| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Shadow Line by Joseph Conrad: down and let both anchors go one after another,
leaving the ship to take as much cable as she
wanted. She took the best part of them both be-
fore she brought up. The loose sails coming aback
ceased their maddening racket above my head. A
perfect stillness reigned in the ship. And while I
stood forward feeling a little giddy in that sudden
peace, I caught faintly a moan or two and the in-
coherent mutterings of the sick in the forecastle.
As we had a signal for medical assistance flying
on the mizzen it is a fact that before the ship was
The Shadow Line |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Cruise of the Jasper B. by Don Marquis: his feet and followed Loge.
Cleggett, running after them, saw the man in the blue pajamas
sprinting along the sandy margin of the bay. But Loge, his hat
gone, his coat tails level in the wind behind him, and his large
patent leather shoes flashing in the morning sunlight, was
overhauling him with long and powerful strides. Cleggett saw the
quarry throw a startled glance over his shoulder; he was no match
for the terrible Loge in speed, and he must have realized it with
despair, for he turned sharply at right angles and rushed into
the sea. Loge unhesitatingly plunged after him, and had caught
him by the shoulder and whirled him about before he had reached a
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from My Bondage and My Freedom by Frederick Douglass: another advantage to be set to the credit of the sinner, as
against that of the saint. We were seldom in the field after
dark in the evening, or before sunrise in the morning. Our
implements of husbandry were of the most improved pattern, and
much superior to those used at Covey's.
Nothwithstanding the improved condition which was now mine, and
the many advantages I had gained by my new home, and my new
master, I was still restless and discontented. I was about as
hard to please by a master, as a master is by slave. The freedom
from bodily torture and unceasing labor, had given my mind an
increased sensibility, and imparted to it greater activity. I
My Bondage and My Freedom |
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 Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte: fasting.
'I've neither cold nor fever, Nelly,' he remarked, in allusion to
my morning's speech; 'and I'm ready to do justice to the food you
give me.'
He took his knife and fork, and was going to commence eating, when
the inclination appeared to become suddenly extinct. He laid them
on the table, looked eagerly towards the window, then rose and went
out. We saw him walking to and fro in the garden while we
concluded our meal, and Earnshaw said he'd go and ask why he would
not dine: he thought we had grieved him some way.
'Well, is he coming?' cried Catherine, when her cousin returned.
Wuthering Heights |
