| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from An International Episode by Henry James: and appeared to have read a great deal. She seemed very nice,
though he could not make out, as Mrs. Westgate had said, she was shy.
If she was shy, she carried it off very well.
"Mr. Beaumont," she had said, "please tell me something about Lord
Lambeth's family. How would you say it in England--his position?"
"His position?" Percy Beaumont repeated.
"His rank, or whatever you call it. Unfortunately we haven't got
a PEERAGE, like the people in Thackeray."
"That's a great pity," said Beaumont. "You would find it all set
forth there so much better than I can do it."
"He is a peer, then?"
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Paradise Lost by John Milton: Rose up a fountain by the tree of life:
In with the river sunk, and with it rose
Satan, involved in rising mist; then sought
Where to lie hid; sea he had searched, and land,
From Eden over Pontus and the pool
Maeotis, up beyond the river Ob;
Downward as far antarctick; and in length,
West from Orontes to the ocean barred
At Darien ; thence to the land where flows
Ganges and Indus: Thus the orb he roamed
With narrow search; and with inspection deep
Paradise Lost |
