| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen: so unfortunately connected with the great London
and Oxford roads, and the principal inn of the city,
that a day never passes in which parties of ladies,
however important their business, whether in quest
of pastry, millinery, or even (as in the present case)
of young men, are not detained on one side or other
by carriages, horsemen, or carts. This evil had been felt
and lamented, at least three times a day, by Isabella
since her residence in Bath; and she was now fated
to feel and lament it once more, for at the very moment
of coming opposite to Union Passage, and within view of
Northanger Abbey |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from To-morrow by Joseph Conrad: She was knitting that day, finishing a pair of
socks for her father, who expected her to keep up
the supply dutifully. She hated knitting, and, as
she was just at the heel part, she had to keep her
eyes on her needles.
"Of course it isn't as if he had a son to provide
for," Captain Hagberd went on a little vacantly.
"Girls, of course, don't require so much--h'm--
h'm. They don't run away from home, my dear."
"No," said Miss Bessie, quietly.
Captain Hagberd, amongst the mounds of
To-morrow |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Bickerstaff-Partridge Papers by Jonathan Swift: Anglus, Astrologorum hujusce Saeculi facile Princeps. Signior
Magliabecchi, the Great Duke's famous library-keeper, spends
almost his whole letter in compliments and praises. 'Tis true,
the renowned Professor of Astronomy at Utrecht, seems to differ
from me in one article; but it is in a modest manner, that
becomes a philosopher; as, Pace tanti viri dixerim: And pag.55,
he seems to lay the error upon the printer (as indeed it ought)
and says, vel forsan error typographi, cum alioquin
Bickerstaffius ver doctissimus, etc.
If Mr. Partridge had followed this example in the controversy
between us, he might have spared me the trouble of justifying
|
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 War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells: monstrous. There was something fungoid in the oily brown
skin, something in the clumsy deliberation of the tedi-
ous movements unspeakably nasty. Even at this first en-
counter, this first glimpse, I was overcome with disgust and
dread.
Suddenly the monster vanished. It had toppled over the
brim of the cylinder and fallen into the pit, with a thud like
the fall of a great mass of leather. I heard it give a peculiar
thick cry, and forthwith another of these creatures appeared
darkly in the deep shadow of the aperture.
I turned and, running madly, made for the first group of
War of the Worlds |
