| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Waste Land by T. S. Eliot: _V._ Baudelaire, Preface to _Fleurs du Mal_.
II. A GAME OF CHESS
77. Cf. _Antony and Cleopatra_, II. ii. 190.
92. Laquearia. _V. Aeneid_, I. 726:
dependent lychni laquearibus aureis incensi, et noctem flammis
funalia vincunt.
98. Sylvan scene. _V._ Milton, _Paradise Lost_, iv. 140.
99. _V._ Ovid, METAMORPHOSES, vi, Philomela.
100. Cf. Part III, 1. 204.
115. Cf. Part III, 1. 195.
118. Cf. Webster: 'Is the wind in that door still?'
The Waste Land |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from A Drama on the Seashore by Honore de Balzac: practised eye of our guide could recognize by scraps of mud or the
dung of cattle the road that crossed that desert, now descending
towards the sea, then rising landward according to either the fall of
the ground or the necessity of rounding some breastwork of rock. By
mid-day, we were only half way.
"We will stop to rest over there," I said, pointing to a promontory of
rocks sufficiently high to make it probable we should find a grotto.
The fisherman, who heard me and saw the direction in which I pointed,
shook his head, and said,--
"Some one is there. All those who come from the village of Batz to
Croisic, or from Croisic to Batz, go round that place; they never pass
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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 Mosses From An Old Manse by Nathaniel Hawthorne: danger."
"Danger? There is but one danger--that this horrible stigma shall
be left upon my cheek!" cried Georgiana. "Remove it, remove it,
whatever be the cost, or we shall both go mad!"
"Heaven knows your words are too true," said Aylmer, sadly. "And
now, dearest, return to your boudoir. In a little while all will
be tested."
He conducted her back and took leave of her with a solemn
tenderness which spoke far more than his words how much was now
at stake. After his departure Georgiana became rapt in musings.
She considered the character of Aylmer, and did it completer
Mosses From An Old Manse |
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 Letters from England by Elizabeth Davis Bancroft: Friday, November 6th
. . . We had to-day a delightful visit from Rogers, the Poet, who is
now quite old, but with a most interesting countenance. He was full
of cordiality, and, at parting, as he took my hand, said: "Our
acquaintance must become friendship." Mr. Harcourt came again and
sat an hour with us, and has introduced your father at the
Traveller's Club and the Athenaeum Club. To-night came my new
lady's maid, Russell. She dresses hair beautifully, but is rather
too great a person to suit my fancy.
Sunday Evening, November 8th
On Friday evening we met at Mrs. Wormeley's a cosy little knot of
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