| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Snow Image by Nathaniel Hawthorne: The poet spoke sadly, and his eyes were dim with tears. So,
likewise, were those of Ernest.
At the hour of sunset, as had long been his frequent custom,
Ernest was to discourse to an assemblage of the neighboring
inhabitants in the open air. He and the poet, arm in arm, still
talking together as they went along, proceeded to the spot. It
was a small nook among the hills, with a gray precipice behind,
the stern front of which was relieved by the pleasant foliage of
many creeping plants that made a tapestry for the naked rock, by
hanging their festoons from all its rugged angles. At a small
elevation above the ground, set in a rich framework of verdure,
The Snow Image |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Jolly Corner by Henry James: "You came to yourself," she beautifully smiled.
"Ah I've come to myself now - thanks to you, dearest. But this
brute, with his awful face - this brute's a black stranger. He's
none of ME, even as I MIGHT have been," Brydon sturdily declared.
But she kept the clearness that was like the breath of
infallibility. "Isn't the whole point that you'd have been
different?"
He almost scowled for it. "As different as THAT - ?"
Her look again was more beautiful to him than the things of this
world. "Haven't you exactly wanted to know HOW different? So this
morning," she said, "you appeared to me."
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Redheaded Outfield by Zane Grey: and bawling, Curtis ended the inning with a difficult
grounder to the infield.
Once more the Kansas City players took the
field and Burns Carroll sang out in his lusty voice:
``Keep lively, boys! Play hard! Dig 'em up an'
get 'em!'' Indeed the big catcher was the main-
stay of the home team. The bulk of the work fell
upon his shoulders. Dalgren was wild and kept
his catcher continually blocking low pitches and
wide curves and poorly controlled high fast balls.
But they were all alike to Carroll. Despite his
The Redheaded Outfield |
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 McTeague by Frank Norris: was for Trina, in Selina's "elegant" handwriting; another
was an advertisement of a new kind of operating chair for
dentists; the third was a card from a milliner on the next
block, announcing an opening; and the fourth, contained in
the fat oblong envelope, was a printed form with blanks left
for names and dates, and addressed to McTeague, from an
office in the City Hall. McTeague read it through
laboriously. "I don' know, I don' know," he muttered,
looking stupidly at the rifle manufacturer's calendar. Then
he heard Trina, from the kitchen, singing as she made a
clattering noise with the breakfast dishes. "I guess I'll
McTeague |
