| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Children of the Night by Edwin Arlington Robinson: From time to time the vigor of his name
Against us like a finger for the shame
And emptiness of what our souls reveal
In books that are as altars where we kneel
To consecrate the flicker, not the flame.
Credo
I cannot find my way: there is no star
In all the shrouded heavens anywhere;
And there is not a whisper in the air
Of any living voice but one so far
That I can hear it only as a bar
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Catherine de Medici by Honore de Balzac: the chancellors of France have always worn, was walking up and down
with the Cardinal de Tournon, who had recently returned from Rome. The
pair were exchanging a few whispered sentences in the midst of great
attention from the lords of the court, massed against the wall which
separated the /salle des gardes/ from the royal bedroom, like a living
tapestry backed by the rich tapestry of art crowded by a thousand
personages. In spite of the present grave events, the court presented
the appearance of all courts in all lands, at all epochs, and in the
midst of the greatest dangers. The courtiers talked of trivial
matters, thinking of serious ones; they jested as they studied faces,
and apparently concerned themselves about love and the marriage of
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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 Divine Comedy (translated by H.F. Cary) by Dante Alighieri: slaughter the French army by which it had been besieged. See G.
Villani, l. vii. c. 81. The poet informs Guido, its former
ruler, that it is now in the possession of Sinibaldo Ordolaffi,
or Ardelaffi, whom he designates by his coat of arms, a lion
vert.
v. 43. The old mastiff of Verucchio and the young.] Malatesta
and Malatestino his son, lords of Rimini, called, from their
ferocity, the mastiffs of Verruchio, which was the name of their
castle.
v. 44. Montagna.] Montagna de'Parcitati, a noble knight, and
leader of the Ghibelline party at Rimini, murdered by
The Divine Comedy (translated by H.F. Cary) |
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 Warlord of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs: fallen thick before the throne, upon me, and upon the battling
warriors at the other door.
They did not essay to enter the apartment, but scanned its
every corner from where they stood, and then, when their eyes had
sought its entire area, a look of fierce rage overspread the
features of Matai Shang, and a cold and cunning smile touched the
lips of Phaidor.
Then they were gone, but not before a taunting laugh was thrown
directly in my face by the woman.
The Warlord of Mars |
