| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Seraphita by Honore de Balzac: to year-long snows which clothe the Norway peaks and guard them from
profaning foot of traveller, these sublime beauties are virgin still;
they will be seen to harmonize with human phenomena, also virgin--at
least to poetry--which here took place, the history of which it is our
purpose to relate.
If one of these inlets, mere fissures to the eyes of the eider-ducks,
is wide enough for the sea not to freeze between the prison-walls of
rock against which it surges, the country-people call the little bay a
"fiord,"--a word which geographers of every nation have adopted into
their respective languages. Though a certain resemblance exists among
all these fiords, each has its own characteristics. The sea has
Seraphita |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Letters from England by Elizabeth Davis Bancroft: experience, combined with vanity and self-reliance and idealism, may
throw impediments in the way of what the wisest wish, VIZ., two
elected chambers and a president."
LETTER: To W.D.B.
LONDON, May 5, 1848
My dear W.: . . . Last evening, Thursday, we went to see Jenny
Lind, on her first appearance this year. She was received with
enthusiasm, and the Queen still more so. It was the first time the
Queen had been at the opera since the birth of her child, and since
the republican spirit was abroad, and loyalty burst out in full
force. Now loyalty is very novel, and pleasant to witness, to us
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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 The Return of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs: ornaments, and the gorgeous colors of her dress. He saw that
she was a Ouled-Nail, and instinctively he knew that she
was the same who had whispered the warning in his ear
earlier in the evening.
As they reached the top of the stairs they could hear the
angry crowd searching the yard beneath.
"Soon they will search here," whispered the girl.
"They must not find you, for, though you fight with the
strength of many men, they will kill you in the end.
Hasten; you can drop from the farther window of my room to the
street beyond. Before they discover that you are no longer in
The Return of Tarzan |
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 Deputy of Arcis by Honore de Balzac: "As I wanted to sleep at night, I went to the school in a pelting
rain; I came back by moonlight; and I beg you to remark that monsieur,
who was so good as to escort me, has come upstairs to bid you good-
bye, because he leaves Paris to-morrow morning."
I have habitually enough power over Monsieur de l'Estorade to make
this call to order effective; but I saw that my husband was
displeased, and that instead of having made Monsieur Dorlange an easy
diversion, I had called down upon his head the ill-humor of my ogre,
who instantly turned upon him.
After telling him that much had been said about his candidacy during
dinner at the ministry, Monsieur de l'Estorade began to show him all
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