| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Mother by Owen Wister: "Pardon my interruption," said Mrs. Davenport, smiling. "I didn't want to
miss a single point in this story--do go on!"
Richard was obliged to burst out laughing, in which Ethel, after a
moment, followed him, though perhaps less heartily. And as he continued,
his blush subsided.
"With my Uncle Godfrey's legacy I was no longer dependent upon my salary,
or my pen, or my father's purse; and I decided that with the money
properly invested, I could maintain a modest establishment of my own.
Ethel agreed with me entirely; and, after a little, we disclosed our
plans to our families, and they met with approval. This was in April, and
we thought of October or November for the wedding. It seemed long to
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Great God Pan by Arthur Machen: monstrous; such things can never be in this quiet world, where
men and women live and die, and struggle, and conquer, or maybe
fail, and fall down under sorrow, and grieve and suffer strange
fortunes for many a year; but not this, Phillips, not such
things as this. There must be some explanation, some way out
of the terror. Why, man, if such a case were possible, our
earth would be a nightmare."
But Phillips had told his story to the end, concluding:
"Her flight remains a mystery to this day; she vanished
in broad sunlight; they saw her walking in a meadow, and a few
moments later she was not there."
The Great God Pan |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Merry Men by Robert Louis Stevenson: His soul stared straight out of his eyes; he did not move or think;
sunlight, thin shadows moving in the wind, the edge of firs against
the sky, occupied and bound his faculties. He was pure unity, a
spirit wholly abstracted. A single mood filled him, to which all
the objects of sense contributed, as the colours of the spectrum
merge and disappear in white light.
So while the Doctor made himself drunk with words, the adopted
stable-boy bemused himself with silence.
CHAPTER V. TREASURE TROVE.
THE Doctor's carriage was a two-wheeled gig with a hood; a kind of
vehicle in much favour among country doctors. On how many roads
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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 Pericles by William Shakespeare: That would be son to great Antiochus.
ANTIOCHUS.
Before thee stands this fair Hesperides,
With golden fruit, but dangerous to be touch'd;
For death-like dragons here affright thee hard:
Her face, like heaven, enticeth thee to view
Her countless glory, which desert must gain;
And which, without desert, because thine eye
Presumes to reach, all thy whole heap must die.
Yon sometimes famous princes, like thyself,
Drawn by report, adventurous by desire,
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