| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from End of the Tether by Joseph Conrad: was wrong about you. There's generally something
wrong somewhere. And, lo and behold! when you
come on board it turns out that you've been in the
habit of drinking nothing but water for years and
years."
His dogmatic reproachful whine stopped. He brooded
profoundly, after the manner of crafty and unintelli-
gent men. It seemed inconceivable that Captain
Whalley should not laugh at the expression of disgust
that overspread the heavy, yellow countenance. But
Captain Whalley never raised his eyes--sitting in his
End of the Tether |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Troll Garden and Selected Stories by Willa Cather: task of mollifying Auguste's neglected pupils.
The son, Heinrich, a painter, Caroline's only brother, had
inherited all his father's vindictive sensitiveness without his
capacity for slavish application. His little studio on the third
floor had been much frequented by young men as unsuccessful as
himself, who met there to give themselves over to contemptuous
derision of this or that artist whose industry and stupidity had
won him recognition. Heinrich, when he worked at all, did
newspaper sketches at twenty-five dollars a week. He was too
indolent and vacillating to set himself seriously to his art, too
irascible and poignantly self-conscious to make a living, too
The Troll Garden and Selected Stories |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Egmont by Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe: paradise, consumed all the enjoyment of life?--And that first, that only
kiss!--Here (laying his hand upon the table), here we were alone,--she had
always been kind and friendly towards me,--then she seemed to soften,--
she looked at me,--my brain reeled,--I felt her lips on mine,--and --and
now?--Die, wretch! Why dost thou hesitate? (He draws a phial from his
pocket.) Thou healing poison, it shall not have been in vain that I stole
thee from my brother's medicine chest! From this anxious fear, this
dizziness, this death-agony, thou shalt deliver me at once.
ACT II
SCENE I.--Square in Brussels
Jetter and a Master Carpenter (meeting)
Egmont |
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 Village Rector by Honore de Balzac: last overtaken his stubborn lamb when the great reckoning of eternity
was brought home to him,--all these things had combined to break down
Monsieur Bonnet, whose nervous, electrical nature entered into the
sufferings of others as though they were his own. Souls that resemble
that noble soul espouse so ardently the impressions, miseries,
passions, sufferings of those in whom they are interested, that they
actually feel them, and in a horrible manner, too; for they are able
to measure their extent,--a knowledge which escapes others who are
blinded by selfishness of heart or the paroxysm of grief. It is here
that a priest like Monsieur Bonnet becomes an artist who feels, rather
than an artist who judges.
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