| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Vendetta by Honore de Balzac: "Comparisons already!" cried Piombo, in a terrible voice. "No, I can
never endure the idea of your marriage. If he loved you as you deserve
to be loved he would kill me; if he did not love you, I should put a
dagger through him."
The hands of the old man trembled, his lips trembled, his body
trembled, but his eyes flashed lightnings. Ginevra alone was able to
endure his glance, for her eyes flamed also, and the daughter was
worthy of the sire.
"Oh! to love you! What man is worthy of such a life?" continued
Piombo. "To love you as a father is paradise on earth; who is there
worthy to be your husband?"
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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 Iliad by Homer: Achilles, who was to send him to the house of Hades sorely
against his will. He was unarmed when Achilles caught sight of
him, and had neither helmet nor shield; nor yet had he any spear,
for he had thrown all his armour from him on to the bank, and was
sweating with his struggles to get out of the river, so that his
strength was now failing him.
Then Achilles said to himself in his surprise, "What marvel do I
see here? If this man can come back alive after having been sold
over into Lemnos, I shall have the Trojans also whom I have slain
rising from the world below. Could not even the waters of the
grey sea imprison him, as they do many another whether he will or
 The Iliad |