| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia by Samuel Johnson: could be no longer decently denied, put his troop again in motion,
and left me to govern in his absence. I was much afflicted by this
studied procrastination, and was sometimes afraid that I should be
forgotten; that you would leave Cairo, and I must end my days in an
island of the Nile.
"I grew at last hopeless and dejected, and cared so little to
entertain him, that he for a while more frequently talked with my
maids. That he should fall in love with them or with me, might
have been equally fatal, and I was not much pleased with the
growing friendship. My anxiety was not long, for, as I recovered
some degree of cheerfulness, he returned to me, and I could not
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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 of William Blake by William Blake: That wilful bruis'd its helpless form: but that he cherish'd it
With milk and oil I never knew, and therefore did I weep,
And I complaind in the mild air, because I fade away.
And lay me down in thy cold bed, and leave my shining lot.
Queen of the vales, the matron Clay answered: I heard thy sighs.
And all thy moans flew o'er my roof, but I have call'd them down:
Wilt thou O Queen enter my house, tis given thee to enter,
And to return: fear nothing, enter with thy virgin feet.
IV.
The eternal gates terrific porter lifted the northern bar:
Thel enter'd in & saw the secrets of the land unknown;
Poems of William Blake |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Lily of the Valley by Honore de Balzac: his first affections. Madeleine, dear creature, has a noble heart; she
is pure as the snows on the highest Alps; she will have a woman's
devotion and a woman's graceful intellect. She is proud; she is worthy
of being a Lenoncourt. My motherhood, once so tried, so tortured, is
happy now, happy with an infinite happiness, unmixed with pain. Yes,
my life is full, my life is rich. You see, God makes my joy to blossom
in the heart of these sanctified affections, and turns to bitterness
those that might have led me astray--"
"Good!" cried the abbe, joyfully. "Monsieur le vicomte begins to know
as much as I--"
Just then Jacques coughed.
The Lily of the Valley |
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 The Mansion by Henry van Dyke: deal
to open the way for trade; perhaps--but they have also gotten us
into
commercial and political difficulties. Yet I give to them--a
little--it is
a matter of conscience with me to identify myself with all the
enterprises
of the Church; it is the mainstay of social order and a
prosperous civilization. But the best forms of benevolence are
the well-established, organized ones here at home, where people
can
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