| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Men of Iron by Howard Pyle: fell, straight and true, upon the defenceless body, just below
the left arm, biting deep through the armor plates. For an
instant the blade stuck fast, and that instant was Myles's
salvation. Under the agony of the blow he gave a muffled cry, and
almost instinctively grasped the shaft of the weapon with both
hands. Had the Earl let go his end of the weapon, he would have
won the battle at his leisure and most easily; as it was, he
struggled violently to wrench the gisarm away from Myles. In that
short, fierce struggle Myles was dragged to his knees, and then,
still holding the weapon with one hand, he clutched the trappings
of the Earl's horse with the other. The next moment he was upon
Men of Iron |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Woman and Labour by Olive Schreiner: increasingly as civilisation advances, from the mother's control. So
marked has this change in woman's ancient field of labour become, that a
woman of almost any class may have borne many children and yet in early
middle age be found sitting alone in an empty house, all her offspring gone
from her to receive training and instruction at the hands of others. The
ancient statement that the training and education of her offspring is
exclusively the duty of the mother, however true it may have been with
regard to a remote past, has become an absolute misstatement; and the woman
who should at the present day insist on entirely educating her own
offspring would, in nine cases out of ten, inflict an irreparable injury on
them, because she is incompetent.
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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 Damnation of Theron Ware by Harold Frederic: It had been a genuine pleasure to have her in the house--
to see her intelligent responsive face at the table--
to have it in one's power to make drafts at will upon
the fund of sympathy and appreciation, of facile mirth
and ready tenderness in those big eyes of hers. He liked
that phrase she had used about herself--"a good fellow."
It seemed to fit her to a "t." And Soulsby was a good
fellow too. All at once it occurred to him to wonder whether
they were married or not.
But really that was no affair of his, he reflected.
A citizen of the intellectual world should be above
The Damnation of Theron Ware |
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 Duchess of Padua by Oscar Wilde: FIRST SOLDIER
Why, then, they will kill him.
[Knocking comes at the door.]
FIRST SOLDIER
See who that is.
[Third Soldier goes over and looks through the wicket.]
THIRD SOLDIER
It is a woman, sir.
FIRST SOLDIER
Is she pretty?
THIRD SOLDIER
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