| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Deserted Woman by Honore de Balzac: flatters their vanity, promises a great passion, seems to imply a
comprehension of the requirements of their hearts. Wit amuses them,
responds to the subtlety of their natures, and they think that they
are understood. And what do all women wish but to be amused,
understood, or adored? It is only after much reflection on the things
of life that we understand the consummate coquetry of neglect of dress
and reserve at a first interview; and by the time we have gained
sufficient astuteness for successful strategy, we are too old to
profit by our experience.
While Gaston's lack of confidence in his mental equipment drove him to
borrow charms from his clothes, Madame de Beauseant herself was
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare: Vnwieldie, slow, heauy, and pale as lead.
Enter Nurse.
O God she comes, O hony Nurse what newes?
Hast thou met with him? send thy man away
Nur. Peter stay at the gate
Iul. Now good sweet Nurse:
O Lord, why lookest thou sad?
Though newes, be sad, yet tell them merrily.
If good thou sham'st the musicke of sweet newes,
By playing it to me, with so sower a face
Nur. I am a weary, giue me leaue awhile,
Romeo and Juliet |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Voice of the City by O. Henry: season. I quit it because I was sick of the life. And
especially because my heart and soul were sick of men
of the kind of men we stage people have to be up
against. You know what the game is to us -- it's a
fight against 'em all the way down the line from the
manager who wants us to try his new motor-car to the
bill-posters who want to call us by our front names.
"And the men we have to meet after the show are
the worst of all. The stage-door kind, and the man-
ager's friends who take us to supper and show their
diamonds and talk about seeing 'Dan' and 'Dave'
The Voice of the City |
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 Apology by Xenophon: four-volume set. The complete list of Xenophon's works (though
there is doubt about some of these) is:
Work Number of books
The Anabasis 7
The Hellenica 7
The Cyropaedia 8
The Memorabilia 4
The Symposium 1
The Economist 1
On Horsemanship 1
The Sportsman 1
The Apology |
