| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Exiles by Honore de Balzac: steadfastly, he believed he had glimpses of a beloved image. At this
last gate of Hell, as at the first, I saw the stamp of despair even in
hope. The hapless creature was so fearfully held by some unseen force,
that his anguish entered into my bones and froze my blood. I shrank
closer to my Guide, whose protection restored me to peace and silence.
"Suddenly the Shade gave a cry of joy--a cry as shrill as that of the
mother bird that sees a hawk in the air, or suspects its presence. We
looked where he was looking, and saw, as it were, a sapphire, floating
high up in the abysses of light. The glowing star fell with the
swiftness of a sunbeam when it flashes over the horizon in the morning
and its first rays shoot across the world. The Splendor became clearer
|
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 Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson: was very like a king, with a palace at his back and changes of
dry clothes. But he must have had better luck on his flight from
Worcester than I had on that miserable isle. It was the height
of the summer; yet it rained for more than twenty-four hours, and
did not clear until the afternoon of the third day.
This was the day of incidents. In the morning I saw a red deer,
a buck with a fine spread of antlers, standing in the rain on the
top of the island; but he had scarce seen me rise from under my
rock, before he trotted off upon the other side. I supposed he
must have swum the strait; though what should bring any creature
to Earraid, was more than I could fancy.
Kidnapped |
