| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from O Pioneers! by Willa Cather:
Suddenly the woman stirred and uttered a
cry, then another, and another. She was living!
She was dragging herself toward the hedge!
Frank dropped his gun and ran back along the
path, shaking, stumbling, gasping. He had
never imagined such horror. The cries fol-
lowed him. They grew fainter and thicker, as
if she were choking. He dropped on his knees
beside the hedge and crouched like a rabbit,
listening; fainter, fainter; a sound like a whine;
O Pioneers! |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Dynamiter by Robert Louis Stevenson and Fanny Van De Grift Stevenson: And, my terror fairly mastering my courage, I fell upon my
knees and began to pray to all the saints.
'Lordy!' cried the negro, 'here they come!' And his black
head was instantly withdrawn from the window.
'I never heard such nonsense in my life,' exclaimed a voice.
'Why, so we all say, Sir George,' replied the voice of Mr.
Kentish. 'But put yourself in our place. The niggers were
near two to one. And upon my word, if you'll excuse me, sir,
considering the notion they have taken in their heads, I
regard it as precious fortunate for all of us that the
mistake occurred.'
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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 Shakespeare's Sonnets by William Shakespeare: I cannot blame thee, for my love thou usest;
But yet be blam'd, if thou thy self deceivest
By wilful taste of what thyself refusest.
I do forgive thy robbery, gentle thief,
Although thou steal thee all my poverty:
And yet, love knows it is a greater grief
To bear greater wrong, than hate's known injury.
Lascivious grace, in whom all ill well shows,
Kill me with spites yet we must not be foes.
XLI
Those pretty wrongs that liberty commits,
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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 An International Episode by Henry James: were always dancing."
"I suppose we dance a good deal; but I have never seen much of it.
We don't do it much, at any rate, in summer. And I am sure,"
said Bessie Alden, "that we don't have so many balls as you
have in England."
"Really!" exclaimed Lord Lambeth. "Ah, in England it all depends, you know."
"You will not think much of our gaieties," said the young girl,
looking at him with a little mixture of interrogation and decision
which was peculiar to her. The interrogation seemed earnest and
the decision seemed arch; but the mixture, at any rate, was charming.
"Those things, with us, are much less splendid than in England."
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