| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from A Second Home by Honore de Balzac: white watered-silk bonnet closely framed features of perfect
regularity, the oval being completed by the satin ribbon tie that
fastened it under her dimpled chin. Over her forehead, very sweet
though low, hair of a pale gold color parted in two bands and fell
over her cheeks, like the shadow of leaves on a flower. The arches of
her eyebrows were drawn with the accuracy we admire in the best
Chinese paintings. Her nose, almost aquiline in profile, was
exceptionally firmly cut, and her lips were like two rose lines
lovingly traced with a delicate brush. Her eyes, of a light blue, were
expressive of innocence.
Though Granville discerned a sort of rigid reserve in this girlish
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Lily of the Valley by Honore de Balzac: lose him it shall be my own fault," and she proudly relied on a love
that would have given me her life had I asked for it,--in fact she
often told me that if I left her she would kill herself. I have heard
her praise the custom of Indian widows who burn themselves upon their
husband's grave. "In India that is a distinction reserved for the
higher classes," she said, "and is very little understood by
Europeans, who are incapable of understanding the grandeur of the
privilege; you must admit, however, that on the dead level of our
modern customs aristocracy can rise to greatness only through
unparalleled devotions. How can I prove to the middle classes that the
blood in my veins is not the same as theirs, unless I show them that I
The Lily of the Valley |
