| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Letters of Two Brides by Honore de Balzac: beneath innumerable spheres in an unexplored centre, through which all
worlds in turn must pass? Sacrifice, solitary and secret, rich in
pleasures only tasted in silence, which none can guess at, and no
profane eye has ever seen; Sacrifice, jealous God and tyrant, God of
strength and victory, exhaustless spring which, partaking of the very
essence of all that exists, can by no expenditure be drained below its
own level;--Sacrifice, there is the keynote of my life.
For you, Louise, love is but the reflex of Felipe's passion; the life
which I shed upon my little ones will come back to me in ever-growing
fulness. The plenty of your golden harvest will pass; mine, though
late, will be but the more enduring, for each hour will see it
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Exiles by Honore de Balzac: him? Not I--I, who am so often lifted by some magic spell so far above
the earth; I who am dedicate to God; I who am a mystery to myself.
Have I not already seen the fairest of the angels dwelling in this
mire? Is this child more or less crazed than I am? Has he taken a
bolder step in the way of faith? He believes, and his belief no doubt
will lead him into some path of light like that in which I walk. But
though he is as beautiful as an angel, is he not too feeble to stand
fast in such a struggle?"
Abashed by the presence of his companion, whose voice of thunder
expressed to him his own thoughts, as lightning expresses the will of
Heaven, the boy was satisfied to gaze at the stars with a lover's
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Ferragus by Honore de Balzac: way, vaulted like a cellar, "go up the second staircase at the end of
the court-yard--where you will see the windows with the pots of pinks;
that's where Madame Etienne lives."
"Thank you, madame. Do you think she is alone?"
"Why shouldn't she be alone? she's a widow."
Jules hastened up a dark stairway, the steps of which were knobby with
hardened mud left by the feet of those who came and went. On the
second floor he saw three doors but no signs of pinks. Fortunately, on
one of the doors, the oiliest and darkest of the three, he read these
words, chalked on a panel: "Ida will come to-night at nine o'clock."
"This is the place," thought Jules.
Ferragus |
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 A Woman of No Importance by Oscar Wilde: with a man who insists on treating her as if she were a perfectly
rational being?
LADY HUNSTANTON. My dear!
MRS. ALLONBY. Man, poor, awkward, reliable, necessary man belongs
to a sex that has been rational for millions and millions of years.
He can't help himself. It is in his race. The History of Woman is
very different. We have always been picturesque protests against
the mere existence of common sense. We saw its dangers from the
first.
LADY STUTFIELD. Yes, the common sense of husbands is certainly
most, most trying. Do tell me your conception of the Ideal
|
