| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Confessio Amantis by John Gower: His worthi wif in good astat:
And thus was cessed the debat 230
Of love, and Slowthe was excused,
Which doth gret harm, where it is used,
And hindreth many a cause honeste.
For of the grete Clerc Grossteste
I rede how besy that he was
Upon clergie an Hed of bras
To forge, and make it forto telle
Of suche thinges as befelle.
And sevene yeres besinesse
Confessio Amantis |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Hidden Masterpiece by Honore de Balzac: his bald brow; and his motions seemed to be jerked out of him with
such rapidity and impatience that the young Poussin fancied a demon,
encased with the body of this singular being, was working his hands
fantastically like those of a puppet without, or even against, the
will of their owner. The unnatural brightness of his eyes, the
convulsive movements which seemed the result of some mental
resistance, gave to this fancy of the youth a semblance of truth which
reacted upon his lively imagination. The old man worked on, muttering
half to himself, half to his neophyte:--
"Paf! paf! paf! that is how we butter it on, young man. Ah! my little
pats, you are right; warm up that icy tone. Come, come!--pon, pon,
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