| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Turn of the Screw by Henry James: were all right to HIM--"
"He wouldn't be bothered with more?" This squared well enough
with my impressions of him: he was not a trouble-loving gentleman,
nor so very particular perhaps about some of the company HE kept.
All the same, I pressed my interlocutress. "I promise you _I_
would have told!"
She felt my discrimination. "I daresay I was wrong.
But, really, I was afraid."
"Afraid of what?"
"Of things that man could do. Quint was so clever--he was so deep."
I took this in still more than, probably, I showed.
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Madam How and Lady Why by Charles Kingsley: in groups, or clusters, like the cluster at the Sandwich Islands,
or in the Friendly Islands, or in New Zealand. And if we look in
the Atlantic, we shall see four clusters: one in poor half-
destroyed Iceland, in the far north, one in the Azores, one in the
Canaries, and one in the Cape de Verds. And there is one dot in
those Canaries which we must not overlook, for it is no other than
the famous Peak of Teneriffe, a volcano which is hardly burnt out
yet, and may burn up again any day, standing up out of the sea
more than 12,000 feet high still, and once it must have been
double that height. Some think that it is perhaps the true Mount
Atlas, which the old Greeks named when first they ventured out of
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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 Reign of King Edward the Third by William Shakespeare: And send him naked to the wilderness.
LORRAIN.
Then, Edward, here, in spite of all thy Lords,
I do pronounce defiance to thy face.
PRINCE EDWARD.
Defiance, French man? we rebound it back,
Even to the bottom of thy master's throat.
And, be it spoke with reverence of the King,
My gracious father, and these other Lords,
I hold thy message but as scurrilous,
And him that sent thee, like the lazy drone,
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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 Ozma of Oz by L. Frank Baum: before, but the girl's laughter nearly drove him frantic, and he
roared at her like a savage beast. Then, as he found that all his
enchantments were likely to be dispelled and his victims every one set
free, he suddenly ran to the little door that opened upon the balcony
and gave the shrill whistle that summoned his warriors.
At once the army filed out of the gold and silver doors in great
numbers, and marched up a winding stairs and into the throne room, led
by a stern featured Nome who was their captain. When they had nearly
filled the throne room they formed ranks in the big underground cavern
below, and then stood still until they were told what to do next.
Dorothy had pressed back to one side of the cavern when the warriors
Ozma of Oz |
