| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Reign of King Edward the Third by William Shakespeare: And John de Mountford, regent of that place,
Presents your highness with this Coronet,
Protesting true allegiance to your Grace.
KING EDWARD.
We thank thee for thy service, valiant Earl;
Challenge our favour, for we owe it thee.
SALISBURY.
But now, my Lord, as this is joyful news,
So must my voice be tragical again,
And I must sing of doleful accidents.
KING EDWARD.
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Stories From the Old Attic by Robert Harris: Arissa's brow. "Get lost, creep," she said, clearly and distinctly.
Well, needless to say, by now most of the other knights in the realm
were getting sufficient jollies out of Sir Percival's romantic
endeavors. Even Sir Wishful had joined in the laughter, ridicule,
and derision that seasoned Sir Percival's every meal with his friends.
This hilarity touched the young knight and caused him to spend several
days in contemplation of his past behavior. "Am I gaining or losing
ground with Arissa?" he asked himself. "Rather had she said, 'Get
lost' before she said, 'You must be kidding,' for as it stands, I
can't say I'm making much progress."
But "Steadfast" was probably Sir Percival's middle name (or his
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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 The Jolly Corner by Henry James: little indeed to see in the great gaunt shell where the main
dispositions and the general apportionment of space, the style of
an age of ampler allowances, had nevertheless for its master their
honest pleading message, affecting him as some good old servant's,
some lifelong retainer's appeal for a character, or even for a
retiring-pension; yet it was also a remark of Mrs. Muldoon's that,
glad as she was to oblige him by her noonday round, there was a
request she greatly hoped he would never make of her. If he should
wish her for any reason to come in after dark she would just tell
him, if he "plased," that he must ask it of somebody else.
The fact that there was nothing to see didn't militate for the
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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 Rise and Fall of Cesar Birotteau by Honore de Balzac: Saint-Honore about his duel with Macassar Oil. He was meditating on
the labels and the shape of the bottles, discussing the quality of the
corks, the color of the placards. And yet people say there is no
poetry in commerce! Newton did not make more calculations for his
famous binomial than Birotteau made for his Comagene Essence,--for by
this time the Oil had subsided into an Essence, and he went from one
description to the other without observing any difference. His head
spun with his computations, and he took the lively activity of its
emptiness for the substantial work of real talent. He was so
preoccupied that he passed the turn leading to his uncle's house in
the Rue des Bourdonnais, and had to return upon his steps.
Rise and Fall of Cesar Birotteau |
