| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Albert Savarus by Honore de Balzac: morning, Albert, to whom sleep had been unknown for the past three
days, was sitting in his library in a deep armchair, his face as pale
as if he were dying, his hands hanging limp, in a forlorn attitude
worthy of the Magdalen. Tears hung on his long lashes, tears that dim
the eyes, but do not fall; fierce thought drinks them up, the fire of
the soul consumes them. Alone, he might weep. And then, under the
kiosk, he saw a white figure, which reminded him of Francesca.
"And for three months I have had no letter from her! What has become
of her? I have not written for two months, but I warned her. Is she
ill? Oh, my love! My life! Will you ever know what I have gone
through? What a wretched constitution is mine! Have I an aneurism?" he
Albert Savarus |
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 Youth by Joseph Conrad: dertook the cooking, and unexpectedly developed all a
Frenchman's genius for preparing nice little messes. I
looked languidly after the rigging. We became citizens
of Falmouth. Every shopkeeper knew us. At the bar-
ber's or tobacconist's they asked familiarly, 'Do you
think you will ever get to Bankok?' Meantime the
owner, the underwriters, and the charterers squabbled
amongst themselves in London, and our pay went on.
. . . Pass the bottle.
"It was horrid. Morally it was worse than pumping
for life. It seemed as though we had been forgotten by
Youth |
