| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Letters of Two Brides by Honore de Balzac: mediocrity. No foresight will warn this victorious horde of that other
terrible horde, soon to be arrayed against them in the peasant
proprietors; in other words, twenty million acres of land, alive,
stirring, arguing, deaf to reason, insatiable of appetite, obstructing
progress, masters in their brute force----"
"But," said I, interrupting my father, "what can I do to help the
State. I feel no vocation for playing Joan of Arc in the interests of
the family, or for finding a martyr's block in the convent."
"You are a little hussy," cried my father. "If I speak sensibly to
you, you are full of jokes; when I jest, you talk like an
ambassadress."
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Mosses From An Old Manse by Nathaniel Hawthorne: brought strongly out, like a bass-relief of ruby on the whitest
marble.
Late one night when the lights were growing dim, so as hardly to
betray the stain on the poor wife's cheek, she herself, for the
first time, voluntarily took up the subject.
"Do you remember, my dear Aylmer," said she, with a feeble
attempt at a smile, "have you any recollection of a dream last
night about this odious hand?"
"None! none whatever!" replied Aylmer, starting; but then he
added, in a dry, cold tone, affected for the sake of concealing
the real depth of his emotion, "I might well dream of it; for
Mosses From An Old Manse |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Foolish Virgin by Thomas Dixon: presence. He had moved uptown with the landlady. Two
months ago a burglar had entered his room, robbed and
shot him.
"It's impossible--impossible!" she gasped.
"Oh, dear God--it's impossible! Of course the
burglar pawned them, and Jim bought them without
knowing. Of course! My nerves are on edge today--how
silly of me----"
Jim's footsteps suddenly sounded on the porch, and
she thrust the jewel-case back into the bag with
desperate effort to pull herself together.
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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 Massimilla Doni by Honore de Balzac: his expenses; he ate but one meal a day at an eating-house in the
Merceria, where the cook had his dinner ready for him at a fixed hour,
on a little table at the back of the shop; the pastry-cook's daughter
herself prepared his stuffed oysters, provided him with cigars, and
took care of his money. By his advice, this girl, though she was very
handsome, would never countenance a lover, lived very steadily, and
still wore the old Venetian costume. This purely-bred Venetian girl
was twelve years old when Capraja first took an interest in her, and
six-and-twenty when he died. She was very fond of him, though he had
never even kissed her hand or her brow, and she knew nothing whatever
of the poor old nobleman's intentions with regard to her. The girl had
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