| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Dynamiter by Robert Louis Stevenson and Fanny Van De Grift Stevenson: 'It shall be done,' said the young man, with a dismal accent.
'And you, dear madam,' said the prince, 'you, to whom I owe
my life, how can I serve you?'
'Your highness,' I said, 'to be very plain, this is my
favourite house, being not only a valuable property, but
endeared to me by various associations. I have endless
troubles with tenants of the ordinary class: and at first
applauded my good fortune when I found one of the station of
your Master of the Horse. I now begin to think otherwise:
dangers set a siege about great personages; and I do not wish
my tenement to share these risks. Procure me the resiliation
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Dreams & Dust by Don Marquis: silence again--
With banners of mist that still waver above them,
advance and retreat,
The hosts of the Autumn still hide in the hills,
for a doubt stays their feet;--
But anon, with a barbaric splendor to dazzle the
eyes that behold,
And regal in raiment of purple and umber and
amber and gold,
And girt with the glamor of conquest and scarved
with red symbols of pride,
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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 Ursula by Honore de Balzac: which, to interpret its feelings, borrowed the power of the only art
that speaks to thought by thought, without the help of words, or
color, or form. Candor, openness of heart have the same power over a
man that childhood has; the same charm, the same irresistible
seductions. Ursula was never more honest and candid than at this
moment, when she was born again into a new life.
The abbe came to tear Savinien from his dream, requesting him to take
a fourth hand at whist. Ursula went on playing; the heirs departed,
all except Desire, who was resolved to find out the intentions of his
uncle and the viscount and Ursula.
"You have as much talent as soul, mademoiselle," he said, when the
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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 Troll Garden and Selected Stories by Willa Cather: intellectual woman. May I ask, without being impertinent, whether
that assertion still represents your experience?"
"I meant, madam," said the novelist conservatively, "intellectual
in a sense very special, as we say of men in whom the purely
intellectual functions seem almost independent."
"And you still think a woman so constituted a mythical
personage?" persisted Flavia, nodding her head encouragingly.
"Une Meduse, madam, who, if she were discovered, would
transmute us all into stone," said the novelist, bowing gravely.
"If she existed at all," he added deliberately, "it was my
business to find her, and she has cost me many a vain pilgrimage.
The Troll Garden and Selected Stories |
