| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from At the Sign of the Cat & Racket by Honore de Balzac: meditative maidens whom in Rome he had unfortunately seen only in
painting. From the enthusiasm produced in his excited fancy by the
living picture before him, he naturally passed to a profound
admiration for the principal figure; Augustine seemed to be pensive,
and did not eat; by the arrangement of the lamp the light fell full on
her face, and her bust seemed to move in a circle of fire, which threw
up the shape of her head and illuminated it with almost supernatural
effect. The artist involuntarily compared her to an exiled angel
dreaming of heaven. An almost unknown emotion, a limpid, seething love
flooded his heart. After remaining a minute, overwhelmed by the weight
of his ideas, he tore himself from his bliss, went home, ate nothing,
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Ten Years Later by Alexandre Dumas: with a gracious smile. During the five minutes D'Artagnan
was recovering his breath, he reflected that he had a very
difficult part to play. It was necessary that he always
should question and never reply. By the time his respiration
returned, he had fixed his plans for the campaign.
CHAPTER 70
Wherein the Ideas of D'Artagnan, at first
strangely clouded, begin to clear up a little
D'Artagnan immediately took the offensive. Now that I have
told you all, dear friend, or rather now you have guessed
all, tell me what you are doing here, covered with dust and
Ten Years Later |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Young Forester by Zane Grey: thought of myself lying there, with my skin prickling and my eyes sharp on
the darkening forms. I thought of the nights I had spent with Hal in the
old woods at home. How full the present seemed! My breast swelled, my hand
gripped my revolver, my eyes pierced the darkness, and I would not have
been anywhere else for the world.
Greaser smoked out his cigarette, and began to nod. That was the signal for
me. I crawled noiselessly from the tree. When I found myself going down
into the hollow, I stopped and rose to my feet. The forest was so pitchy
black that I could not tell the trees from the darkness. I groped to the
left, trying to circle. Once I snapped a twig; it cracked like a
pistol-shot, and my heart stopped beating, then began to thump. But Greaser
The Young Forester |
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 Idylls of the King by Alfred Tennyson: Of goodly supper in the distant pool,
Then turned the noble damsel smiling at him,
And told him of a cavern hard at hand,
Where bread and baken meats and good red wine
Of Southland, which the Lady Lyonors
Had sent her coming champion, waited him.
Anon they past a narrow comb wherein
Where slabs of rock with figures, knights on horse
Sculptured, and deckt in slowly-waning hues.
'Sir Knave, my knight, a hermit once was here,
Whose holy hand hath fashioned on the rock
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