| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Four Arthurian Romances by Chretien DeTroyes: takes them, his heart being keen for the battle which he
anticipates with joy and eagerness. No time is lost in arming
him. And when he was armed from head to foot, the emperor, all
sorrowing, girds the sword upon his side. Thus Cliges completely
armed mounts his white Arab steed; from his neck he hangs by the
straps an ivory shield, such as will never break or split; and
upon it there was neither colour nor design. All his armour was
white, and the steed, and the harness, too, was all whiter than
any snow.
(Vv. 4037-4094.) Cliges and the duke, now being armed, summon
each other to meet half way, and they stipulate that their men
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Pierrette by Honore de Balzac: they had just deposited with that house.
The arrival of their daughter-in-law was therefore welcome to them.
Her pension of eight hundred francs was a handsome income at Pen-Hoel.
The eight thousand francs which the widow's half-brother and sister
Rogron sent to her from her father's estate (after a multitude of
legal formalities) were placed by her in the Lorrains' business, they
giving her a mortgage on a little house which they owned at Nantes,
let for three hundred francs, and barely worth ten thousand.
Madame Lorrain the younger, Pierrette's mother, died in 1819. The
child of old Auffray and his young wife was small, delicate, and
weakly; the damp climate of the Marais did not agree with her. But her
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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 Venus and Adonis by William Shakespeare: So did the merciless and pitchy night
Fold in the object that did feed her sight.
Whereat amaz'd, as one that unaware
Hath dropp'd a precious jewel in the flood, 824
Or 'stonish'd as night-wanderers often are,
Their light blown out in some mistrustful wood;
Even so confounded in the dark she lay,
Having lost the fair discovery of her way. 828
And now she beats her heart, whereat it groans,
That all the neighbour caves, as seeming troubled,
Make verbal repetition of her moans;
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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 Son of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs: stake upon his head, holding them there with his upcurled trunk.
"Korak!" cried Meriem from the foliage above him.
Instantly the bull swung about, lowered his burden to the
ground and, trumpeting savagely, prepared to defend his comrade.
The ape-man, recognizing the girl's voice, felt a sudden lump
in his throat.
"Meriem!" he called back to her.
Happily the girl clambered to the ground and ran forward to
release Korak; but Tantor lowered his head ominously and
trumpeted a warning.
"Go back! Go back!" cried Korak. "He will kill you."
The Son of Tarzan |
