| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne: air, after a long stifling with his own polluted breath. How can
it be otherwise? Why should a wretched man -- guilty, we will
say, of murder -- prefer to keep the dead corpse buried in his
own heart, rather than fling it forth at once, and let the
universe take care of it!"
"Yet some men bury their secrets thus," observed the calm
physician.
"True; there are such men," answered Mr. Dimmesdale. "But not
to suggest more obvious reasons, it may be that they are kept
The Scarlet Letter |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Pierre Grassou by Honore de Balzac: he had on his side all of his clan who had succeeded, and all who
expected to succeed. Some persons, touched by the persistent energy of
a man whom nothing had discouraged, talked of Domenichino and said:--
"Perseverance in the arts should be rewarded. Grassou hasn't stolen
his successes; he has delved for ten years, the poor dear man!"
That exclamation of "poor dear man!" counted for half in the support
and the congratulations which the painter received. Pity sets up
mediocrities as envy pulls down great talents, and in equal numbers.
The newspapers, it is true, did not spare criticism, but the chevalier
Fougeres digested them as he had digested the counsel of his friends,
with angelic patience.
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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 From London to Land's End by Daniel Defoe: a pond. This keeps the waters always clear and clean, the bottom
in view, the fish playing and in sight; and, in a word, it has
everything that can make an inland (or, as I may call it, a
country) river pleasant and agreeable.
I shall sing you no songs here of the river in the first person of
a water-nymph, a goddess, and I know not what, according to the
humour of the ancient poets; I shall talk nothing of the marriage
of old Isis, the male river, with the beautiful Thame, the female
river (a whimsey as simple as the subject was empty); but I shall
speak of the river as occasion presents, as it really is made
glorious by the splendour of its shores, gilded with noble palaces,
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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 Lord Arthur Savile's Crime, etc. by Oscar Wilde: purple, and once when they came down for family prayers, according
to the simple rites of the Free American Reformed Episcopalian
Church, they found it a bright emerald-green. These kaleidoscopic
changes naturally amused the party very much, and bets on the
subject were freely made every evening. The only person who did
not enter into the joke was little Virginia, who, for some
unexplained reason, was always a good deal distressed at the sight
of the blood-stain, and very nearly cried the morning it was
emerald-green.
The second appearance of the ghost was on Sunday night. Shortly
after they had gone to bed they were suddenly alarmed by a fearful
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