| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from King Henry VI by William Shakespeare: More like a king, more kingly in my thoughts;
But I must make fair weather yet a while,
Till Henry be more weak and I more strong.--
Buckingham, I prithee, pardon me,
That I have given no answer all this while;
My mind was troubled with deep melancholy.
The cause why I have brought this army hither
Is to remove proud Somerset from the king,
Seditious to his grace and to the state.
BUCKINGHAM.
That is too much presumption on thy part;
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from A treatise on Good Works by Dr. Martin Luther: always to pray, and never cease," although in Matthew vi. He
forbids the use of much speaking and long prayers, because of
which He rebukes the hypocrites; not because the lengthy prayer
of the lips is evil, but because it is not that true prayer which
can be made at all times, and without the inner prayer of faith
is nothing. For we must also practise the outward prayer in its
proper time, especially in the mass, as this Commandment
requires, and wherever it is helpful to the inner prayer and
faith, whether in the house or in the field, in this work or in
that; of which we have no time now to speak more. For this
belongs to the Lord's Prayer, in which all petitions and spoken
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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 Letters from England by Elizabeth Davis Bancroft: as Madam Adelaide's death took place without a day's warning, you
can imagine the embroidered coats and finery which were laid on the
shelf.
Saturday, January 7th
Yesterday, my dear son, I had a delightful dinner at the dear Miss
Berrys. They drove to the door on Thursday and left a little note
to say, "Can you forgive a poor sick soul for not coming to you
before, when you were all alone," and begging me to come the next
day at seven, to dine. There was Lady Charlotte and Lady Stuart de
Rothesay, who was many years ambassadress at Paris, and very
agreeable. Then there was Dr. Holland and Mr. Stanley, the under-
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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 The Secret Sharer by Joseph Conrad: Now I had what I wanted--the saving mark for my eyes.
But I hardly thought of my other self, now gone from the ship,
to be hidden forever from all friendly faces, to be a fugitive
and a vagabond on the earth, with no brand of the curse on his
sane forehead to stay a slaying hand . . . too proud to explain.
And I watched the hat--the expression of my sudden pity for his mere flesh.
It had been meant to save his homeless head from the dangers of the sun.
And now--behold--it was saving the ship, by serving me for a mark to help
out the ignorance of my strangeness. Ha! It was drifting forward,
warning me just in time that the ship had gathered sternaway.
"Shift the helm," I said in a low voice to the seaman standing still
The Secret Sharer |
