| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Lady Susan by Jane Austen: am afraid she is a perverse girl. She has been sadly neglected, however,
and her mother ought to remember it. Mr. Vernon set off for London as soon
as she had determined what should be done. He is, if possible, to prevail
on Miss Summers to let Frederica continue with her; and if he cannot
succeed, to bring her to Churchhill for the present, till some other
situation can be found for her. Her ladyship is comforting herself
meanwhile by strolling along the shrubbery with Reginald, calling forth all
his tender feelings, I suppose, on this distressing occasion. She has been
talking a great deal about it to me. She talks vastly well; I am afraid of
being ungenerous, or I should say, TOO well to feel so very deeply; but I
will not look for her faults; she may be Reginald's wife! Heaven forbid it!
Lady Susan |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Emma by Jane Austen: that when lovely woman stoops to folly, she has nothing to do
but to die; and when she stoops to be disagreeable, it is equally
to be recommended as a clearer of ill-fame. Mrs. Churchill,
after being disliked at least twenty-five years, was now spoken of
with compassionate allowances. In one point she was fully justified.
She had never been admitted before to be seriously ill. The event
acquitted her of all the fancifulness, and all the selfishness
of imaginary complaints.
"Poor Mrs. Churchill! no doubt she had been suffering a great deal:
more than any body had ever supposed--and continual pain would try
the temper. It was a sad event--a great shock--with all her faults,
Emma |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Lady Baltimore by Owen Wister: and the old-fashioned ladies. Men, also, were in the congregation--not
many, to be sure, but all unanimously wearing that expression of
remarkable virtue which seems always to visit, when he goes to church,
the average good fellow who is no better than he should be. I became,
myself, filled with this same decorous inconsistency, and was singing the
hymn, when I caught sight of John Mayrant. What lady was he with? It was
just this that most annoyingly I couldn't make out, because the unlucky
disposition of things hid it. I caught myself craning my neck and singing
the hymn simultaneously and with no difficulty, because all my childhood
was in that hymn; I couldn't tell when I hadn't known words and music by
heart. Who was she? I tried for a clear view when we sat down, and also,
|
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 Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain: you'd think it was Christopher C'lumbus discovering
Kingdom-Come. I wish Tom Sawyer WAS here."
Jim he grumbled a little, but give in. He said we
mustn't talk any more than we could help, and then
talk mighty low. The lightning showed us the wreck
again just in time, and we fetched the stabboard
derrick, and made fast there.
The deck was high out here. We went sneaking down
the slope of it to labboard, in the dark, towards the
texas, feeling our way slow with our feet, and spreading
our hands out to fend off the guys, for it was so dark
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn |
