| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Letters of Robert Louis Stevenson by Robert Louis Stevenson: the yarn was finished. Well, there is always one thing; it will
serve as a touchstone. If the admirers of Zola admire him for his
pertinent ugliness and pessimism, I think they should admire this;
but if, as I have long suspected, they neither admire nor
understand the man's art, and only wallow in his rancidness like a
hound in offal, then they will certainly be disappointed in THE EBB
TIDE. ALAS! poor little tale, it is not EVEN rancid.
By way of an antidote or febrifuge, I am going on at a great rate
with my HISTORY OF THE STEVENSONS, which I hope may prove rather
amusing, in some parts at least. The excess of materials weighs
upon me. My grandfather is a delightful comedy part; and I have to
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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 Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce: staring stonily, motionless. The sentinels, facing the
banks of the stream, might have been statues to adorn the
bridge. The captain stood with folded arms, silent,
observing the work of his subordinates, but making no sign.
Death is a dignitary who when he comes announced is to be
received with formal manifestations of respect, even by those
most familiar with him. In the code of military etiquette
silence and fixity are forms of deference.
The man who was engaged in being hanged was apparently about
thirty-five years of age. He was a civilian, if one might
judge from his habit, which was that of a planter. His
An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Familiar Studies of Men and Books by Robert Louis Stevenson: hand, and on the other of the murder of one Thevenin Pensete
in a house by the Cemetery of St. John. If time had only
spared us some particulars, might not this last have
furnished us with the matter of a grisly winter's tale?
At Christmas-time in 1456, readers of Villon will remember
that he was engaged on the SMALL TESTAMENT. About the same
period, CIRCA FESTUM NATIVITATIS DOMINI, he took part in a
memorable supper at the Mule Tavern, in front of the Church
of St. Mathurin. Tabary, who seems to have been very much
Villon's creature, had ordered the supper in the course of
the afternoon. He was a man who had had troubles in his time
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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 Poems by Bronte Sisters: He saw the ocean-shadow;
If he looked down, the endless seas
Lay green as summer meadow.
And straight before, the pale corpse lay,
Upborne by air or billow,
So near, he could have touched the spray
That churned around its pillow.
The hollow anguish of the face
Had moved a fiend to sorrow;
Not death's fixed calm could rase the trace
Of suffering's deep-worn furrow.
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