| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Louis Lambert by Honore de Balzac: that time when I knew you not? It would be a void but that I was
so wretched."
FRAGMENT.
"Beloved angel, how delightful last evening was! How full of
riches your dear heart is! And is your love endless, like mine?
Each word brought me fresh joy, and each look made it deeper. The
placid expression of your countenance gave our thoughts a
limitless horizon. It was all as infinite as the sky, and as bland
as its blue. The refinement of your adored features repeated
itself by some inexplicable magic in your pretty movements and
your least gestures. I knew that you were all graciousness, all
Louis Lambert |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Little Rivers by Henry van Dyke: wide, full of eddies and strong currents, and covered with drifting
foam. There was the old campground on the point, where I had
tented so often with my lady Greygown, fishing for ouananiche, the
famous land-locked salmon of Lake St. John. And there were the big
fish, showing their back fins as they circled lazily around in the
eddies, as if they were waiting to play with us. But the goal of
our day's journey was miles away, and we swept along with the
stream, now through a rush of quick water, boiling and foaming, now
through a still place like a lake, now through
"Fairy crowds
Of islands, that together lie,
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| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Venus and Adonis by William Shakespeare: To love a cheek that smiles at thee in scorn! 252
Now which way shall she turn? what shall she say?
Her words are done, her woes the more increasing;
The time is spent, her object will away,
And from her twining arms doth urge releasing: 256
'Pity,' she cries; 'some favour, some remorse!'
Away he springs, and hasteth to his horse.
But lo! from forth a copse that neighbours by,
A breeding jennet, lusty, young, and proud, 260
Adonis' tramping courier doth espy,
And forth she rushes, snorts and neighs aloud:
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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 The Pocket Diary Found in the Snow by Grace Isabel Colbron and Augusta Groner: cried the latter, and then he turned to the man in the room. "Here,
stop that. I can fire twice before you get the window open."
The man turned and walked slowly to the centre of the room, sinking
down into an arm-chair that stood beside the desk. Neither Amster
nor Muller turned their eyes from him for a moment, ready for any
attempt on his part to escape. But the detective had already seen
something that told him that Langen was not thinking of flight.
When he turned to the desk, Muller had seen his eyes glisten while
a scornful smile parted his thin, lips. A second later he had let
his handkerchief fall, apparently carelessly, upon the desk. But
in this short space of time the detective's sharp eyes had seen a
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