| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Tales and Fantasies by Robert Louis Stevenson: the horse-hair on the chair bottom, of the jangling of church
bells that now began to make day horrible throughout the
confines of the city, of the hard floor that bruised his
knees, of the taste of tears that found their way into his
mouth: for a period of time, the duration of which I cannot
guess, while I refuse to dwell longer on its agony, these
were the whole of God's world for John Nicholson.
When at last, as by the touching of a spring, he returned
again to clearness of consciousness and even a measure of
composure, the bells had but just done ringing, and the
Sabbath silence was still marred by the patter of belated
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Intentions by Oscar Wilde: loved, there the sweet maidenhood of 'The Golden Stair,' the
blossom-like mouth and weary loveliness of the 'Laus Amoris,' the
passion-pale face of Andromeda, the thin hands and lithe beauty of
the Vivian in 'Merlin's Dream.' And it has always been so. A
great artist invents a type, and Life tries to copy it, to
reproduce it in a popular form, like an enterprising publisher.
Neither Holbein nor Vandyck found in England what they have given
us. They brought their types with them, and Life with her keen
imitative faculty set herself to supply the master with models.
The Greeks, with their quick artistic instinct, understood this,
and set in the bride's chamber the statue of Hermes or of Apollo,
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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 Child of Storm by H. Rider Haggard: is the kraal, and before we enter it I wish to thank you for trying to
protect that unlucky husband of mine, Masapo."
"I only did so, Mameena, because I thought him innocent."
"I know, Macumazahn; and so did I, although, as I always told you, I
hated him, the man with whom my father forced me to marry. But I am
afraid, from what I have learned since, that he was not altogether
innocent. You see, Saduko had struck him, which he could not forget.
Also, he was jealous of Saduko, who had been my suitor, and wished to
injure him. But what I do not understand," she added, with a burst of
confidence, "is why he did not kill Saduko instead of his child."
"Well, Mameena, you may remember it was said he tried to do so."
Child of Storm |
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 Tom Sawyer Abroad by Mark Twain: ca'mer, and yet, all of a sudden, out it come. I've
often thought of that time, and I can remember just
the way everything looked, same as if it was only last
week. I can see it all: beautiful rolling country with
woods and fields and lakes for hundreds and hundreds
of miles all around, and towns and villages scattered
everywheres under us, here and there and yonder; and
the professor mooning over a chart on his little table,
and Tom's cap flopping in the rigging where it was
hung up to dry. And one thing in particular was a
bird right alongside, not ten foot off, going our way
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