| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu by Sax Rohmer: and pulled himself up with a jerk, seizing my arm for support.
We stood in a bare and very dirty room, which could only
claim kinship with a civilized shaving-saloon by virtue of
the grimy towel thrown across the back of the solitary chair.
A Yiddish theatrical bill of some kind, illustrated, adorned one
of the walls, and another bill, in what may have been Chinese,
completed the decorations. From behind a curtain heavily brocaded
with filth a little Chinaman appeared, dressed in a loose smock,
black trousers and thick-soled slippers, and, advancing,
shook his head vigorously.
"No shavee--no shavee," he chattered, simian fashion,
The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Outlaw of Torn by Edgar Rice Burroughs: knight, he who had first spoken, "and these be my
daughter and her friend, Mary de Stutevill. We are
upon our way from London to my castle. What would
you of us? Name your price, if it can be paid with
honor it shall be paid; only let us go our way in peace.
We cannot hope to resist the Devil of Torn, for we be
but ten lances. If ye must have blood, at least let the
women go unharmed."
"My Lady Mary is an old friend," said the outlaw.
"I called at her father's home but little more than a
year since. We are neighbors, and the lady can tell
The Outlaw of Torn |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Poems of Goethe, Bowring, Tr. by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: Like kisses, soon all joys are gone.
1767-8.
-----
LIVING REMEMBRANCE.
HALF vex'd, half pleased, thy love will feel,
Shouldst thou her knot or ribbon steal;
To thee they're much--I won't conceal;
Such self-deceit may pardon'd be;
A veil, a kerchief, garter, rings,
In truth are no mean trifling things,
But still they're not enough for me.
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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 Massimilla Doni by Honore de Balzac: and cautious silence; nothing could be more significant or more
thoroughly Venetian than the outbreak and its sudden suppression.
"I need say nothing of the coronation march announcing the
enthronement of Osiride, intended by the King as a challenge to Moses;
to hear it is enough. Their famous Beethoven has written nothing
grander. And this march, full of earthly pomp, contrasts finely with
the march of the Israelites. Compare them, and you will see that the
music is full of purpose.
"Elcia declares her love in the presence of the two Hebrew leaders,
and then renounces it in the fine /aria/, /Porge la destra amata/.
(Place your beloved hand.) Ah! What anguish! Only look at the house!"
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