| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Flame and Shadow by Sara Teasdale: Change
Water Lilies
"Did You Never Know?"
The Treasure
The Storm
Songs For Myself
XII
The Tree
At Midnight
Song Making
Alone
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from To-morrow by Joseph Conrad: Captain Hagberd, amongst the mounds of
turned-up earth, chuckled. With his maritime rig,
his weather-beaten face, his beard of Father Nep-
tune, he resembled a deposed sea-god who had ex-
changed the trident for the spade.
"And he must look upon you as already pro-
vided for, in a manner. That's the best of it with
the girls. The husbands . . ." He winked. Miss
Bessie, absorbed in her knitting, coloured faintly.
"Bessie! my hat!" old Carvil bellowed out sud-
denly. He had been sitting under the tree mute
To-morrow |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Concerning Christian Liberty by Martin Luther: nay unfaithful, legate, acted towards me. When, on account of my
reverence for your name, I had placed myself and all that was
mine in his hands, he did not so act as to establish peace, which
he could easily have established by one little word, since I at
that time promised to be silent and to make an end of my case, if
he would command my adversaries to do the same. But that man of
pride, not content with this agreement, began to justify my
adversaries, to give them free licence, and to order me to
recant, a thing which was certainly not in his commission. Thus
indeed, when the case was in the best position, it came through
his vexatious tyranny into a much worse one. Therefore whatever
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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 Dreams by Olive Schreiner: it, and the yellow curls above his forehead pressed against it; and his
knees were drawn up to her, and he held her breast fast with his hands.
And Reason said, "Who is he, and what is he doing here?"
And she said, "See his little wings--"
And Reason said, "Put him down."
And she said, "He is asleep, and he is drinking! I will carry him to the
Land of Freedom. He has been a child so long, so long, I have carried him.
In the Land of Freedom he will be a man. We will walk together there, and
his great white wings will overshadow me. He has lisped one word only to
me in the desert--'Passion!' I have dreamed he might learn to say
'Friendship' in that land."
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