| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Ten Years Later by Alexandre Dumas: door of M. de la Fere's apartment, he rapped impatiently,
and entered almost without waiting for the word "Enter!"
which was vouchsafed him by a voice at once sweet and
serious. The comte was seated at a table covered with papers
and books; he was still the noble, handsome gentleman of
former days, but time had given to this nobleness and beauty
a more solemn and distinct character. A brow white and void
of wrinkles, beneath his long hair, now more white than
black; an eye piercing and mild, under the lids of a young
man; his mustache, fine but slightly grizzled, waved over
lips of a pure and delicate model, as if they had never been
Ten Years Later |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from A Personal Record by Joseph Conrad: and I was, if I may say so, its temporarily adopted baby. He had
been a pilot longer than any man in the boat could remember;
thirty--forty years. He did not seem certain himself, but it
could be found out, he suggested, in the archives of the
Pilot-office. He had been pensioned off years before, but he
went out from force of habit; and, as my friend the patron of the
company once confided to me in a whisper, "the old chap did no
harm. He was not in the way." They treated him with rough
deference. One and another would address some insignificant
remark to him now and again, but nobody really took any notice of
what he had to say. He had survived his strength, his
A Personal Record |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Eve and David by Honore de Balzac: it. But, after all, in a little while you will pardon everything
to one who counts it more than all the triumphs in the world to be
your brother,
"LUCIEN."
Two forces tugged sharply at David's heart; he adored his wife; and if
he held Lucien in somewhat less esteem, his friendship was scarcely
diminished. In solitude our feelings have unrestricted play; and a man
preoccupied like David, with all-absorbing thoughts, will give way to
impulses for which ordinary life would have provided a sufficient
counterpoise. As he read Lucien's letter to the sound of military
music, and heard of this unlooked-for recognition, he was deeply
|
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 Persuasion by Jane Austen: he was ready to say almost everything else in her favour,
and as for Mrs Smith, she had claims of various kinds to recommend her
quickly and permanently.
Her recent good offices by Anne had been enough in themselves,
and their marriage, instead of depriving her of one friend,
secured her two. She was their earliest visitor in their settled life;
and Captain Wentworth, by putting her in the way of recovering
her husband's property in the West Indies, by writing for her,
acting for her, and seeing her through all the petty difficulties
of the case with the activity and exertion of a fearless man
and a determined friend, fully requited the services which
Persuasion |
