| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe: "O! John is well, and all the rest of our folks," said
Ruth, cheerily.
"Any news, father?" said Rachel, as she was putting her
biscuits into the oven.
"Peter Stebbins told me that they should be along tonight,
with _friends_," said Simeon, significantly, as he was washing his
hands at a neat sink, in a little back porch.
"Indeed!" said Rachel, looking thoughtfully, and glancing
at Eliza.
"Did thee say thy name was Harris?" said Simeon to Eliza,
as he reentered.
Uncle Tom's Cabin |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Brother of Daphne by Dornford Yates: middle and hung low over each temple. Her brews were straight,
and on the red mouth was a faint smile.
I looked away over the glittering waves. Then I came quietly
down, picked up " Hans Andersen," and took my seat by her side.
I found the place and continued the story aloud:
"And the dog was outside the door directly, and, before the
soldier thought it, came back with the Princess. She sat upon
the dog's back and slept; and every one could see she was a real
Princess, for she was so lovely. The soldier could not refrain
from kissing her, for he was a thorough soldier.."
Here the girl stirred, opened her eyes, saw me, and sat up.
The Brother of Daphne |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Glimpses of the Moon by Edith Wharton: child's account as on Nick's that Susy had held her tongue,
remained in Venice, and slipped out once a week to post one of
Ellie's numbered letters. A day's experience of the Palazzo
Vanderlyn had convinced Susy of the impossibility of deserting
Clarissa. Long experience had shown her that the most crowded
households often contain the loneliest nurseries, and that the
rich child is exposed to evils unknown to less pampered infancy;
but hitherto such things had merely been to her one of the
uglier bits in the big muddled pattern of life. Now she found
herself feeling where before she had only judged: her
precarious bliss came to her charged with a new weight of pity.
|
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 Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table by Oliver Wendell Holmes: offerings to the cloud-compelling deities. It comes to us without
complexion or flavor, - born of the sea-foam, like Aphrodite, but
colorless as PALLIDA MORS herself. The fire is lighted in its
central shrine, and gradually the juices which the broad leaves of
the Great Vegetable had sucked up from an acre and curdled into a
drachm are diffused through its thirsting pores. First a
discoloration, then a stain, and at last a rich, glowing, umber
tint spreading over the whole surface. Nature true to her old
brown autumnal hue, you see, - as true in the fire of the
meerschaum as in the sunshine of October! And then the cumulative
wealth of its fragrant reminiscences! he who inhales its vapors
The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table |
