| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Salome by Oscar Wilde: Elle a l'air tres ennuyee. Ah! elle vient par ici. Oui, elle vient
vers nous. Comme elle est pale. Jamais je ne l'ai vue si pale . .
.
LE PAGE D'HERODIAS. Ne la regardez pas. Je vous prie de ne pas la
regarder.
LE JEUNE SYRIEN. Elle est comme une colombe qui s'est egaree . . .
Elle est comme un narcisse agite du vent . . . Elle ressemble e une
fleur d'argent. [Entre Salome.]
SALOME. Je ne resterai pas. Je ne peux pu rester. Pourquoi le
tetrarque me regarde-t-il toujours avec ses yeux de taupe sous ses
paupieres tremblantes? . . . C'est etrange que le mari de ma mere me
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Symposium by Plato: softest of soft places, how can he be other than the softest of all things?
Of a truth he is the tenderest as well as the youngest, and also he is of
flexile form; for if he were hard and without flexure he could not enfold
all things, or wind his way into and out of every soul of man undiscovered.
And a proof of his flexibility and symmetry of form is his grace, which is
universally admitted to be in an especial manner the attribute of Love;
ungrace and love are always at war with one another. The fairness of his
complexion is revealed by his habitation among the flowers; for he dwells
not amid bloomless or fading beauties, whether of body or soul or aught
else, but in the place of flowers and scents, there he sits and abides.
Concerning the beauty of the god I have said enough; and yet there remains
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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 Chouans by Honore de Balzac: "She perished on the scaffold after the affair of Savenay; she went to
Mans to save her brother the Prince de Loudon," returned his mother,
rather brusquely.
"You are mistaken, madame," said Corentin, gently, emphasizing the
word "madame"; "there are two demoiselles de Verneuil; all great
houses, as you know, have several branches."
The lady, surprised at this freedom, drew back a few steps to examine
the speaker; she turned her black eyes upon him, full of the keen
sagacity so natural to women, seeking apparently to discover in what
interest he stepped forth to explain Mademoiselle de Verneuil's birth.
Corentin, on the other hand, who was studying the lady cautiously,
The Chouans |
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 King Henry VI by William Shakespeare: But only, with your patience, that we may
Taste of your wine and see what cates you have;
For soldiers' stomachs always serve them well.
COUNTESS.
With all my heart, and think me honored
To feast so great a warrior in my house.
[Exeunt.]
SCENE IV. London. The Temple-garden.
[Enter the Earls of Somerset, Suffolk, and Warwick;
Richard Plantagenet, Vernon, and another Lawyer.]
PLANTAGENET.
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