| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Poems by Bronte Sisters: Then, journey on, if not elate,
Still, NEVER broken-hearted!
PLEAD FOR ME.
Oh, thy bright eyes must answer now,
When Reason, with a scornful brow,
Is mocking at my overthrow!
Oh, thy sweet tongue must plead for me
And tell why I have chosen thee!
Stern Reason is to judgment come,
Arrayed in all her forms of gloom:
Wilt thou, my advocate, be dumb?
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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 Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald: a great, big, hulking physical specimen of a----"
"I hate that word hulking," objected Tom crossly, "even in kidding."
"Hulking," insisted Daisy.
Sometimes she and Miss Baker talked at once, unobtrusively and with a
bantering inconsequence that was never quite chatter, that was as cool
as their white dresses and their impersonal eyes in the absence of all
desire. They were here, and they accepted Tom and me, making only a
polite pleasant effort to entertain or to be entertained. They knew
that presently dinner would be over and a little later the evening too
would be over and casually put away. It was sharply different from the
West, where an evening was hurried from phase to phase toward its
The Great Gatsby |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Blue Flower by Henry van Dyke: pinnacles than any of its neighbours, and the work of the
scroll-saw was looped and festooned all around the eaves and
porticoes and bay-windows in amazing richness. Moreover, in
the front yard were cast-iron images painted white: a stag
reposing on a door-mat; Diana properly dressed and returning
from the chase; a small iron boy holding over his head a
parasol from the ferrule of which a fountain squirted. The
paths were of asphalt, gray and gritty in winter, but now, in
the summer heat, black and pulpy to the tread.
There were many feet passing over them this afternoon, for
Mr. and Mrs. Matthew Wilson were giving a reception to
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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 The Red Seal by Natalie Sumner Lincoln: equally steadfast. "I know because I left the book there."
Ferguson glanced from McIntyre to Kent and back again at the Colonel
in non-plussed silence. The explanation was pat.
"I'd like to talk with Mrs. Brewster," he remarked dryly.
"Certainly." McIntyre pressed an electric button. The summons was
answered immediately by the new servant, Murray. "Ask Mrs. Brewster
if she can see Detective Ferguson in the library, Murray," McIntyre
directed.
"Beg pardon, sir, but Mrs. Brewster has just gone out," and with
a bow Murray withdrew.
Kent, who had drawn forward a chair preparatory to sitting down
The Red Seal |
