| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Sons and Lovers by D. H. Lawrence: "'Hey up, theer!' I shouts.
"An' I wor just in time ter get 'im by th' tail."
"And did you kill it?"
"I did, for they're a nuisance. The place is fair snied wi' 'em."
"An' what do they live on?"
"The corn as the 'osses drops--an' they'll get in your pocket an'
eat your snap, if you'll let 'em--no matter where yo' hing your coat--
the slivin', nibblin' little nuisances, for they are."
These happy evenings could not take place unless Morel
had some job to do. And then he always went to bed very early,
often before the children. There was nothing remaining for him
Sons and Lovers |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx: To preserve this class is to preserve the existing state of
things in Germany. The industrial and political supremacy of the
bourgeoisie threatens it with certain destruction; on the one
hand, from the concentration of capital; on the other, from the
rise of a revolutionary proletariat. "True" Socialism appeared
to
kill these two birds with one stone. It spread like an epidemic.
The robe of speculative cobwebs, embroidered with flowers of
rhetoric, steeped in the dew of sickly sentiment, this
transcendental robe in which the German Socialists wrapped their
sorry "eternal truths," all skin and bone, served to wonderfully
The Communist Manifesto |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Off on a Comet by Jules Verne: of January had transformed an enormous rock, garrisoned with well-nigh
two thousand troops, into an insignificant island far out to sea.
But although the transformation had been so marvelous, it cannot
be said that either Colonel Murphy or Major Oliphant had made much
demonstration of astonishment.
"This is all very peculiar, Sir John," observed the colonel.
"Yes, colonel; very peculiar," replied the major.
"England will be sure to send for us," said one officer.
"No doubt she will," answered the other.
Accordingly, they came to the mutual resolution that they would
"stick to their post."
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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 Lay Morals by Robert Louis Stevenson: elegant gossip, tell of strange and interesting events, the
secrets of families, brave deeds of war, the miraculous
discovery of crime, the visitations of the dead. Nance and
her uncle would sit till the small hours with eyes wide open:
Jonathan applauding the unexpected incidents with many a slap
of his big hand; Nance, perhaps, more pleased with the
narrator's eloquence and wise reflections; and then, again,
days would follow of abstraction, of listless humming, of
frequent apologies and long hours of silence. Once only, and
then after a week of unrelieved melancholy, he went over to
the 'Green Dragon,' spent the afternoon with the landlord and
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