| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Atheist's Mass by Honore de Balzac: England: only 1822 could explain 1804 and the flatboats at
Boulogne.
As, in Desplein, his glory and science were invulnerable, his
enemies attacked his odd moods and his temper, whereas, in fact,
he was simply characterized by what the English call
eccentricity. Sometimes very handsomely dressed, like Crebillon
the tragical, he would suddenly affect extreme indifference as to
what he wore; he was sometimes seen in a carriage, and sometimes
on foot. By turns rough and kind, harsh and covetous on the
surface, but capable of offering his whole fortune to his exiled
masters--who did him the honor of accepting it for a few days--no
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Poems by Oscar Wilde: We know them all, Gudrun the strong men's bride,
Aslaug and Olafson we know them all,
How giant Grettir fought and Sigurd died,
And what enchantment held the king in thrall
When lonely Brynhild wrestled with the powers
That war against all passion, ah! how oft through summer hours,
Long listless summer hours when the noon
Being enamoured of a damask rose
Forgets to journey westward, till the moon
The pale usurper of its tribute grows
From a thin sickle to a silver shield
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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 McTeague by Frank Norris: "I'd like to make a strike, b'God! if it was only to get
the laugh on them joshers."
By noon they were climbing the eastern slope of the Panamint
Range. Long since they had abandoned the road; vegetation
ceased; not a tree was in sight. They followed faint cattle
trails that led from one water hole to another. By degrees
these water holes grew dryer and dryer, and at three
o'clock Cribbens halted and filled their canteens.
"There ain't any TOO much water on the other side," he
observed grimly.
"It's pretty hot," muttered the dentist, wiping his
McTeague |
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 Thuvia, Maid of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs: admission of guilt from the consequences of which naught
could save us. It would cost me my throne, Astok, and that
I have no mind to lose.
"If we had her here--" the elder man suddenly
commenced to muse, repeating the phrase again and again.
"If we had her here, Astok," he exclaimed fiercely.
"Ah, if we but had her here and none knew that she was here!
Can you not guess, man? The guilt of Dusar might be for ever
buried with her bones," he concluded in a low, savage whisper.
Astok, Prince of Dusar, shuddered.
Weak he was; yes, and wicked, too; but the suggestion
Thuvia, Maid of Mars |
