabbath; the stillness was a perpetual reminder;
and I heard in spirit the church-bells clamouring all over Europe,
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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 Lord Arthur Savile's Crime, etc. by Oscar Wilde: took a small oblong phial out of his dressing-case, and opened the
door. Right in front of him he saw, in the wan moonlight, an old
man of terrible aspect. His eyes were as red burning coals; long
grey hair fell over his shoulders in matted coils; his garments,
which were of antique cut, were soiled and ragged, and from his
wrists and ankles hung heavy manacles and rusty gyves.
'My dear sir,' said Mr. Otis, 'I really must insist on your oiling
those chains, and have brought you for that purpose a small bottle
of the Tammany Rising Sun Lubricator. It is said to be completely
efficacious upon one application, and there are several
testimonials to that effect on the wrapper from some of our most
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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 Woodlanders by Thomas Hardy: never more assiduity, till Mrs. Charmond spoke.
"Who is that young lady I see talking to the woodman yonder?" she
asked.
"Mrs. Fitzpiers, ma'am," said Marty.
"Oh," said Mrs. Charmond, with something like a start; for she had
not recognized Grace at that distance. "And the man she is
talking to?"
"That's Mr. Winterborne."
A redness stole into Marty's face as she mentioned Giles's name,
which Mrs. Charmond did not fail to notice informed her of the
state of the girl's heart. "Are you engaged to him?" she asked,
The Woodlanders |
