| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Songs of Innocence and Experience by William Blake: When the voices of children are heard on the green,
And whisperings are in the dale,
The days of my youth rise fresh in my mind,
My face turns green and pale.
Then come home, my children, the sun is gone down,
And the dews of night arise;
Your spring and your day are wasted in play,
And your winter and night in disguise.
THE SICK ROSE
O rose, thou art sick!
The invisible worm,
Songs of Innocence and Experience |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Paz by Honore de Balzac: "Yes," continued Adam, "whereas friendship only increases. You need
not pucker up your lips at that, for we are, you and I, as much
friends as lovers; we have, at least I hope so, combined the two
sentiments in our happy marriage."
"I'll explain to you what it is that has made you and Thaddeus such
good friends," said Clementine. "The difference in the lives you lead
comes from your tastes and from necessity; from your likings, not your
positions. As far as one can judge from merely seeing a man once, and
also from what you tell me, there are times when the subaltern might
become the superior."
"Oh, Paz is truly my superior," said Adam, naively; "I have no
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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 Bride of Lammermoor by Walter Scott: eloquence and ingenuity, and collected into one mass all
arguments arising from antique custom and hereditary respect,
from the good deeds done by the Lords of Ravenswood to the
community of Wolf's Hope in former days, and from what might be
expected from them in future. The writer stuck to the
contents of his feu-charters; he could not see it: 'twas not in
the bond. And when Caleb, determined to try what a little spirit
would do, deprecated the consequences of Lord Ravenswood's
withdrawing his protection from the burgh, and even hinted in his
using active measures of resentment, the man of law sneered in
his face.
The Bride of Lammermoor |
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 Commission in Lunacy by Honore de Balzac: suggestive of a bachelor's home. There were papers in the flower
vases, empty ink-bottles on the tables, plates that had been
forgotten, matches used as tapers for a minute when something had to
be found, drawers or boxes half-turned out and left unfinished; in
short, all the confusion and vacancies resulting from plans for order
never carried out. The lawyer's private room, especially disordered by
this incessant rummage, bore witness to his unresting pace, the hurry
of a man overwhelmed with business, hunted by contradictory
necessities. The bookcase looked as if it had been sacked; there were
books scattered over everything, some piled up open, one on another,
others on the floor face downwards; registers of proceedings laid on
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