| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Salome by Oscar Wilde: HERODIAS. Il ne faut pas la regarder.
LA VOIX D'IOKANAAN. En ce jour-le le soleil deviendra noir comme un
sac de poil, et la lune deviendra comme du sang, et les etoiles du
ciel tomberont sur la terre comme les figues vertes tombent d'un
figuier, et les rois de la terre auront peur.
HERODIAS. Ah! Ah! Je voudrais bien voir ce jour dont il parle, ou
la lune deviendra comme du sang et ou les etoiles tomberont sur la
terre comme des figues vertes. Ce prophete parle comme un homme
ivre . . . Mais je ne peux pas souffrir le son de sa voix. Je
deteste sa voix. Ordonnez qu'il se taise.
HERODE. Mais non. Je ne comprends pas ce qu'il a dit, mais cela
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Riverman by Stewart Edward White: of spray she struggled desperately to extricate herself from the
maelstrom in which she was involved before the resumption of the
larger seas should roll her over and over to destruction.
Already these larger seas were racing in from the open. To Carroll,
watching breathless and wide-eyed in that strange passive and
receptive state peculiar to imaginative natures, they seemed alive.
And the SPRITE, too, appeared to be, not a fabric and a mechanism
controlled by men, but a sentient creature struggling gallantly on
her own volition.
Far out in the lake against the tumbling horizon she saw heave up
for a second the shoulder of a mighty wave. And instinctively she
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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 Gambara by Honore de Balzac: himself wavering between the sublime and its parody, the farcical
extremes of human life. Ignoring the chain of incredible events which
had brought them to this smoky den, he believed himself to be the
plaything of some strange hallucination, and thought of Gambara and
Giardini as two abstractions.
Meanwhile, after a last piece of buffoonery from the deaf conductor in
reply to Gambara, the company had broken up laughing loudly. Giardini
went off to make coffee, which he begged the select few to accept, and
his wife cleared the table. The Count, sitting near the stove between
Marianna and Gambara, was in the very position which the mad musician
thought most desirable, with sensuousness on one side and idealism on
Gambara |
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 Poor and Proud by Oliver Optic: that?" said she, as she entered her mother's room, and threw off
her bonnet and shawl.
"You have done very well, I had no idea that you could sell more
than twenty or thirty sticks in a day."
"It's a great day's work, mother; and if I can sell half as much
in a day, I shall be satisfied. Don't you think I shall be able
to support you?"
"At this rate you can do much more; but, Katy, I tremble for
you."
"Why, mother?"
"You get so excited, and run so, I am afraid it will make you
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