| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Gobseck by Honore de Balzac: the bed. The Comte de Restaud could not bear the daylight, the
Venetian shutters were closed, darkness deepened the gloom in the
dismal chamber. The sick man himself had wasted greatly. All the life
in him seemed to have taken refuge in the still brilliant eyes. The
livid whiteness of his face was something horrible to see, enhanced as
it was by the long dank locks of hair that straggled along his cheeks,
for he would never suffer them to cut it. He looked like some
religious fanatic in the desert. Mental suffering was extinguishing
all human instincts in this man of scarce fifty years of age, whom all
Paris had known as so brilliant and so successful.
"One morning at the beginning of December 1824, he looked up at
Gobseck |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Marie by H. Rider Haggard: we found all well. Nothing had been heard of Hernan Pereira, while the
Zulus, if we might judge from messengers who came to us, seemed to be
friendly. Marie, also, had now quite recovered from the fears and
hardships which she had undergone. Never had I seen her look so sweet
and beautiful as she did when she greeted me, arrayed no longer in rags,
but in a simple yet charming dress made of some stuff that she had
managed to buy from a trader who came up to the camp from Durban.
Moreover, I think that there was another reason for the change, since
the light of dawning happiness shone in her deep eyes.
The day, as I have said, was Saturday, and on the Monday she would come
of age and be free to dispose of herself in marriage, for on that day
Marie |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Poems by Bronte Sisters: Woe had been wrought by that pitiless preacher.
THE WANDERER FROM THE FOLD.
How few, of all the hearts that loved,
Are grieving for thee now;
And why should mine to-night be moved
With such a sense of woe?
Too often thus, when left alone,
Where none my thoughts can see,
Comes back a word, a passing tone
From thy strange history.
Sometimes I seem to see thee rise,
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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 Othello by William Shakespeare: Aemil. Cassio, my Lord, hath kill'd
A young Venetian, call'd Rodorigo
Oth. Rodorigo kill'd? and Cassio kill'd?
Aemil. No, Cassio is not kill'd
Oth. Not Cassio kill'd? Then Murther's out of tune,
And sweet Reuenge growes harsh
Des. O falsely, falsely murder'd.
Aemil. Alas! what cry is that?
Oth. That? What?
Aemil. Out, and alas, that was my Ladies voice.
Helpe, helpe hoa, helpe. Oh Ladie speake againe,
Othello |
