| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Myths and Myth-Makers by John Fiske: with his housekeeper. When the punchbowl was empty, they all
put on red caps, and singing
"By yarrow and rue, And my red cap too,
Hie me over to England,"
they flew up chimney. So Jimmy burst into the room, and seized
the housekeeper's cap, and went along with them. They flew
across the sea to a castle in England, passed through the
keyholes from room to room and into the cellar, where they had
a famous carouse. Unluckily Jimmy, being unused to such good
cheer, got drunk, and forgot to put on his cap when the others
did. So next morning the lord's butler found him dead-drunk on
Myths and Myth-Makers |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Outlaw of Torn by Edgar Rice Burroughs: with the puny rays of their feeble torch. As they
stepped cautiously within an impalpable dust arose in
little spurts from the long rotted rushes that crumbled
beneath their feet. A huge bat circled wildly with loud
fluttering wings in evident remonstrance at this rude
intrusion. Strange creatures of the night scurried or
wriggled across wall and floor.
But the child was unafraid. Fear had not been a part
of the old woman's curriculum. The boy did not know
the meaning of the word, nor was he ever in his after
life to experience the sensation. With childish eagerness
The Outlaw of Torn |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Memories and Portraits by Robert Louis Stevenson: names, still glowing with the hues of life. Communication is no
longer by words, but by the instancing of whole biographies, epics,
systems of philosophy, and epochs of history, in bulk. That which
is understood excels that which is spoken in quantity and quality
alike; ideas thus figured and personified, change hands, as we may
say, like coin; and the speakers imply without effort the most
obscure and intricate thoughts. Strangers who have a large common
ground of reading will, for this reason, come the sooner to the
grapple of genuine converse. If they know Othello and Napoleon,
Consuelo and Clarissa Harlowe, Vautrin and Steenie Steenson, they
can leave generalities and begin at once to speak by figures.
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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 Lemorne Versus Huell by Elizabeth Drew Stoddard: sent for me."
"There is my aunt," I said.
He shrugged his shoulders.
"I shall not go away soon again," he remarked. "I missed Newport
greatly."
I made some foolish reply, and kept my eyes on Aunt Eliza, who
dawdled unaccountably. He appeared amused, and after a little talk
went away.
Aunt Eliza's purchase was a rose-colored moire antique, which she
said was to be made for me; for Mrs. Bliss, one of our hotel
acquaintances, had offered to chaperon me to the great ball which
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