| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Georgics by Virgil: Drained with each wild pulsation? How they ply
The circling lash, and reaching forward let
The reins hang free! Swift spins the glowing wheel;
And now they stoop, and now erect in air
Seem borne through space and towering to the sky:
No stop, no stay; the dun sand whirls aloft;
They reek with foam-flakes and pursuing breath;
So sweet is fame, so prized the victor's palm.
'Twas Ericthonius first took heart to yoke
Four horses to his car, and rode above
The whirling wheels to victory: but the ring
Georgics |
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 The Lesser Bourgeoisie by Honore de Balzac: "I can't help it," said the barrister. "I must, at any price, get out
of this position; it is no longer tenable. You talk about your
pamphlet; I am not in a fit condition to finish it. You, who have been
a man of gallantry, you must know the dominion that women, fatal
creatures! exercise over our whole being."
"Bah!" said Thuillier, conceitedly, "they cared for me, but I did not
often care for them; I took them, and left them, you know."
"Yes, but I, with my Southern nature, love passionately; and Celeste
has other attractions besides fortune. Brought up in your household,
under your own eye, you have made her adorable. Only, I must say, you
have shown great weakness in letting that young fellow, who does not
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