| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Woodlanders by Thomas Hardy: the tips of the fingers to white at the palm; and the reception
formed a scene, with the tree over their heads, which was not by
any means an ordinary one in Sherton Abbas streets.
Nevertheless, the greeting on her looks and lips was of a
restrained type, which perhaps was not unnatural. For true it was
that Giles Winterborne, well-attired and well-mannered as he was
for a yeoman, looked rough beside her. It had sometimes dimly
occurred to him, in his ruminating silence at Little Hintock, that
external phenomena--such as the lowness or height or color of a
hat, the fold of a coat, the make of a boot, or the chance
attitude or occupation of a limb at the instant of view--may have
The Woodlanders |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Enemies of Books by William Blades: and quiet, with some small fragments of paper from a Boethius,
printed by Caxton, and a leaf of a seventeenth century book.
He ate a small piece of the leaf, but either from too much
fresh air, from unaccustomed liberty, or from change of food,
he gradually weakened, and died in about three weeks.
I was sorry to lose him, as I wished to verify his name in his
perfect state. Mr. Waterhouse, of the Entomological department
of the British Museum, very kindly examined him before death,
and was of opinion he was OEcophora pseudospretella.
In July, 1885, Dr. Garnett, of the British Museum, gave me two worms which had
been found in an old Hebrew Commentary just received from Athens. They had
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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 Main Street by Sinclair Lewis: wrong places. But her milky skin was delicious, her eyes were
alive, her chestnut hair shone, and there was a tender slope
from her ears to the shadowy place below her jaw.
With unusual solicitude he uttered his stock phrase, "Well,
what seems to be the matter, Maud?"
"I've got such a backache all the time. I'm afraid the
organic trouble that you treated me for is coming back."
"Any definite signs of it?"
"N-no, but I think you'd better examine me."
"Nope. Don't believe it's necessary, Maud. To be honest,
between old friends, I think your troubles are mostly imaginary.
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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 The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain: seen. He told her he had only shouted "for luck."
But hunger and wretchedness rise superior to fears
in the long run. Another tedious wait at the spring
and another long sleep brought changes. The chil-
dren awoke tortured with a raging hunger. Tom
believed that it must be Wednesday or Thursday or
even Friday or Saturday, now, and that the search
had been given over. He proposed to explore another
passage. He felt willing to risk Injun Joe and all
other terrors. But Becky was very weak. She had
sunk into a dreary apathy and would not be roused.
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer |
