| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Two Noble Kinsmen by William Shakespeare: Vpon my right side still I wore thy picture,
Palamons on the left: why so, I know not;
I had no end in't else, chance would have it so.
On the sinister side the heart lyes; Palamon
Had the best boding chance. [Another cry, and showt within, and
Cornets.] This burst of clamour
Is sure th'end o'th Combat.
[Enter Servant.]
SERVANT.
They saide that Palamon had Arcites body
Within an inch o'th Pyramid, that the cry
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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 Recruit by Honore de Balzac: for his spectacles and rubbed their glasses, she raised her eyes to
him, and seemed to study him with curiosity; then she said in an
altered voice, and very softly,--
"I trust you."
"I am here to share your crime," replied the good man, simply.
She quivered. For the first time in that little town, her soul
sympathized with that of another. The old man now understood both the
hopes and the fears of the poor woman. The letter was from her son. He
had returned to France to share in Granville's expedition, and was
taken prisoner. The letter was written from his cell, but it told her
to hope. He did not doubt his means of escape, and he named to her
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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 Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen: so happily passed along in going to and from Woodston;
and, for fourteen miles, every bitter feeling was rendered
more severe by the review of objects on which she had
first looked under impressions so different. Every mile,
as it brought her nearer Woodston, added to her sufferings,
and when within the distance of five, she passed the
turning which led to it, and thought of Henry, so near,
yet so unconscious, her grief and agitation were excessive.
The day which she had spent at that place had
been one of the happiest of her life. It was there,
it was on that day, that the general had made use of such
Northanger Abbey |
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 Poor and Proud by Oliver Optic: borrow of a servant; but it is wicked for me to cherish such a
pride. I try very hard to banish it."
"Don't talk any more now, mother. We are too poor to be too proud
to accept a favor of one who is in a humble station." replied
Katy.
"I don't know what will become of us," said Mrs. Redburn, as she
turned her head away to hide the tears that flooded her eyes.
Katy took up the Bible that lay by the bedside, and turning to
the twenty-third psalm, she read, "The Lord is my Shepherd; I
shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; he
leadeth me beside the still waters."
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