| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Thuvia, Maid of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs: He knew that she was promised to Kulan Tith, Jeddak of Kaol,
but if he had been instrumental in her abduction,
his motives could not be prompted by loyalty to his friend,
or regard for her honour.
And yet, as she saw him coming across the marble
floor of the audience chamber of Tario of Lothar,
his fine eyes filled with apprehension for her safety,
his splendid figure personifying all that is finest in the fighting
men of martial Mars, she could not believe that any faintest
trace of perfidy lurked beneath so glorious an exterior.
Never, she thought, in all her life had the sight of any
Thuvia, Maid of Mars |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Hidden Masterpiece by Honore de Balzac: set-up, but--she is not living. You young men think you have done all
when you have drawn the form correctly, and put everything in place
according to the laws of anatomy. You color the features with flesh-
tones, mixed beforehand on your palette,--taking very good care to
shade one side of the face darker than the other; and because you draw
now and then from a nude woman standing on a table, you think you can
copy nature; you fancy yourselves painters, and imagine that you have
got at the secret of God's creations! Pr-r-r-r!--To be a great poet it
is not enough to know the rules of syntax and write faultless grammar.
Look at your saint, Porbus. At first sight she is admirable; but at
the very next glance we perceive that she is glued to the canvas, and
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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 Black Beauty by Anna Sewell: "Well, then," he said, "I hope you are good-tempered;
I do not like any one next door who bites."
Just then a horse's head looked over from the stall beyond;
the ears were laid back, and the eye looked rather ill-tempered.
This was a tall chestnut mare, with a long handsome neck.
She looked across to me and said:
"So it is you who have turned me out of my box; it is a very strange thing
for a colt like you to come and turn a lady out of her own home."
"I beg your pardon," I said, "I have turned no one out;
the man who brought me put me here, and I had nothing to do with it;
and as to my being a colt, I am turned four years old and am
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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 Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas: intelligent man; and with this view called in the assistance
of the lackey of one of his master's guests, named Fourreau,
and the false soldier who had tried to kill D'Artagnan and
who, belonging to no corps, had entered into the service of
D'Artagnan, or rather of Planchet, after D'Artagnan had
saved his life.
The hour of the banquet being come, the two guards arrived,
took their places, and the dishes were arranged on the
table. Planchet waited, towel on arm; Fourreau uncorked the
bottles; and Brisemont, which was the name of the
convalescent, poured the wine, which was a little shaken by
The Three Musketeers |
