| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Secret Sharer by Joseph Conrad: "Goodness only knows when, though, but certainly after dark.
I'll edge her in to half a mile, as far as I may be able to judge
in the dark--"
"Be careful," he murmured, warningly--and I realized suddenly
that all my future, the only future for which I was fit,
would perhaps go irretrievably to pieces in any mishap
to my first command.
I could not stop a moment longer in the room. I motioned him to get out
of sight and made my way on the poop. That unplayful cub had the watch.
I walked up and down for a while thinking things out, then beckoned him over.
"Send a couple of hands to open the two quarter-deck ports,"
The Secret Sharer |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from A Voyage to Abyssinia by Father Lobo: me no assurance of either life or liberty, that they were perfectly
informed both of the roads and inhabitants, that there were no fewer
than nine nations between us and Abyssinia, who were always
embroiled amongst themselves, or at war with the Abyssins, and
enjoyed no security even in their own territories. We were now
convinced that our enterprise was impracticable, and that to hazard
ourselves amidst so many insurmountable difficulties would be to
tempt Providence; despairing, therefore, that I should ever come
this way to Abyssinia, I resolved to return back with my
intelligence to my companion, whom I had left at Pate.
I cannot, however, leave this country without giving an account 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 Lost Continent by Edgar Rice Burroughs: given as Devonport, which appeared to lie at the mouth of
the river Tamar.
However, I knew that it would make little difference which
city we entered, as the English people were famed of old for
their hospitality toward visiting mariners. As we
approached the mouth of the bay I looked for the fishing
craft which I expected to see emerging thus early in the day
for their labors. But even after we rounded Ram Head and
were well within the waters of the bay I saw no vessel.
Neither was there buoy nor light nor any other mark to show
larger ships the channel, and I wondered much at this.
Lost Continent |
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 Oscar Wilde Miscellaneous by Oscar Wilde: (Matt. xiv. 1) with Herod the Great (Matt. ii. 1) and Herod Agrippa
I. (Acts xii. 23) is intentional, and follows a mediaeval
convention. There is no attempt at historical accuracy or
archaeological exactness. Those who saw the marvellous decor of Mr.
Charles Ricketts at the second English production can form a
complete idea of what Wilde intended in that respect; although the
stage management was clumsy and amateurish. The great opera of
Richard Strauss does not fall within my province; but the fag ends
of its popularity on the Continent have been imported here oddly
enough through the agency of the Palace Theatre, where Salome was
originally to have been performed. Of a young lady's dancing, or of
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