| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Village Rector by Honore de Balzac: vegetables himself in the market, lived on bread and onions, never
spent more than three hundred francs a year, obliged and disobliged no
one, and had never done one atom of good in the suburb of Saint-
Etienne where he lived, his death did not excite the slightest regret.
Poor Jeanne Malassis' heroism, which the old miser, had she saved him,
would certainly not have rewarded, was thought rash; the number of
souls who admired it was small in comparison with those who said: "For
my part, I should have stayed in my bed."
The police found neither pen nor ink wherewith to write their report
in the bare, dilapidated, cold, and dismal house. Observing persons
and the heir might then have noticed a curious inconsistency which may
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Love Songs by Sara Teasdale: *But what if I heard my first love calling me again?*
Hold me on your heart as the brave sea holds the foam,
Take me far away to the hills that hide your home;
Peace shall thatch the roof and love shall latch the door --
*But what if I heard my first love calling me once more?*
Dew
As dew leaves the cobweb lightly
Threaded with stars,
Scattering jewels on the fence
And the pasture bars;
As dawn leaves the dry grass bright
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