| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Westward Ho! by Charles Kingsley: position. It was, as I said, strong enough by nature; for though
it was commanded by high cliffs on three sides, yet there was no
chance of an enemy coming over the enormous mountain-range behind
them, and still less chance that, if he came, he would discover
them through the dense mass of trees which crowned the cliff, and
clothed the hills for a thousand feet above. The attack, if it
took place, would come from below; and against that Amyas guarded
by felling the smaller trees, and laying them with their boughs
outward over the crest of the slope, thus forming an abatis (as
every one who has shot in thick cover knows to his cost) warranted
to bring up in two steps, horse, dog, or man. The trunks were sawn
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Merry Men by Robert Louis Stevenson: continued pacing from wall to wall with disconnected gestures,
clasping her hands, stretching forth her arms, throwing back her
head as in appeal to heaven. In these disordered movements the
beauty and grace of the woman showed more clearly; but there was a
light in her eye that struck on me unpleasantly; and when I had
looked on awhile in silence, and seemingly unobserved, I turned
tail as I had come, and groped my way back again to my own chamber.
By the time Felipe brought my supper and lights, my nerve was
utterly gone; and, had the lad been such as I was used to seeing
him, I should have kept him (even by force had that been necessary)
to take off the edge from my distasteful solitude. But on Felipe,
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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 Z. Marcas by Honore de Balzac: I had finished studying the law in Paris in 1836. I lived at that time
in the Rue Corneille in a house where none but students came to lodge,
one of those large houses where there is a winding staircase quite at
the back lighted below from the street, higher up by borrowed lights,
and at the top by a skylight. There were forty furnished rooms--
furnished as students' rooms are! What does youth demand more than was
here supplied? A bed, a few chairs, a chest of drawers, a looking-
glass, and a table. As soon as the sky is blue the student opens his
window.
But in this street there are no fair neighbors to flirt with. In front
is the Odeon, long since closed, presenting a wall that is beginning
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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 Tono Bungay by H. G. Wells: very pink and shocked in the background, and my aunt jealously
intervening.
My injuries were much more showy than serious, and I could have
been taken to Lady Grove next day, but Beatrice would not permit
that, and kept me at Bedley Corner three clear days. In the
afternoon of the second day she became extremely solicitous for
the proper aeration of the nurse, packed her off for an hour in a
brisk rain, and sat by me alone.
I asked her to marry me.
All the whole I must admit it was not a situation that lent
itself to eloquence. I lay on my back and talked through
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