| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The White Moll by Frank L. Packard: manner little expected, and it had come very quickly. She had
sought and found a genuine relief from her own sorrow in doing
what she could to alleviate the misery in that squalid, one-room
home. And then the sphere of her activities had broadened, slowly
at first, not through any preconceived intention on her part, but
naturally, and as almost an inevitable corollary consequent upon
her relations with the Bussard and his ill-fortuned family.
The Bussard's circle of intimates was amongst those who lay outside
the law, those who gambled for their livelihood by staking their
wits, to win against the toils of the police; and so, more and more,
she had come into close and intimate contact with the criminal
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Monster Men by Edgar Rice Burroughs: while the pirates at the same instant realized the
menace of the new danger which confronted them. A
score of muskets belched forth their missiles at the
fearless girl behind the scant shield of the machine
gun. Leaden pellets rained heavily upon her
protection, or whizzed threateningly about her head--
and then she got the gun into action.
At the rate of fifty a minute, a stream of projectiles
tore into the bow of the prahu when suddenly a richly
garbed Malay in the stern rose to his feet waving a
white cloth upon the point of his kris. It was the
The Monster Men |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Maggie: A Girl of the Streets by Stephen Crane: Suddenly, however, he began to swear.
"But he was me frien'! I brought 'im here! Dat's deh hell of it!"
He fumed about the room, his anger gradually rising to the
furious pitch.
"I'll kill deh jay! Dat's what I'll do! I'll kill deh jay!"
He clutched his hat and sprang toward the door. But it opened
and his mother's great form blocked the passage.
"What deh hell's deh matter wid yeh?" exclaimed she, coming
into the rooms.
Jimmie gave vent to a sardonic curse and then laughed heavily.
"Well, Maggie's gone teh deh devil! Dat's what! See?"
Maggie: A Girl of the Streets |
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 Lily of the Valley by Honore de Balzac: subjected to feelings other than those society imposes on her, you
must admit that the more irresistible that feeling is, the more
virtuous she is in smothering it, in sacrificing herself to her
husband and children. This theory is not applicable to me who
unfortunately show an example to the contrary, nor to you whom it will
never concern."
"You have a noble soul, Felix," said the count, slipping his arm, not
ungracefully, round his wife's waist and drawing her towards him to
say: "Forgive a poor sick man, dear, who wants to be loved more than
he deserves."
"There are some hearts that are all generosity," she said, resting her
The Lily of the Valley |
