| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Sons and Lovers by D. H. Lawrence: He looked for her. She stood aloof. He caught her suddenly in
his arms, held her strained for a moment, kissed her. Then he let
her go.
"Come along," he said, penitent.
She followed him. He took her hand and kissed her
finger-tips. They went in silence. When they came to the light,
he let go her hand. Neither spoke till they reached the station.
Then they looked each other in the eyes.
"Good-night," she said.
And he went for his train. His body acted mechanically.
People talked to him. He heard faint echoes answering them.
Sons and Lovers |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Turn of the Screw by Henry James: I kept my eyes on the thing at the window and saw it move and shift
its posture. I have likened it to a sentinel, but its slow wheel,
for a moment, was rather the prowl of a baffled beast.
My present quickened courage, however, was such that, not too
much to let it through, I had to shade, as it were, my flame.
Meanwhile the glare of the face was again at the window, the scoundrel
fixed as if to watch and wait. It was the very confidence
that I might now defy him, as well as the positive certitude,
by this time, of the child's unconsciousness, that made me go on.
"What did you take it for?"
"To see what you said about me."
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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 Deserted Woman by Honore de Balzac: you bid me; the oath of fidelity which I swear to you shall only
be absolved by death. Ah! take my life, unless indeed you do not
fear to carry a remorse all through your own . . ."
It was his own letter, written to the Marquise as she set out for
Geneva nine years before. At the foot of it Claire de Bourgogne had
written, "Monsieur, you are free."
M. de Nueil went to his mother at Manerville. In less than three weeks
he married Mlle. Stephanie de la Rodiere.
If this commonplace story of real life ended here, it would be to some
extent a sort of mystification. The first man you meet can tell you a
better. But the widespread fame of the catastrophe (for, unhappily,
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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 Mansion by Henry van Dyke: "Look what a position we have. No one can say there is any taint
on
our money. There are no rumors about your father. He has kept
the laws of God and of man. He has never made any mistakes."
Harold got up from his chair and poked the fire. Then he came
back to
the ample, well-gowned, firm-looking lady, and sat beside her on
the sofa.
He took her hand gently and looked at the two rings--a thin band
of
yellow gold, and a small solitaire diamond--which kept their
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