| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Tanglewood Tales by Nathaniel Hawthorne: fight. They still had a very furious look, and, if Cadmus
happened to glance aside, would glare at one another, with fire
flashing out of their eyes. It was strange, too, to observe how
the earth, out of which they had so lately grown, was
incrusted, here and there, on their bright breastplates, and
even, begrimed their faces; just as you may have seen it
clinging to beets and carrots, when pulled out of their native
soil. Cadmus hardly knew whether to consider them as men, or
some odd kind of vegetable; although, on the whole, he
concluded that there was human nature in them, because they
were so fond of trumpets and weapons, and so ready to shed
Tanglewood Tales |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Ferragus by Honore de Balzac: inspire one of those platonic loves which are found, like flowers amid
bloody ruins, in the history of the middle-ages; worthy to be the
hidden principle of all the actions of a young man's life; a love as
high, as pure as the skies when blue; a love without hope and to which
men bind themselves because it can never deceive; a love that is
prodigal of unchecked enjoyment, especially at an age when the heart
is ardent, the imagination keen, and the eyes of a man see very
clearly.
Strange, weird, inconceivable effects may be met with at night in
Paris. Only those who have amused themselves by watching those effects
have any idea how fantastic a woman may appear there at dusk. At times
Ferragus |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Duchesse de Langeais by Honore de Balzac: the least details. He admired Mme de Langeais herself in the
objects of her choosing; they revealed her life before he could
grasp her personality and ideas. About an hour later the Duchess
came noiselessly out of her chamber. Montriveau turned, saw her
flit like a shadow across the room, and trembled. She came up to
him, not with a bourgeoise's enquiry, "How do I look?" She was
sure of herself; her steady eyes said plainly, "I am adorned to
please you."
No one surely, save the old fairy godmother of some princess in
disguise, could have wound a cloud of gauze about the dainty
throat, so that the dazzling satin skin beneath should gleam
|
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 At the Mountains of Madness by H. P. Lovecraft: atrophy. There were many sculptures which showed how they had
always frequently visited their submarine kinsfolk elsewhere,
and how they had habitually bathed on the deep bottom of their
great river. The darkness of inner earth could likewise have been
no deterrent to a race accustomed to long antarctic nights.
Decadent
though their style undoubtedly was, these latest carvings had
a truly epic quality where they told of the building of the new
city in the cavern sea. The Old Ones had gone about it scientifically
- quarrying insoluble rocks from the heart of the honeycombed
mountains, and employing expert workers from the nearest submarine
At the Mountains of Madness |
