| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Spirit of the Border by Zane Grey: had expected to find one. He retraced his steps patiently, carefully,
scrutinizing every inch of the ground. But it was all in vain. Wingenund had
begun to show his savage cunning. In his warrior days for long years no chief
could rival him. His boast had always been that, when Wingenund sought to
elude his pursuers, his trail faded among the moss and the ferns.
Wetzel, calm, patient, resourceful, deliberated a moment. The Delaware had not
crossed this rocky ridge. He had been cunning enough to make his pursuer think
such was his intention. The hunter hurried to the eastern end of the ridge for
no other reason than apparently that course was the one the savage had the
least reason to take. He advanced hurriedly because every moment was precious.
Not a crushed blade of grass, a brushed leaf, an overturned pebble nor a
The Spirit of the Border |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Frankenstein by Mary Shelley: The field of ice is almost a league in width, but I spent nearly
two hours in crossing it. The opposite mountain is a bare
perpendicular rock. From the side where I now stood Montanvert was
exactly opposite, at the distance of a league; and above it rose
Mont Blanc, in awful majesty. I remained in a recess of the rock,
gazing on this wonderful and stupendous scene. The sea, or rather
the vast river of ice, wound among its dependent mountains, whose
aerial summits hung over its recesses. Their icy and glittering
peaks shone in the sunlight over the clouds. My heart, which was
before sorrowful, now swelled with something like joy; I exclaimed,
"Wandering spirits, if indeed ye wander, and do not rest in your
Frankenstein |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells: white smoke whirled up to the starlit sky.
About eleven a company of soldiers came through Horsell,
and deployed along the edge of the common to form a
cordon. Later a second company marched through Chobham
to deploy on the north side of the common. Several officers
from the Inkerman barracks had been on the common earlier
in the day, and one, Major Eden, was reported to be missing.
The colonel of the regiment came to the Chobham bridge
and was busy questioning the crowd at midnight. The military
authorities were certainly alive to the seriousness of the busi-
ness. About eleven, the next morning's papers were able to
War of the Worlds |
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 Country of the Pointed Firs by Sarah Orne Jewett: presently, laying his knitting on the table, and leading the way
across the front entry and unlocking a door, which he threw open
with an air of pride. The best room seemed to me a much sadder and
more empty place than the kitchen; its conventionalities lacked the
simple perfection of the humbler room and failed on the side of
poor ambition; it was only when one remembered what patient saving,
and what high respect for society in the abstract go to such
furnishing that the little parlor was interesting at all. I could
imagine the great day of certain purchases, the bewildering shops
of the next large town, the aspiring anxious woman, the clumsy sea-
tanned man in his best clothes, so eager to be pleased, but at ease
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