| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Tess of the d'Urbervilles, A Pure Woman by Thomas Hardy: hindmost of the four; she, being full of suppressed
laughter at their dilemma, could not help meeting his
glance radiantly.
He came beneath them in the water, which did not rise
over his long boots; and stood looking at the entrapped
flies and butterflies.
"Are you trying to get to church?" he said to Marian,
who was in front, including the next two in his remark,
but avoiding Tess.
"Yes, sir; and 'tis getting late; and my colour do come
up so----"
Tess of the d'Urbervilles, A Pure Woman |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Awakening & Selected Short Stories by Kate Chopin: folded it neatly and laid it upon the seat in front of her.
"Ah! that is better; far better!" he said in a tone expressing
unbounded relief. "Never put it on again, dear." Octavie felt a
little hurt; as if he wished to debar her from share and parcel in
the burden of affliction which had been placed upon all of them.
Again she drew forth the old muslin handkerchief.
They had left the big road and turned into a level plain which
had formerly been an old meadow. There were clumps of thorn trees
here and there, gorgeous in their spring radiance. Some cattle
were grazing off in the distance in spots where the grass was tall
and luscious. At the far end of the meadow was the towering lilac
Awakening & Selected Short Stories |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from A Footnote to History by Robert Louis Stevenson: cannot give foreigners the necessary protection, because Mataafa
and his people can at any moment forcibly interrupt me in my
jurisdiction." Yet in the eyes of Anglo-Saxons the severity of his
code appeared burlesque. I give but three of its provisions. The
crime of inciting German troops "by any means, as, for instance,
informing them of proclamations by the enemy," was punishable with
death; that of "publishing or secretly distributing anything,
whether printed or written, bearing on the war," with prison or
deportation; and that of calling or attending a public meeting,
unless permitted, with the same. Such were the tender mercies of
Knappe, lurking in the western end of the German quarter, where
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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 Glimpses of the Moon by Edith Wharton: and Nat's water-pistol," emended Junie, still judicious.
Susy again enfolded her vehemently, and then turned to more
practical matters. She explained that she wished if possible to
catch an eight-thirty train from the Gare de Lyon, and that
there was not a moment to lose if the children were to be
dressed and fed, and full instructions written out for Junie and
Angele, before she rushed for the underground.
While she bathed Geordie, and then hurried into her own clothes,
she could not help wondering at her own extreme solicitude for
her charges. She remembered, with a pang, how often she had
deserted Clarissa Vanderlyn for the whole day, and even for two
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