| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from A Pair of Blue Eyes by Thomas Hardy: a rope that bade fair to have no end ceases his labours, and they
glide down the serpentine bends of the Thames.
Anything anywhere was a mine of interest to Elfride, and so was
this.
'It is well enough now,' said Mrs. Swancourt, after they had
passed the Nore, 'but I can't say I have cared for my voyage
hitherto.' For being now in the open sea a slight breeze had
sprung up, which cheered her as well as her two younger
companions. But unfortunately it had a reverse effect upon the
vicar, who, after turning a sort of apricot jam colour,
interspersed with dashes of raspberry, pleaded indisposition, and
 A Pair of Blue Eyes |
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 Muse of the Department by Honore de Balzac: One kiss from those red lips of sweetest breath--
A longed-for touch of bliss!
The features of the Spanish girl's portrait have served so often as
those of the courtesan in so many self-styled /poems/, that it would
be tiresome to quote here the hundred lines of description. To judge
of the lengths to which audacity had carried Dinah, it will be enough
to give the conclusion. According to Madame de la Baudraye's ardent
pen, Paquita was so entirely created for love that she can hardly have
met with a knight worthy of her; for
. . . . In her passionate fire
Every man would have swooned from the heat,
 The Muse of the Department |