| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from A Heap O' Livin' by Edgar A. Guest: A strain of the fur-trapper wary,
A blend of the old and the new;
A bit of the pioneer splendor
That opened the wilderness' flats,
A touch of the home-lover, tender,
You'll find in the boys they call Pat's.
The glory and grace of the maple,
The strength that is born of the wheat,
The pride of a stock that is staple,
The bronze of a midsummer heat;
A blending of wisdom and daring,
A Heap O' Livin' |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from A Man of Business by Honore de Balzac: known as 'Coquerels' since Henri Monnier's time; so well did Monnier
render the piping voice, the little mannerisms, little queue, little
sprinkling of powder, little movements of the head, prim little
manner, and tripping gait in the part of Coquerel in /La Famille
Improvisee/. This Croizeau used to hand over his halfpence with a
flourish and a 'There, fair lady!'
"Mme. Ida Bonamy the aunt was not long in finding out through a
servant that Croizeau, by popular report of the neighborhood of the
Rue de Buffault, where he lived, was a man of exceeding stinginess,
possessed of forty thousand francs per annum. A week after the
instalment of the charming librarian he was delivered of a pun:
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Venus and Adonis by William Shakespeare: Gives false alarms, suggesteth mutiny,
And in a peaceful hour doth cry "Kill, kill!" 652
Distempering gentle Love in his desire,
As air and water do abate the fire.
'This sour informer, this bate-breeding spy,
This canker that eats up Love's tender spring, 656
This carry-tale, dissentious Jealousy,
That sometime true news, sometime false doth bring,
Knocks at my heart, and whispers in mine ear
That if I love thee, I thy death should fear: 660
'And more than so, presenteth to mine eye
|
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 Stories From the Old Attic by Robert Harris: and lament the fate of men in this whole romantic con game, and Sir
Wishful soon enough decided that he liked the taste of trout just
about as well as the taste of women's lips, so he grabbed his bait
and tackle and headed for the river. Sir Percival, on the other hand,
really thought Arissa might be worth another attempt, and he
rationalized with himself that perhaps she didn't quite understand
the question. "Or belikes the maiden is just shy," he thought.
So Sir Percival, seeing on another day the fair, delicate Arissa
using her footman's coat to clean the mud off her shoes, again
approached and asked: "Arissa, sweet one, won't you go out with
me sometime?"
|
