| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Paz by Honore de Balzac: taking her hand which she yielded to him, and kissing it. "In solemn
moments like these there is unspeakable satisfaction in finding a
woman without hypocrisy. It is possible to converse with you. Let us
look to the future. Suppose that God does not grant your prayer,--and
no one cries to him more than I do, 'Leave me my friend!' Yes, these
fifty nights have not weakened me; if thirty more days and nights are
needed I can give them while you sleep,--yes, I will tear him from
death if, as the doctors say, nursing can save him. But suppose that
in spite of you and me, the count dies,--well, then, if you were
loved, oh, adored, by a man of a heart and soul that are worthy of
you--"
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Flame and Shadow by Sara Teasdale: That has gone to dust now, stinging my eyes --
It is strange how often a heart must be broken
Before the years can make it wise.
The Long Hill
I must have passed the crest a while ago
And now I am going down --
Strange to have crossed the crest and not to know,
But the brambles were always catching the hem of my gown.
All the morning I thought how proud I should be
To stand there straight as a queen,
Wrapped in the wind and the sun with the world under me --
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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 Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe: My governess, not at all surprised, spoke calmly to them, told
them they should very freely come and search her house, if
they should bring a constable, and let in none but such as the
constable would admit, for it was unreasonable to let in a whole
crowd. This they could not refuse, though they were a crowd.
So a constable was fetched immediately, and she very freely
opened the door; the constable kept the door, and the men he
appointed searched the house, my governess going with them
from room to room. When she came to my room she called
to me, and said aloud, 'Cousin, pray open the door; here's
some gentlemen that must come and look into your room.'
Moll Flanders |
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 Nada the Lily by H. Rider Haggard: sit in it, might he not? And there a man sat, or that which had been a
man. There sat the bones of a man, and the black skin had withered on
his bones, holding them together, and making him awful to see. His
hands were open beside him, he leaned upon them, and in the right hand
was a piece of hide from his moocha. It was half eaten, Umslopogaas;
he had eaten it before he died. His eyes also were bound round with a
band of leather, as though to hide something from their gaze, one foot
was gone, one hung over the edge of the niche towards the floor, and
beneath it on the floor, red with rust, lay the blade of a broken
spear.
"Now come hither, Umslopogaas, place your hand upon the wall of the
Nada the Lily |
