| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from House of Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne: whither, at the speed of a hurricane, by railroad! Now, sir, if
the fugutive alight in some distant town, and find all the people
babbling about that self-same dead man, whom he has fled so far
to avoid the sight and thought of, will you not allow that his
natural rights have been infringed? He has been deprived of his
city of refuge, and, in my humble opinion, has suffered infinite
wrong!"
"You are a strange man; sir" said the old gentleman, bringing his
gimlet-eye to a point on Clifford, as if determined to bore right
into him. "I can't see through you!"
"No, I'll be bound you can't!" cried Clifford, laughing. "And yet,
House of Seven Gables |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Nada the Lily by H. Rider Haggard: round those feet swifter than the Sassaby of the plains? Wow! He is
here! He is there! He is a sorcerer! Death is in his hand, and death
looks out of his eyes!
Galazi lives yet, for still there comes the sound of the Watcher as it
thunders on the shields, and the Wolf's hoarse cry of the number of
the slain. He has a score of wounds, yet he fights on! his leg is
almost hewn from him with an axe, yet he fights on! His back is
pierced again and again, yet he fights on! But two are left alive
before him, one twists round and spears him from behind. He heeds it
not, but smites down the foe in front. Then he turns and, whirling the
Watcher on high, brings him down for the last time, and so mightily
Nada the Lily |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Divine Comedy (translated by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow) by Dante Alighieri: Because one ray impedeth not another
To suffer torments, both of cold and heat,
Bodies like this that Power provides, which wills
That how it works be not unveiled to us.
Insane is he who hopeth that our reason
Can traverse the illimitable way,
Which the one Substance in three Persons follows!
Mortals, remain contented at the 'Quia;'
For if ye had been able to see all,
No need there were for Mary to give birth;
And ye have seen desiring without fruit,
The Divine Comedy (translated by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow) |
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 Gobseck by Honore de Balzac: an ambitious man might have done. The Vicomtesse would have had him
sell his practice and enter the magistracy, in which career
advancement would have been swift and certain with such influence at
his disposal; but he persistently refused all offers. He only went
into society to keep up his connections, but he occasionally spent an
evening at the Hotel de Grandlieu. It was a very lucky thing for him
that his talents had been brought into the light by his devotion to
Mme. de Grandlieu, for his practice otherwise might have gone to
pieces. Derville had not an attorney's soul. Since Ernest de Restaud
had appeared at the Hotel de Grandlieu, and he had noticed that
Camille felt attracted to the young man, Derville had been as
Gobseck |
