| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Rape of Lucrece by William Shakespeare: Save thieves, and cares, and troubled minds, that wake.
As one of which doth Tarquin lie revolving
The sundry dangers of his will's obtaining;
Yet ever to obtain his will resolving,
Though weak-built hopes persuade him to abstaining:
Despair to gain doth traffic oft for gaining;
And when great treasure is the meed propos'd,
Though death be adjunct, there's no death suppos'd.
Those that much covet are with gain so fond,
For what they have not, that which they possess
They scatter and unloose it from their bond,
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Lemorne Versus Huell by Elizabeth Drew Stoddard: colored glove, which he had pulled off while talking. What white
nervous fingers he had! I thought they might pinch like steel.
"You suppose," he repeated.
"I do not look at Newport."
"Have you observed Waterbury?"
"I observe what is in my sphere."
"Oh!"
He was silent then. The second part of the concert began; but I
could not compose myself to appreciation. Either the music or I
grew chaotic. So many tumultuous sounds I heard--of hope, doubt,
inquiry, melancholy, and desire; or did I feel the emotions which
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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 Wife, et al by Anton Chekhov: and the unaccountable joy that flooded her soul, all told her
that she would make a great artist, and that somewhere in the
distance, in the infinite space beyond the moonlight, success,
glory, the love of the people, lay awaiting her. . . . When she
gazed steadily without blinking into the distance, she seemed to
see crowds of people, lights, triumphant strains of music, cries
of enthusiasm, she herself in a white dress, and flowers showered
upon her from all sides. She thought, too, that beside her,
leaning with his elbows on the rail of the steamer, there was
standing a real great man, a genius, one of God's elect. . . .
All that he had created up to the present was fine, new, and
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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 A Pair of Blue Eyes by Thomas Hardy: and appearing in her riding-habit, as she always did in a change
of dress, like a new edition of a delightful volume, 'you have a
task to perform to-day. These earrings are my very favourite
darling ones; but the worst of it is that they have such short
hooks that they are liable to be dropped if I toss my head about
much, and when I am riding I can't give my mind to them. It would
be doing me knight service if you keep your eyes fixed upon them,
and remember them every minute of the day, and tell me directly I
drop one. They have had such hairbreadth escapes, haven't they,
Unity?' she continued to the parlour-maid who was standing at the
door.
A Pair of Blue Eyes |
