| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Cromwell by William Shakespeare: But be assured, my blood shall be revenged
Upon the best lives that remains in France.--
[Enter a Servant.]
Stand back, or else thou run'st upon thy death.
MESSENGER.
Pardon, my Lord; I come to tell your honour,
That they have hired a Neopolitan,
Who by his Oratory hath promised them,
Without the shedding of one drop of blood,
Into their hands safe to deliver you,
And therefore craves none but himself may enter
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from 'Twixt Land & Sea by Joseph Conrad: old Nelson (or Nielsen) would have gone for him with his bare
fists. But these gold shoulder-straps - Dutch shoulder-straps at
that - were enough to terrify the old fellow; so he let the beggar
treat him with heavy contempt, devour his daughter with his eyes,
and drink the best part of his little stock of wine.
I saw something of this, and on one occasion I tried to pass a
remark on the subject. It was pitiable to see the trouble in old
Nelson's round eyes. At first he cried out that the lieutenant was
a good friend of his; a very good fellow. I went on staring at him
pretty hard, so that at last he faltered, and had to own that, of
course, Heemskirk was not a very genial person outwardly, but all
'Twixt Land & Sea |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Daisy Miller by Henry James: drew near, walked to the parapet of the garden and leaned upon it,
looking intently at the lake and turning her back to them.
"Mother!" said the young girl in a tone of decision.
Upon this the elder lady turned round. "Mr. Winterbourne," said Miss
Daisy Miller, introducing the young man very frankly and prettily.
"Common," she was, as Mrs. Costello had pronounced her;
yet it was a wonder to Winterbourne that, with her commonness,
she had a singularly delicate grace.
Her mother was a small, spare, light person, with a
wandering eye, a very exiguous nose, and a large forehead,
decorated with a certain amount of thin, much frizzled hair.
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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 The Dynamiter by Robert Louis Stevenson and Fanny Van De Grift Stevenson: particularly struck me. "This," I said, "is the place for
Mr. Jones." You are yourself, sir, a professional
gentleman?' concluded the visitor, looking keenly in
Somerset's face.
'I am an artist,' replied the young man lightly.
'And these,' observed the other, taking a side glance through
the open door of the dining-room, which they were then
passing, 'these are some of your works. Very remarkable.'
And he again and still more sharply peered into the
countenance of the young man.
Somerset, unable to suppress a blush, made the more haste to
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