| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Bucolics by Virgil: A god is he, Menalcas "Be thou kind,
Propitious to thine own. Lo! altars four,
Twain to thee, Daphnis, and to Phoebus twain
For sacrifice, we build; and I for thee
Two beakers yearly of fresh milk afoam,
And of rich olive-oil two bowls, will set;
And of the wine-god's bounty above all,
If cold, before the hearth, or in the shade
At harvest-time, to glad the festal hour,
From flasks of Ariusian grape will pour
Sweet nectar. Therewithal at my behest
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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 of the Soil by Honore de Balzac: in my staying here; for they distrust me even more than they do the
keepers."
The count paid his spy, who left the place the next day, and his
departure justified the suspicions entertained about him by the
accomplices in the death of Michaud.
When the general returned to the salon there were such signs of
emotion upon his face that his wife asked him, anxiously, what news he
had just heard.
"Dear wife," he said, "I don't want to frighten you, and yet it is
right you should know that Michaud's death was intended as a warning
for us to leave this part of the country."
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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 The Lesson of the Master by Henry James: computing the irresistible effect his own evident recognition would
have on the General, who never neglected a chance to gossip. Our
young man's face was expressive, and observation seldom let it
pass. He hadn't taken ten steps before he heard himself called
after with a friendly semi-articulate "Er - I beg your pardon!" He
turned round and the General, smiling at him from the porch, said:
"Won't you come in? I won't leave you the advantage of me!" Paul
declined to come in, and then felt regret, for Miss Fancourt, so
late in the afternoon, might return at any moment. But her father
gave him no second chance; he appeared mainly to wish not to have
struck him as ungracious. A further look at the visitor had
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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 Second Inaugural Address by Abraham Lincoln: fundamental and astounding. Both read the same Bible, and pray
to the same God; and each invokes his aid against the other.
It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God's
assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces;
but let us judge not, that we be not judged. The prayers of both
could not be answered--that of neither has been answered fully.
The Almighty has his own purposes. "Woe unto the world because
of offenses! for it must needs be that offenses come; but woe
to that man by whom the offense cometh." If we shall suppose
that American slavery is one of those offenses which, in the
providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued
Second Inaugural Address |
