| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Market-Place by Harold Frederic: "He is going to have money of his own, very soon, but I
don't think it would attract me now. I like him personally,
of course, but--there is no career, no ambition, no future."
"A Viscount has future enough behind him," observed Celia.
"It doesn't attract me," the other repeated, vaguely.
"He is handsome, and clever, and kind and all that--but he
would never appeal to any of the great emotions--nor be
capable of them himself He is too smooth, too well-balanced,
too much the gentleman. That expresses it badly--but
do you see what I mean?"
Celia turned, and studied the beautiful profile beside her,
 The Market-Place |
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 Soul of Man by Oscar Wilde: considerations of ecclesiastical authority enter into the matter,
so that I need not dwell upon the point. But in the case of
Shakespeare it is quite obvious that the public really see neither
the beauties nor the defects of his plays. If they saw the
beauties, they would not object to the development of the drama;
and if they saw the defects, they would not object to the
development of the drama either. The fact is, the public make use
of the classics of a country as a means of checking the progress of
Art. They degrade the classics into authorities. They use them as
bludgeons for preventing the free expression of Beauty in new
forms. They are always asking a writer why he does not write like
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