| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from St. Ives by Robert Louis Stevenson: tell you, he has for some time made it his business to keep M. de
Keroual informed of your career; with what purpose I leave you to
judge. When he first brought the news of your - that you were
serving Buonaparte, it seemed it might be the death of the old
gentleman, so hot was his resentment. But from one thing to
another, matters have a little changed. Or I should rather say,
not a little. We learned you were under orders for the Peninsula,
to fight the English; then that you had been commissioned for a
piece of bravery, and were again reduced to the ranks. And from
one thing to another (as I say), M. de Keroual became used to the
idea that you were his kinsman and yet served with Buonaparte, and
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Country of the Pointed Firs by Sarah Orne Jewett: little help, this kitten is. I picked her from among five Miss
Augusta Pernell had over to Burnt Island," said the old woman,
trudging along with the kitten close at her skirts. "Augusta, she
says to me, 'Why, Mis' Blackett, you've took and homeliest;'
and, says I, 'I've got the smartest; I'm satisfied.'"
"I'd trust nobody sooner'n you to pick out a kitten, mother,"
said the daughter handsomely, and we went on in peace and harmony.
The house was just before us now, on a green level that looked
as if a huge hand had scooped it out of the long green field we had
been ascending. A little way above, the dark, spruce woods began
to climb the top of the hill and cover the seaward slopes of the
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen: as soon as he was seated, "of the very shocking discovery
that took place under our roof yesterday."
They all looked their assent; it seemed too awful
a moment for speech.
"Your sister," he continued, "has suffered dreadfully.
Mrs. Ferrars too--in short it has been a scene of such
complicated distress--but I will hope that the storm may
be weathered without our being any of us quite overcome.
Poor Fanny! she was in hysterics all yesterday.
But I would not alarm you too much. Donavan says there
is nothing materially to be apprehended; her constitution
Sense and Sensibility |
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 Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas: Come, come, do not strip the latter of his just rights to
bestow them on the Corsican, who, to my mind, has usurped
quite enough."
"Nay, madame; I would place each of these heroes on his
right pedestal -- that of Robespierre on his scaffold in the
Place Louis Quinze; that of Napoleon on the column of the
Place Vendome. The only difference consists in the opposite
character of the equality advocated by these two men; one is
the equality that elevates, the other is the equality that
degrades; one brings a king within reach of the guillotine,
the other elevates the people to a level with the throne.
The Count of Monte Cristo |
