| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Little Rivers by Henry van Dyke: friends again, and parted from them and the Dolomites the next day,
with regret. For they were "stepping westward;" but in order to
get to the Gross-Venediger I must make a detour to the east,
through the Pusterthal, and come up through the valley of the Isel
to the great chain of mountains called the Hohe Tauern.
At the junction of the Isel and the Drau lies the quaint little
city of Lienz, with its two castles--the square, double-towered one
in the town, now transformed into the offices of the municipality,
and the huge mediaeval one on a hill outside, now used as a damp
restaurant and dismal beer-cellar. I lingered at Lienz for a
couple of days, in the ancient hostelry of the Post. The hallways
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Helen of Troy And Other Poems by Sara Teasdale: Her kisses are the roses
That glow while dusk is deep
In Persian garden closes
Where Quiet falls asleep.
A Minuet of Mozart's
Across the dimly lighted room
The violin drew wefts of sound,
Airily they wove and wound
And glimmered gold against the gloom.
I watched the music turn to light,
But at the pausing of the bow,
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