| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Mosses From An Old Manse by Nathaniel Hawthorne: the early vigor of life. Languor and exhaustion now sat upon his
haggard features; and the despairing glance which he sent forward
through the depths of the forest proved his own conviction that
his pilgrimage was at an end. He next turned his eyes to the
companion who reclined by his side. The youth--for he had
scarcely attained the years of manhood--lay, with his head upon
his arm, in the embrace of an unquiet sleep, which a thrill of
pain from his wounds seemed each moment on the point of breaking.
His right hand grasped a musket; and, to judge from the violent
action of his features, his slumbers were bringing back a vision
of the conflict of which he was one of the few survivors. A
Mosses From An Old Manse |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Lily of the Valley by Honore de Balzac: white cambric curtains, which had no fringe. The furniture was covered
with gray cotton bound with a green braid, and the tapestry on the
countess's frame told why the upholstery was thus covered. Such
simplicity rose to grandeur. No apartment, among all that I have seen
since, has given me such fertile, such teeming impressions as those
that filled my mind in that salon of Clochegourde, calm and composed
as the life of its mistress, where the conventual regularity of her
occupations made itself felt. The greater part of my ideas in science
or politics, even the boldest of them, were born in that room, as
perfumes emanate from flowers; there grew the mysterious plant that
cast upon my soul its fructifying pollen; there glowed the solar
The Lily of the Valley |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Montezuma's Daughter by H. Rider Haggard: Five hundred yards away or so, raged this struggle to the death,
but about me, around the gates of Montezuma's palace on the hither
side of the square, was a different scene. Here were gathered a
vast crowd, among them many women and children, waiting to see me
die. They came with flowers in their hands, with the sound of
music and joyous cries, and when they saw me they set up such a
shout of welcome that it almost drowned the thunder of the guns and
the angry roar of battle. Now and again an ill-aimed cannon ball
would plough through them, killing some and wounding others, but
the rest took no heed, only crying the more, 'Welcome, Tezcat, and
farewell. Blessings on you, our deliverer, welcome and farewell!'
Montezuma's Daughter |
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 Mad King by Edgar Rice Burroughs: clothing, left me here to be shot by Peter, and sat upon my
throne in Lustadt while I lay a prisoner condemned to
death."
"And do you realize," replied Barney, "that by so doing
I saved your foolish little throne for you; that I drove the
invaders from your dominions; that I have unmasked your
enemies, and that I have once again proven to you that the
Prince von der Tann is your best friend and most loyal
supporter?"
"You laid your plebeian hands upon me," cried the king,
raising his voice. "You humiliated me, and you shall suffer
The Mad King |
