| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Lamentable Tragedy of Locrine and Mucedorus by William Shakespeare: Then worthy Brutus, leave these sad laments;
Comfort your self with this your great renown,
And fear not death though he seem terrible.
BRUTUS.
Nay, Corineius, you mistake my mind
In construing wrong the cause of my complaints.
I feared to yield my self to fatal death!
God knows it was the least of all my thoughts;
A greater care torments my very bones,
And makes me tremble at the thought of it,
And in you, Lordings, doth the substance lie.
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Main Street by Sinclair Lewis: meets."
And "I'll do what I can," together with the secret admission
"Of course you and I know what Ma Bogart is," was all Carol
could get from Superintendent George Edwin Mott, Ezra Stowbody,
the Reverend Mr. Zitterel or any other member of the
school-board.
Afterward she wondered whether Mr. Zitterel could have
been referring to herself when he observed, "There's too much
license in high places in this town, though, and the wages of
sin is death--or anyway, bein' fired." The holy leer with which
the priest said it remained in her mind.
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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 Lord Arthur Savile's Crime, etc. by Oscar Wilde: to have his own hand read, and feeling somewhat shy about putting
himself forward, crossed over the room to where Lady Windermere was
sitting, and, with a charming blush, asked her if she thought Mr.
Podgers would mind.
'Of course, he won't mind,' said Lady Windermere, 'that is what he
is here for. All my lions, Lord Arthur, are performing lions, and
jump through hoops whenever I ask them. But I must warn you
beforehand that I shall tell Sybil everything. She is coming to
lunch with me to-morrow, to talk about bonnets, and if Mr. Podgers
finds out that you have a bad temper, or a tendency to gout, or a
wife living in Bayswater, I shall certainly let her know all about
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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 Domestic Peace by Honore de Balzac: lucky for him that the quadrille was forming. Standing by his
beautiful partner, he felt more at ease. To many men dancing is a
phase of being; they think that they can more powerfully influence the
heart of woman by displaying the graces of their bodies than by their
intellect. Martial wished, no doubt, at this moment to put forth all
his most effective seductions, to judge by the pretentiousness of his
movements and gestures.
He led his conquest to the quadrille in which the most brilliant women
in the room made it a point of chimerical importance to dance in
preference to any other. While the orchestra played the introductory
bars to the first figure, the Baron felt it an incredible
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