| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Elixir of Life by Honore de Balzac: place, about the throne of God in heaven. The precentor and the
dignitaries of the chapter, adorned with the gorgeous insignia of
ecclesiastical vanity, came and went through the clouds of
incense, like stars upon their courses in the firmament.
When the hour of triumph arrived, the bells awoke the echoes far
and wide, and the whole vast crowd raised to God the first cry of
praise that begins the Te Deum. A sublime cry! High, pure notes,
the voices of women in ecstasy, mingled in it with the sterner
and deeper voices of men; thousands of voices sent up a volume of
sound so mighty, that the straining, groaning organ-pipes could
not dominate that harmony. But the shrill sound of children's
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare: And interchang'd loue-tokens with my childe:
Thou hast by Moone-light at her window sung,
With faining voice, verses of faining loue,
And stolne the impression of her fantasie,
With bracelets of thy haire, rings, gawdes, conceits,
Knackes, trifles, Nose-gaies, sweet meats (messengers
Of strong preuailment in vnhardned youth)
With cunning hast thou filch'd my daughters heart,
Turn'd her obedience (which is due to me)
To stubborne harshnesse. And my gracious Duke,
Be it so she will not heere before your Grace,
A Midsummer Night's Dream |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Pellucidar by Edgar Rice Burroughs: the hunting-call of the pack; and if this were true, there
would be slight chance for either Dian or her abductor
--or myself, either, as far as that was concerned. So
I redoubled my efforts to keep pace with the hunt;
but I might as well have attempted to distance the
bird upon the wing; as I have often reminded you,
I am no runner. In that instance it was just as well
that I am not, for my very slowness of foot played
into my hands; while had I been fleeter, I might have
lost Dian that time forever.
The lidi, with the hounds running close on either
Pellucidar |
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 Persuasion by Jane Austen: who understood the art of pleasing--the art of pleasing, at least,
at Kellynch Hall; and who had made herself so acceptable to Miss Elliot,
as to have been already staying there more than once, in spite of all
that Lady Russell, who thought it a friendship quite out of place,
could hint of caution and reserve.
Lady Russell, indeed, had scarcely any influence with Elizabeth,
and seemed to love her, rather because she would love her,
than because Elizabeth deserved it. She had never received from her more
than outward attention, nothing beyond the observances of complaisance;
had never succeeded in any point which she wanted to carry,
against previous inclination. She had been repeatedly very earnest
Persuasion |
