| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Mirror of the Sea by Joseph Conrad: mate, the guardian of a ship's efficiency. As if anxious to remain
unperceived amongst their overtopping sisters, two or three
"finished" ships floated low, with an air of straining at the leash
of their level headfasts, exposing to view their cleared decks and
covered hatches, prepared to drop stern first out of the labouring
ranks, displaying the true comeliness of form which only her proper
sea-trim gives to a ship. And for a good quarter of a mile, from
the dockyard gate to the farthest corner, where the old housed-in
hulk, the President (drill-ship, then, of the Naval Reserve), used
to lie with her frigate side rubbing against the stone of the quay,
above all these hulls, ready and unready, a hundred and fifty lofty
The Mirror of the Sea |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Walking by Henry David Thoreau: that is in the Lethe of the Pacific, which is three times as
wide.
I know not how significant it is, or how far it is an evidence of
singularity, that an individual should thus consent in his
pettiest walk with the general movement of the race; but I know
that something akin to the migratory instinct in birds and
quadrupeds--which, in some instances, is known to have affected
the squirrel tribe, impelling them to a general and mysterious
movement, in which they were seen, say some, crossing the
broadest rivers, each on its particular chip, with its tail
raised for a sail, and bridging narrower streams with their
Walking |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Underground City by Jules Verne: and becoming more and more distinct.
"Halloo! who comes here?" asked the engineer, stopping Harry.
"I cannot say," answered the young miner.
"Is it not your father?"
"My father, Mr. Starr? no."
"Some neighbor, then?"
"We have no neighbors in the bottom of the pit,"
replied Harry. "We are alone, quite alone."
"Well, we must let this intruder pass," said James Starr. "Those who
are descending must yield the path to those who are ascending."
They waited. The voice broke out again with a magnificent burst,
|
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 At the Earth's Core by Edgar Rice Burroughs: "What will they do with you?" I asked. "Where are they
taking us?"
Again she looked her incredulity.
"I can almost believe that you are of another world,"
she said, "for otherwise such ignorance were inexplicable.
Do you really mean that you do not know that the Sagoths
are the creatures of the Mahars--the mighty Mahars who
think they own Pellucidar and all that walks or grows
upon its surface, or creeps or burrows beneath, or swims
within its lakes and oceans, or flies through its air?
Next you will be telling me that you never before heard
At the Earth's Core |
