| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Pericles by William Shakespeare: And humming water must o'erwhelm thy corpse,
Lying with simple shells. O Lychorida.
Bid Nestor bring me spices, ink and paper,
My casket and my jewels; and bid Nicander
Bring me the satin coffer: lay the babe
Upon the pillow: hie thee, whiles I say
A priestly farewell to her: suddenly, woman.
[Exit Lychorida.]
SECOND SAILOR.
Sir, we have a chest beneath the hatches, caulked and bitumed
ready.
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Westward Ho! by Charles Kingsley: when I ought to be thanking Thee for Thy great mercies! Amyas, who
is that?"
And she pointed to Ayacanora, who stood close behind Amyas,
watching with keen eyes the whole.
"She is a poor wild Indian girl--my daughter, I call her. I will
tell you her story hereafter."
"Your daughter? My grand-daughter, then. Come hither, maiden, and
be my grand-daughter."
Ayacanora came obedient, and knelt down, because she had seen Amyas
kneel.
"God forbid, child! kneel not to me. Come home, and let me know
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The $30,000 Bequest and Other Stories by Mark Twain: of his unnecessary absence; assuring him the family had retired,
consequently they would ever remain ignorant of his visit.
Advancing toward him, she gave a bright display of her rosy neck,
and from her head the ambrosial locks breathed divine fragrance;
her robe hung waving to his view, while she stood like a goddess
confessed before him.
"It does seem to me, my dear sir," said Ambulinia, "that you have
been gone an age. Oh, the restless hours I have spent since I last
saw you, in yon beautiful grove. There is where I trifled with your
feelings for the express purpose of trying your attachment for me.
I now find you are devoted; but ah! I trust you live not unguarded
|
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 Juana by Honore de Balzac: was La Marana. In her family, existing solely in the female line, the
idea, person, name and power of a father had been completely unknown
since the thirteenth century. The name Marana was to her what the
designation of Stuart is to the celebrated royal race of Scotland, a
name of distinction substituted for the patronymic name by the
constant heredity of the same office devolving on the family.
Formerly, in France, Spain, and Italy, when those three countries had,
in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, mutual interests which
united and disunited them by perpetual warfare, the name Marana served
to express in its general sense, a prostitute. In those days women of
that sort had a certain rank in the world of which nothing in our day
|