| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Spirit of the Border by Zane Grey: understanding of the intricate mazes of a woman's moods.
"But--you are angry with--me?" he whispered.
Nell flushed to her temples, yet she did not raise her eyes nor reply.
"It was a terrible thing for me to do," went on Jim, hesitatingly. "I don't
know why I took advantage--of--of your mistaking me for Joe. If you only
hadn't held up your mouth. No--I don't mean that--of course you didn't.
But--well, I couldn't help it. I'm guilty. I have thought of little else. Some
wonderful feeling has possessed me ever since--since---"
"What has Joe been saying about me?" demanded Nell, her eyes burning like
opals.
"Why, hardly anything," answered Jim, haltingly. "I took him to task
The Spirit of the Border |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Divine Comedy (translated by H.F. Cary) by Dante Alighieri: may be seen in the Notes to Hell, Canto XXIII. In the year 1293,
he founded a monastery of the order of Camaldoli, in Florence,
and died in the following year. Tiraboschi, Ibid. p. 119.
Dante, in the Treatise de Vulg. Eloq. 1. i. c. 13, and 1. ii. c.
6., blames him for preferring the plebeian to the mor
courtly style; and Petrarch twice places him in the company of
our Poet. Triumph of Love, cap. iv. and Son. Par. See "Sennuccio
mio"
v. 63. The birds.] Hell, Canto V. 46, Euripides, Helena, 1495,
and Statius; Theb. 1. V. 12.
v. 81. He.] Corso Donati was suspected of aiming at the
The Divine Comedy (translated by H.F. Cary) |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Man in Lower Ten by Mary Roberts Rinehart: Of course, I had expected that, but the word itself brought a shiver.
I was just a bit dizzy. Curious faces through the car were turned
toward us, and I could hear the porter behind me breathing audibly.
A stout woman in negligee came down the aisle and querulously
confronted the porter. She wore a pink dressing-jacket and carried
portions of her clothing.
"Porter," she began, in the voice of the lady who had "dangled,"
"is there a rule of this company that will allow a woman to occupy
the dressing-room for one hour and curl her hair with an alcohol
lamp while respectable people haven't a place where they can hook
their - "
The Man in Lower Ten |
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 Golden Sayings of Epictetus by Epictetus: knew whence they came--from whose hands and on what terms he had
received them. His true forefathers, the Gods, his true Country,
he never would have abandoned; nor would he have yielded to any
man in obedience and submission to the one nor in cheerfully
dying for the other. For he was ever mindful that everything that
comes to pass has its source and origin there; being indeed
brought about for the weal of that his true Country, and directed
by Him in whose governance it is.
CXLII
Ponder on this--on these convictions, on these words: fix
thine eyes on these examples, if thou wouldst be free, if thou
The Golden Sayings of Epictetus |
