| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Black Beauty by Anna Sewell: And turning to his man, who had come to take me, "Give this horse
a right good feed of bruised oats, and don't stint him."
"Dumb beasts!" Yes, we are; but if I could have spoken I could have
told my master where his oats went to. My groom used to come every morning
about six o'clock, and with him a little boy, who always had a covered basket
with him. He used to go with his father into the harness-room,
where the corn was kept, and I could see them, when the door stood ajar,
fill a little bag with oats out of the bin, and then he used to be off.
Five or six mornings after this, just as the boy had left the stable,
the door was pushed open, and a policeman walked in, holding the child tight
by the arm; another policeman followed, and locked the door on the inside,
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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 Cruise of the Jasper B. by Don Marquis: the box of Reginald Maltravers upon sensibilities as fine and
delicate as those of a woman like Lady Agatha Fairhaven?
"Could I--if I might----" Lady Agatha hesitated, with a glance
towards the cabin. Cleggett instantly divined her thought; for
brief as was their acquaintance, there was an almost psychic
accord between his mind and hers, and he felt himself already
answering to her unspoken wish as a ship to its rudder.
"The cabin is at your service," said Cleggett, for he understood
that she wished to dress for dinner. He conducted her, with a
touch of formality, to his own room in the cabin, which he put at
her disposal, ordering her steamer trunks to be placed in it.
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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 1492 by Mary Johntson: many on the Nina. The Admiral, just returned to the ship,
stretched himself upon the bench in her small cabin. Powerful
was his frame and constitution, and powerfully tried
all his life with a thousand strains and buffetings! It seemed
still to hold; he looked a muscular, sinewy, strong and ruddy
man. But there were signs that a careful eye might find.
He lay upon the bench in the cabin and I, who was his
physician, brought him wine and biscuit and made him eat
and drink who, I knew, had not touched food since the
evening before; after which I told him to close eyes and
go away to Genoa and boyhood. He shut them, and I sitting
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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 Aeneid by Virgil: Was destin'd by the wrathful gods to die.
All prais'd the sentence, pleas'd the storm should fall
On one alone, whose fury threaten'd all.
The dismal day was come; the priests prepare
Their leaven'd cakes, and fillets for my hair.
I follow'd nature's laws, and must avow
I broke my bonds and fled the fatal blow.
Hid in a weedy lake all night I lay,
Secure of safety when they sail'd away.
But now what further hopes for me remain,
To see my friends, or native soil, again;
Aeneid |
