| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Deputy of Arcis by Honore de Balzac: Naturally, I did not call again; but a few months later, when I
exhibited my Pandora in the salon of 1837, I one day saw the whole
Lanty family approach it. The mother was on the arm of Comte Maxime de
Trailles, a well-known lion. /Nil admirari/ is the natural instinct of
all men of the world; so, after a very cursory glance at my work,
Monsieur de Trailles began to find shocking faults in it, and in so
high and clear a voice that not a word was lost within a certain
range. Marianina shrugged her shoulders as she listened to this
profound discourse, and when it was ended she said,--
"How fortunate you came with us! Without your enlightened knowledge I
might, with the rest of the good public, have thought this statue
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Spirit of the Border by Zane Grey: alive with Indians. But such Indians! They were painted demons, maddened by
rum. Yesterday they had been silent; if they moved at all it had been with
deliberation and dignity. To-day they were a yelling, running, blood-seeking
mob.
"Awful! Did you ever see human beings like these?" asked Zeisberger.
"No, no!"
"I saw such a frenzy once before, but, of course, only in a small band of
savages. Many times have I seen Indians preparing for the war-path, in search
of both white men and redskins. They were fierce then, but nothing like this.
Every one of these frenzied fiends is honest. Think of that! Every man feels
it his duty to murder these Christians. Girty has led up to this by cunning,
The Spirit of the Border |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from King Henry VI by William Shakespeare: To hold thine own, and leave thine own with him.
KING HENRY.
Full well hath Clifford play'd the orator,
Inferring arguments of mighty force.
But, Clifford, tell me, didst thou never hear
That things ill got had ever bad success?
And happy always was it for that son
Whose father for his hoarding went to hell?
I'll leave my son my virtuous deeds behind,
And would my father had left me no more;
For all the rest is held at such a rate
|
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 Maria, or the Wrongs of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft: them in the situation of governesses, the only one in which even
a well-educated woman, with more than ordinary talents, can struggle
for a subsistence; and even this is a dependence next to menial.
Is it then surprising, that so many forlorn women, with human
passions and feelings, take refuge in infamy? Alone in large
mansions, I say alone, because they had no companions with whom
they could converse on equal terms, or from whom they could expect
the endearments of affection, they grew melancholy, and the sound
of joy made them sad; and the youngest, having a more delicate
frame, fell into a decline. It was with great difficulty that I,
who now almost supported the house by loans from my uncle, could
|
