| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Bickerstaff-Partridge Papers by Jonathan Swift: A List of Coblers Temples Ties,
To keep the Hair out of their Eyes;
From whence 'tis plain the Diadem
That Princes wear, derives from them.
And therefore Crowns are now-a-days
Adorn'd with Golden Stars and Rays,
Which plainly shews the near Alliance
'Twixt cobling and the Planets Science.
Besides, that slow-pac'd Sign Bootes,
As 'tis miscall'd, we know not who 'tis?
But Partridge ended all Disputes,
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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 Spirit of the Border by Zane Grey: talked to the fellers, an' all I could git interested was eighteen, but they
wanted to fight simply fer fightin' sake. Now, ole Jeff Lynn is your friend.
You just lay low until this is over."
Jim thanked the old riverman and left him. He hardly knew which way to turn.
He would make one more effort. He crossed the clearing to where the renegades'
teepee stood. McKee and Elliott were sitting on a log. Simon Girty stood
beside them, his hard, keen, roving eyes on the scene. The missionary was
impressed by the white leader. There was a difference in his aspect, a wilder
look than the others wore, as if the man had suddenly awakened to the fury of
his Indians. Nevertheless the young man went straight toward him.
"Girty, I come---"
The Spirit of the Border |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Bronte Sisters: wedding within. I ran in among them, demanding, with breathless
eagerness, had the ceremony long commenced? They only gaped and
stared. In my desperation, I pushed past them, and was about to
enter the churchyard gate, when a group of ragged urchins, that had
been hanging like bees to the window, suddenly dropped off and made
a rush for the porch, vociferating in the uncouth dialect of their
country something which signified, 'It's over - they're coming
out!'
If Eliza Millward had seen me then she might indeed have been
delighted. I grasped the gate-post for support, and stood intently
gazing towards the door to take my last look on my soul's delight,
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall |
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 House of Dust by Conrad Aiken: Pale slate-grey clouds whirl up from the sunken sun.
And the wandering one, the inquisitive dreamer of dreams,
The eternal asker of answers, stands in the street,
And lifts his palms for the first cold ghost of rain.
The purple lights leap down the hill before him.
The gorgeous night has begun again.
'I will ask them all, I will ask them all their dreams,
I will hold my light above them and seek their faces.
I will hear them whisper, invisible in their veins . . .'
The eternal asker of answers becomes as the darkness,
Or as a wind blown over a myriad forest,
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