| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Youth by Joseph Conrad: the broad grin. This was on a Friday. On Saturday no
work, but sailing the ship of course was done. The men
washed their clothes and their faces for the first time in
a fortnight, and had a special dinner given them. They
spoke of spontaneous combustion with contempt, and
implied THEY were the boys to put out combustions. Some-
how we all felt as though we each had inherited a large
fortune. But a beastly smell of burning hung about the
ship. Captain Beard had hollow eyes and sunken cheeks.
I had never noticed so much before how twisted and
bowed he was. He and Mahon prowled soberly about
Youth |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from King Henry VI by William Shakespeare: Take on with me and ne'er be satisfied!
FATHER.
How will my wife, for slaughter of my son,
Shed seas of tears and ne'er be satisfied!
KING HENRY.
How will the country, for these woeful chances,
Misthink the king and not be satisfied!
SON.
Was ever son so rued a father's death?
FATHER.
Was ever father so bemoan'd his son?
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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 White Moll by Frank L. Packard: Where was the line of demarcation between right and wrong? Was it
a grievous sin, or an infinitely human thing to do, to warn the
man she loved, and give him a chance to escape the net she meant
to furnish the police? He was a thief, even a member of the gang
- though he used the gang as his puppets. Did ethics count when
one who had stood again and again between her and peril was himself
in danger now? Would it be a righteous thing, or an act of
despicable ingratitude, to trap him with the rest?
She laughed out shortly. Warn him! Of course, she would warn him!
But then - what? She shivered a little, and her face grew drawn and
tired. It was the old, old story of the pitcher and the well. It was
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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 Battle of the Books by Jonathan Swift: deformed of all the Moderns; tall, but without shape or comeliness;
large, but without strength or proportion. His armour was patched
up of a thousand incoherent pieces, and the sound of it, as he
marched, was loud and dry, like that made by the fall of a sheet of
lead, which an Etesian wind blows suddenly down from the roof of
some steeple. His helmet was of old rusty iron, but the vizor was
brass, which, tainted by his breath, corrupted into copperas, nor
wanted gall from the same fountain, so that, whenever provoked by
anger or labour, an atramentous quality, of most malignant nature,
was seen to distil from his lips. In his right hand he grasped a
flail, and (that he might never be unprovided of an offensive
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