| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Paz by Honore de Balzac: read it, he put it into his pocket in a manner which prevented
Clementine or Adam from speaking of it. Nevertheless, by the time they
reached the porte Maillot, Adam, full of curiosity, used the privilege
of a sick man whose caprices are to be gratified, and said to
Thaddeus: "There's no indiscretion between brothers who love each
other,--tell me what there is in that despatch; I'm in a fever of
curiosity."
Clementine glanced at Thaddeus with a vexed air, and remarked to her
husband: "He has been so sulky with me for the last two months that I
shall never ask him anything again."
"Oh, as for that," replied Paz, "I can't keep it out of the
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from An International Episode by Henry James: not quite following, but very contented. "Now, what are you
going to do here?"
"On Thursday I am going to the Tower."
"The Tower?"
"The Tower of London. Did you never hear of it?"
"Oh, yes, I have been there," said Lord Lambeth.
"I was taken there by my governess when I was six years old.
It's a rum idea, your going there."
"Do give me a few more rum ideas," said Bessie. "I want
to see everything of that sort. I am going to Hampton Court,
and to Windsor, and to the Dulwich Gallery."
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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 Mirror of the Sea by Joseph Conrad: The shouting I need not mention - it was the merest drop in an
ocean of noise - and yet the character of the gale seems contained
in the recollection of one small, not particularly impressive,
sallow man without a cap and with a very still face. Captain Jones
- let us call him Jones - had been caught unawares. Two orders he
had given at the first sign of an utterly unforeseen onset; after
that the magnitude of his mistake seemed to have overwhelmed him.
We were doing what was needed and feasible. The ship behaved well.
Of course, it was some time before we could pause in our fierce and
laborious exertions; but all through the work, the excitement, the
uproar, and some dismay, we were aware of this silent little man at
The Mirror of the Sea |
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 Poems by T. S. Eliot: And short square fingers stuffing pipes,
And evening newspapers, and eyes
Assured of certain certainties,
The conscience of a blackened street
Impatient to assume the world.
I am moved by fancies that are curled
Around these images, and cling:
The notion of some infinitely gentle
Infinitely suffering thing.
Wipe your hand across your mouth, and laugh;
The worlds revolve like ancient women
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