| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Coxon Fund by Henry James: wretched age was dying of it. I differed from him here sincerely,
only going so far as to concede, and gladly, that we were drenched
with sound. It was not however the mere speakers who were killing
us--it was the mere stammerers. Fine talk was as rare as it was
refreshing--the gift of the gods themselves, the one starry spangle
on the ragged cloak of humanity. How many men were there who rose
to this privilege, of how many masters of conversation could he
boast the acquaintance? Dying of talk?--why we were dying of the
lack of it! Bad writing wasn't talk, as many people seemed to
think, and even good wasn't always to be compared to it. From the
best talk indeed the best writing had something to learn. I
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Chance by Joseph Conrad: earth for many many months to come made me feel very quiet and self-
contained as it were. Sailors will understand what I mean."
Marlow nodded. "It is a strictly professional feeling," he
commented. "But other professions or trades know nothing of it. It
is only this calling whose primary appeal lies in the suggestion of
restless adventure which holds out that deep sensation to those who
embrace it. It is difficult to define, I admit."
"I should call it the peace of the sea," said Mr. Charles Powell in
an earnest tone but looking at us as though he expected to be met by
a laugh of derision and were half prepared to salve his reputation
for common sense by joining in it. But neither of us laughed at Mr.
Chance |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Dynamiter by Robert Louis Stevenson and Fanny Van De Grift Stevenson: his ears stilly, like a whisper; and the rattle of the cab
that nearly charged him down, was like a sound from Africa.
Meanwhile, he was conscious of a strange abstraction from
himself; and heard and felt his footfalls on the ground, as
those of a very old, small, debile and tragically fortuned
man, whom he sincerely pitied.
As he was thus moving forward past the National Gallery, in a
medium, it seemed, of greater rarity and quiet than ordinary
air, there slipped into his mind the recollection of a
certain entry in Whitcomb Street hard by, where he might
perhaps lay down his tragic cargo unremarked. Thither, then,
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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 Lesser Hippias by Plato: bad runner?
HIPPIAS: Very true.
SOCRATES: And he who runs slowly runs ill, and he who runs quickly runs
well?
HIPPIAS: Yes.
SOCRATES: Then in a race, and in running, swiftness is a good, and
slowness is an evil quality?
HIPPIAS: To be sure.
SOCRATES: Which of the two then is a better runner? He who runs slowly
voluntarily, or he who runs slowly involuntarily?
HIPPIAS: He who runs slowly voluntarily.
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