| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Jerusalem Delivered by Torquato Tasso: III
And, as his fortune would, he scaped free
From thousand arrows which about him flew,
From swords and lances, instruments that be
Of certain death, himself he safe withdrew,
Unknown, unseen, disguised, travelled he,
By desert paths and ways but used by few,
And rode revolving in his troubled thought
What course to take, and yet resolved on naught.
IV
Thither at last he meant to take his way,
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Stories From the Old Attic by Robert Harris: false the sun on the leaves looks, how phony is the wisp of that
girl's hair, how ugly the clouds there, and how awkward that boy's
position in the dance. How we were ever taken in by this obvious
cheat is beyond me." And finally, shaking his head to show his
regret, he concluded, "What we did was foolish and shameful."
Matthew 18:3
"The door to this classroom is farther down the hall, sir," said
the student.
"How dare you try to tell me where the door is," huffed the
professor, as he turned around and walked abruptly into the wall.
While he held his bleeding nose, he was heard to mutter, "Now why
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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 Father Damien by Robert Louis Stevenson: (less than half the island is devoted to the lepers), and he came
often to Honolulu. He had no hand in the reforms and improvements
inaugurated, which were the work of our Board of Health, as
occasion required and means were provided. He was not a pure man
in his relations with women, and the leprosy of which he died
should be attributed to his vices and carelessness. Other have
done much for the lepers, our own ministers, the government
physicians, and so forth, but never with the Catholic idea of
meriting eternal life. - Yours, etc.,
"C. M. HYDE" (1)
(1) From the Sydney PRESBYTERIAN, October 26, 1889.
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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 Sarrasine by Honore de Balzac: air of mystery.
" 'Young man,' she said, 'if you wish to be happy, be prudent. Wrap
yourself in a cloak, pull a broad-brimmed hat over your eyes, and be
on the Rue du Corso, in front of the Hotel d'Espagne, about ten
o'clock to-night.'
" 'I will be there,' he replied, putting two louis in the duenna's
wrinkled hand.
"He rushed from his box, after a sign of intelligence to La
Zambinella, who lowered her voluptuous eyelids modestly, like a woman
overjoyed to be understood at last. Then he hurried home, in order to
borrow from his wardrobe all the charms it could loan him. As he left
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