| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Tales of Unrest by Joseph Conrad: envelop the water, the earth, and the man in the caress of its light.
The anchor was up, the sails hung still, and half-a-dozen big boats
were seen sweeping over the bay to give us a tow out. The paddlers in
the first one that came alongside lifted their heads and saw their
ruler standing amongst us. A low murmur of surprise arose--then a
shout of greeting.
He left us, and seemed straightway to step into the glorious splendour
of his stage, to wrap himself in the illusion of unavoidable success.
For a moment he stood erect, one foot over the gangway, one hand on
the hilt of his kriss, in a martial pose; and, relieved from the fear
of outer darkness, he held his head high, he swept a serene look over
Tales of Unrest |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Familiar Studies of Men and Books by Robert Louis Stevenson: the bare heaven. A new creed, like a new country, is an
unhomely place of sojourn; but it makes men lean on one
another and join hands. It was on this that Knox relied to
begin the union of the English and the Scotch. And he had,
perhaps, better means of judging than any even of his
contemporaries. He knew the temper of both nations; and
already during his two years' chaplaincy at Berwick, he had
seen his scheme put to the proof. But whether practicable or
not, the proposal does him much honour. That he should thus
have sought to make a love-match of it between the two
peoples, and tried to win their inclination towards a union
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