| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Chouans by Honore de Balzac: flung themselves headlong into the road with fixed bayonets and made
the battle even for a few moments. Both sides fought with a
stubbornness intensified by the cruelty and fury of the partisan
spirit which made this war exceptional. Each man, observant of danger,
was silent. The scene was gloomy and cold as death itself. Nothing was
heard through the clash of arms and the grinding of the sand under
foot but the moans and exclamations of those who fell, either dead or
badly wounded. The twelve loyal recruits in the republican main body
protected the commandant (who was guiding his men and giving orders)
with such courage that more than once several soldiers called out
"Bravo, conscripts!"
The Chouans |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Complete Poems of Longfellow by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: There are invisible bars I cannot break;
There are invisible doors that shut me in,
And keep me ever steadfast to my purpose.
JOHN ENDICOTT.
Thou hast the patience and the faith of Saints!
EDITH.
Thy Priest hath been with me this day to save me,
Not only from the death that comes to all,
But from the second death!
JOHN ENDICOTT.
The Pharisee!
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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 The Hidden Masterpiece by Honore de Balzac: living life."
"Show my work!" exclaimed the old man, with deep emotion. "No, no! I
have still to bring it to perfection. Yesterday, towards evening, I
thought it was finished. Her eyes were liquid, her flesh trembled, her
tresses waved--she breathed! And yet, though I have grasped the secret
of rendering on a flat canvas the relief and roundness of nature, this
morning at dawn I saw many errors. Ah! to attain that glorious result,
I have studied to their depths the masters of color. I have analyzed
and lifted, layer by layer, the colors of Titian, king of light. Like
him, great sovereign of art, I have sketched my figure in light clear
tones of supple yet solid color; for shadow is but an accident,--
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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 Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen: the important lock, and Catherine, hardly able to breathe,
was turning to close the former with fearful caution,
when the figure, the dreaded figure of the general himself
at the further end of the gallery, stood before her! The
name of "Eleanor" at the same moment, in his loudest tone,
resounded through the building, giving to his daughter
the first intimation of his presence, and to Catherine
terror upon terror. An attempt at concealment had been
her first instinctive movement on perceiving him,
yet she could scarcely hope to have escaped his eye;
and when her friend, who with an apologizing look darted
Northanger Abbey |
