| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from A Heap O' Livin' by Edgar A. Guest: Arm against it as a creature of terror,
And all that you dream of you some day shall
gain.
_Can't_ is the word that is foe to ambition,
An enemy ambushed to shatter your will;
Its prey is forever the man with a mission
And bows but to courage and patience and
skill.
Hate it, with hatred that's deep and undying,
For once it is welcomed 'twill break any
man;
A Heap O' Livin' |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Another Study of Woman by Honore de Balzac: six years' difference of age might give her pause; she knew nothing of
my fortune, of which, on principle, I have always kept the secret. I,
on my part, fascinated by her wit and manners, by the extent of her
knowledge and her experience of the world, would have married her
without a thought. At the same time, her reserve charmed me. If she
had been the first to speak of marriage in a certain tone, I might
perhaps have noted it as vulgar in that accomplished soul.
"Six months, full and perfect--a diamond of the purest water! That has
been my portion of love in this base world.
"One morning, attacked by the feverish stiffness which marks the
beginning of a cold, I wrote her a line to put off one of those secret
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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 Maggie: A Girl of the Streets by Stephen Crane: "Teh hell wid him and you," she said, glowering at her
daughter in the gloom. Her eyes seemed to burn balefully. "Yeh've
gone teh deh devil, Mag Johnson, yehs knows yehs have gone teh deh
devil. Yer a disgrace teh yer people, damn yeh. An' now, git out
an' go ahn wid dat doe-faced jude of yours. Go teh hell wid him,
damn yeh, an' a good riddance. Go teh hell an' see how yeh likes
it."
Maggie gazed long at her mother.
"Go teh hell now, an' see how yeh likes it. Git out. I won't
have sech as yehs in me house! Get out, d'yeh hear! Damn yeh,
git out!"
Maggie: A Girl of the Streets |
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 Poems by Bronte Sisters: Alike the draught of bliss,
Its progress leaves but moment brief
For baffled lips to kiss
The sparkling draught is dried away,
The hour of rest is gone,
And urgent voices, round us, say,
"Ho, lingerer, hasten on!"
And has the soul, then, only gained,
From this brief time of ease,
A moment's rest, when overstrained,
One hurried glimpse of peace?
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