| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Modeste Mignon by Honore de Balzac: Columbus happy.
Commonplace miseries did not seriously touch this youthful soul, who
longed to extinguish the fires of the martyrs ignored and rejected in
their own day. Sometimes she imagined balms of Gilead, soothing
melodies which might have allayed the savage misanthropy of Rousseau.
Or she fancied herself the wife of Lord Byron; guessing intuitively
his contempt for the real, she made herself as fantastic as the poetry
of Manfred, and provided for his scepticism by making him a Catholic.
Modeste attributed Moliere's melancholy to the women of the
seventeenth century. "Why is there not some one woman," she asked
herself, "loving, beautiful, and rich, ready to stand beside each man
 Modeste Mignon |
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 Kenilworth by Walter Scott: than I; but I have heard my father say he would rather cross a
hungry wolf than thwart Richard Varney in his projects. And he
has often charged me to have a care of holding commerce with
him."
"Thy father said well, girl, for thee," replied the lady, "and I
dare swear meant well. It is a pity, though, his face and manner
do little match his true purpose--for I think his purpose may be
true."
"Doubt it not, my lady," answered Janet--"doubt not that my
father purposes well, though he is a plain man, and his blunt
looks may belie his heart."
 Kenilworth |