| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from A Passion in the Desert by Honore de Balzac: lifted her head, stretched out her neck and manifested her delight by
the tranquility of her attitude. It suddenly occurred to the soldier
that to kill this savage princess with one blow he must poniard her in
the throat.
He raised the blade, when the panther, satisfied no doubt, laid
herself gracefully at his feet, and cast up at him glances in which,
in spite of their natural fierceness, was mingled confusedly a kind of
good will. The poor Provencal ate his dates, leaning against one of
the palm trees, and casting his eyes alternately on the desert in
quest of some liberator and on his terrible companion to watch her
uncertain clemency.
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Rewards and Fairies by Rudyard Kipling: small, and therefore likely to be coveted by man and beast. For Is
example' - she pointed to Middenboro -'yonder old horse, with
the face of a Spanish friar - does he never break in?'
'He can't. Old Hobden stops all our gaps for us,' said Una, 'and
we let Hobden catch rabbits in the Shaw.'
The lady laughed like a man. 'I see! Hobden catches conies -
rabbits - for himself, and guards your defences for you. Does he
make a profit out of his coney-catching?'
'We never ask,' said Una. 'Hobden's a particular friend of
ours.'
'Hoity-toity!' the lady began angrily. Then she laughed. 'But I
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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 Eugenie Grandet by Honore de Balzac: it as tea is offered in China.) "Why!" added Grandet, "you have got no
light! That's bad, very bad; you ought to see what you are about," and
he walked to the chimney-piece. "What's this?" he cried. "A wax
candle! How the devil did they filch a wax candle? The spendthrifts
would tear down the ceilings of my house to boil the fellow's eggs."
Hearing these words, mother and daughter slipped back into their rooms
and burrowed in their beds, with the celerity of frightened mice
getting back to their holes.
"Madame Grandet, have you found a mine?" said the man, coming into the
chamber of his wife.
"My friend, wait; I am saying my prayers," said the poor mother in a
Eugenie Grandet |
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 Sons and Lovers by D. H. Lawrence: a stone.
Paul did not realise William was dead; it was impossible,
with such a bustle going on. The puller-off swung the small truck
on to the turn-table, another man ran with it along the bank down
the curving lines.
"And William is dead, and my mother's in London, and what will
she be doing?" the boy asked himself, as if it were a conundrum.
He watched chair after chair come up, and still no father.
At last, standing beside a wagon, a man's form! the chair sank on
its rests, Morel stepped off. He was slightly lame from an accident.
"Is it thee, Paul? Is 'e worse?"
Sons and Lovers |
