| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from In the South Seas by Robert Louis Stevenson: 'My name is Stevenson,' said I.
'O, Mr. Stevens! I didn't know you. Come inside.' We stepped
into the dark store, when I leaned upon the counter and he against
the wall. All the light came from the sleeping-room, where I saw
his family being put to bed; it struck full in my face, but Mr.
Muller stood in shadow. No doubt he expected what was Coming, and
sought the advantage of position; but for a man who wished to
persuade and had nothing to conceal, mine was the preferable.
'Look here,' I began, 'I hear you are selling to the natives.'
'Others have done that before me,' he returned pointedly.
'No doubt,' said I, 'and I have nothing to do with the past, but
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Sarrasine by Honore de Balzac: he rose at dawn and went to the studio, there to remain until night,
and lived with his muse alone. If he went to the Comedie-Francaise, he
was dragged thither by his master. He was so bored at Madame
Geoffrin's, and in the fashionable society to which Bouchardon tried
to introduce him, that he preferred to remain alone, and held aloof
from the pleasures of that licentious age. He had no other mistresses
than sculpture and Clotilde, one of the celebrities of the Opera. Even
that intrigue was of brief duration. Sarrasine was decidedly ugly,
always badly dressed, and naturally so independent, so irregular in
his private life, that the illustrious nymph, dreading some
catastrophe, soon remitted the sculptor to love of the arts. Sophie
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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 Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell: moment to look at the picture curiously. This man had been her
husband, had lain beside her for a few nights, had given her a
child with eyes as soft and brown as his. And she could hardly
remember him.
The child in her arms waved small fists and mewed softly and she
looked down at him. For the first time, she realized that this was
Ashley's baby and suddenly wished with all the strength left in her
that he were her baby, hers and Ashley's.
Prissy came bounding up the stairs and Scarlett handed the child to
her. They went hastily down, the lamp throwing uncertain shadows
on the wall. In the hall, Scarlett saw a bonnet and put it on
Gone With the Wind |
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 Moby Dick by Herman Melville: universe, not excluding its suburbs. Such, and so magnifying, is the
virtue of a large and liberal theme! We expand to its bulk. To
produce a mighty book, you must choose a mighty theme. No great and
enduring volume can ever be written on the flea, though many there be
who have tried it.
Ere entering upon the subject of Fossil Whales, I present my
credentials as a geologist, by stating that in my miscellaneous time
I have been a stone-mason, and also a great digger of ditches,
canals and wells, wine-vaults, cellars, and cisterns of all sorts.
Likewise, by way of preliminary, I desire to remind the reader, that
while in the earlier geological strata there are found the fossils of
Moby Dick |
