| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare: give me conserves of beef. Ne'er ask me what raiment I'll wear,
for I have no more doublets than backs, no more stockings than
legs, nor no more shoes than feet: nay, sometime more feet than
shoes, or such shoes as my toes look through the over-leather.
LORD.
Heaven cease this idle humour in your honour!
O, that a mighty man of such descent,
Of such possessions, and so high esteem,
Should be infused with so foul a spirit!
SLY.
What! would you make me mad? Am not I Christopher Sly, old
The Taming of the Shrew |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Moran of the Lady Letty by Frank Norris: stowed again into the cuddy, at once set off for the schooner.
Wilbur himself cut the ropes on the two prisoners, and bade them
shift for themselves. The rest of the party returned to the
"Bertha Millner" around the wide sweep of the beach.
It was only by high noon, under the flogging of a merciless sun,
that the entire crew of the little schooner once more reassembled
under the shadow of her stranded hulk. They were quite worn out;
and as soon as Charlie was lifted aboard, and the ambergris--or,
as they spoke of it now, the "loot"--was safely stowed in the
cabin, Wilbur allowed the Chinamen three or four hours' rest.
They had had neither breakfast nor dinner; but their exhaustion
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell: who apparently had left each one hastily upon detection of their
swindling schemes; the Conningtons whose connection with the
Freedmen's Bureau in a distant state had been highly lucrative at
the expense of the ignorant blacks they were supposed to protect;
the Deals who had sold "cardboard" shoes to the Confederate
government until it became necessary for them to spend the last
year of the war in Europe; the Hundons who had police records in
many cities but nevertheless were often successful bidders on state
contracts; the Carahans who had gotten their start in a gambling
house and now were gambling for bigger stakes in the building of
nonexistent railroads with the state's money; the Flahertys who had
Gone With the Wind |
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 Dunwich Horror by H. P. Lovecraft: like 'N'gai, n'gha'ghaa, bugg-shoggog, y'hah: Yog-Sothoth, Yog-Sothoth
...' They trailed off into nothingness as the whippoorwills shrieked
in rhythmical crescendos of unholy anticipation.
Then came a
halt in the gasping, and the dog raised its head in a long, lugubrious
howl. A change came over the yellow, goatish face of the prostrate
thing, and the great black eyes fell in appallingly. Outside the
window the shrilling of the whippoorwills had suddenly ceased,
and above the murmurs of the gathering crowd there came the sound
of a panic-struck whirring and fluttering. Against the moon vast
clouds of feathery watchers rose and raced from sight, frantic
The Dunwich Horror |
