| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The American by Henry James: Newman a chill when he afterwards remembered it.
"Let me remind you that we offered you these explanations,"
the marquis observed, "with the express understanding that you
should abstain from violence of language."
"I am not violent," Newman answered, "it is you who are violent!
But I don't know that I have much more to say to you.
What you expect of me, apparently, is to go my way, thanking you
for favors received, and promising never to trouble you again."
"We expect of you to act like a clever man," said Madame de Bellegarde.
"You have shown yourself that already, and what we have done is
altogether based upon your being so. When one must submit, one must.
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Sons and Lovers by D. H. Lawrence: "What do you tremble your SOUL before it for?" he cried.
"You don't learn algebra with your blessed soul. Can't you look
at it with your clear simple wits?"
Often, when he went again into the kitchen, Mrs. Leivers would
look at him reproachfully, saying:
"Paul, don't be so hard on Miriam. She may not be quick,
but I'm sure she tries."
"I can't help it," he said rather pitiably. "I go off like it."
"You don't mind me, Miriam, do you?" he asked of the girl later.
"No," she reassured him in her beautiful deep tones--"no, I
don't mind."
Sons and Lovers |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Commission in Lunacy by Honore de Balzac: so as to settle the concerns of his business.
"This man was arrested by order of the governor, the trustee confessed
the truth, the poor merchant was hanged, and my ancestor had the two
estates. I would gladly have been able to ignore the share he took in
the plot; but the governor was his uncle on the mother's side, and I
have unfortunately read the letter in which he begged him to apply to
Deodatus, the name agreed upon by the Court to designate the King. In
this letter there is a tone of jocosity with reference to the victim,
which filled me with horror. In the end, the sums of money sent by the
refugee family to ransom the poor man were kept by the governor, who
despatched the merchant all the same."
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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 The Man against the Sky by Edwin Arlington Robinson: as granted. . . . A man with something to say that has value and beauty.
His thought is deep and his ideas are high and stimulating."
-- ~Boston Transcript~.
By the same author
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The Porcupine: A Drama in Three Acts
~Cloth, 12mo, $1.25~
Edwin Arlington Robinson's comedy "Van Zorn" proved him to be
one of the most accomplished of the younger generation of American dramatists.
Of this play the ~Boston Transcript~ said, "It is an effective presentation
of modern life in New York City, in which a poet shows
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