| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Sons and Lovers by D. H. Lawrence: waving and tossing, till the room seemed full of men who battled silently.
On retiring to bed, the father would come into the sickroom.
He was always very gentle if anyone were ill. But he disturbed the
atmosphere for the boy.
"Are ter asleep, my darlin'?" Morel asked softly.
"No; is my mother comin'?"
"She's just finishin' foldin' the clothes. Do you want anything?"
Morel rarely "thee'd" his son.
"I don't want nothing. But how long will she be?"
"Not long, my duckie."
The father waited undecidedly on the hearthrug for a moment
Sons and Lovers |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Travels of Sir John Mandeville by Sir John Mandeville: smite an horse with a bridle, or to break one bone with another, or
for to cast milk or any liquor that men may drink upon the earth,
or for to take and slay little children. And the most sin that any
man may do is to piss in their houses that they dwell in, and whoso
that may be found with that sin sikerly they slay him. And of
everych of these sins it behoveth them to be shriven of their
priests, and to pay great sum of silver for their penance. And it
behoveth also, that the place that men have pissed in be hallowed
again, and else dare no man enter therein. And when they have paid
their penance, men make them pass through a fire or through two,
for to cleanse them of their sins. And also when any messenger
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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 Voyage Out by Virginia Woolf: They had seen the broad blue mark across the sand where it flowed
into the sea, and the green cloud of trees mass themselves about it
farther up, and finally hide its waters altogether from sight.
At intervals for the first twenty miles or so houses were scattered
on the bank; by degrees the houses became huts, and, later still,
there was neither hut nor house, but trees and grass, which were
seen only by hunters, explorers, or merchants, marching or sailing,
but making no settlement.
By leaving Santa Marina early in the morning, driving twenty
miles and riding eight, the party, which was composed finally
of six English people, reached the river-side as the night fell.
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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 Early Short Fiction of Edith Wharton by Edith Wharton: in Siena three years ago, and if you will give him the enclosed
line you may get a peep at the Leonardo. Probably not more than
a peep, though, for I hear he refuses to have it reproduced. I
want badly to use it in my monograph on the Windsor drawings, so
please see what you can do for me, and if you can't persuade him
to let you take a photograph or make a sketch, at least jot down
a detailed description of the picture and get from him all the
facts you can. I hear that the French and Italian governments
have offered him a large advance on his purchase, but that he
refuses to sell at any price, though he certainly can't afford
such luxuries; in fact, I don't see where he got enough money to
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