| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Firm of Nucingen by Honore de Balzac: various social circles which it pleased him to enter, and knew his way
about in them, and felt himself secure amid these joys, he saw the
necessity of a sunshade--the advantage of having a great lady to
complain of, instead of chewing the stems of roses bought for
fivepence apiece of Mme. Prevost, after the manner of the callow
youngsters that chirp and cackle in the lobbies of the Opera, like
chickens in a coop. In short, he resolved to centre his ideas, his
sentiments, his affections upon a woman, ONE WOMAN?--LA PHAMME!
Ah! . . . .
"At first he conceived the preposterous notion of an unhappy passion,
and gyrated for a while about his fair cousin, Mme. d'Aiglemont, not
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Rape of Lucrece by William Shakespeare: And wast afear'd to scratch her wicked foe,
Kill both thyself and her for yielding so.'
This said, from her be-tumbled couch she starteth,
To find some desperate instrument of death:
But this no slaughter-house no tool imparteth,
To make more vent for passage of her breath;
Which, thronging through her lips, so vanisheth
As smoke from Aetna, that in air consumes,
Or that which from discharged cannon fumes.
'In vain,' quoth she, 'I live, and seek in vain
Some happy mean to end a hapless life.
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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: loudly. 'I tell you, I swear you have not read it at all!'
" 'And I tell you I have read it,' cries Kovalenko, thumping his
stick on the pavement.
" 'Oh, my goodness, Mihalik! why are you so cross? We are arguing
about principles.'
" 'I tell you that I have read it!' Kovalenko would shout, more
loudly than ever.
"And at home, if there was an outsider present, there was sure to
be a skirmish. Such a life must have been wearisome, and of
course she must have longed for a home of her own. Besides, there
was her age to be considered; there was no time left to pick 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 The Letters of Robert Louis Stevenson by Robert Louis Stevenson: very hardy; it does not require much labour; only that the
husbandman should smoke his pipe about the flower-plots and admire
God's pleasant wonders. Winter green (otherwise known as
Resignation, or the 'false gratitude plant') springs in much the
same soil; is little hardier, if at all; and requires to be so dug
about and dunged, that there is little margin left for profit. The
variety known as the Black Winter green (H. V. Stevensoniana) is
rather for ornament than profit.
'John, do you see that bed of resignation?' - 'It's doin' bravely,
sir.' - 'John, I will not have it in my garden; it flatters not the
eye and comforts not the stomach; root it out.' - 'Sir, I ha'e seen
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