| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Alexandria and her Schools by Charles Kingsley: of old, 'The woman whom Thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the
tree, and I did eat.'"
Much as Christianity did, even in Egypt, for woman, by asserting her
moral and spiritual equality with the man, there seems to have been no
suspicion that she was the true complement of the man, not merely by
softening him, but by strengthening him; that true manhood can be no
more developed without the influence of the woman, than true womanhood
without the influence of the man. There is no trace among the Egyptian
celibates of that chivalrous woman-worship which our Gothic forefathers
brought with them into the West, which shed a softening and ennobling
light round the mediaeval convent life, and warded off for centuries the
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Chouans by Honore de Balzac: a-Terre with the precaution of a cat that dislikes to wet its feet.
When the Chouan caught sight of the lady, he rose and stood before her
in an attitude of deep respect. This singular circumstance aroused
Francine's curiosity; she slipped into the courtyard and along the
walls, avoiding Madame du Gua's notice, and trying to hide herself
behind the stable door. She walked on tiptoe, scarcely daring to
breathe, and succeeded in posting herself close to Marche-a-Terre,
without exciting his attention.
"If, after all this information," the lady was saying to the Chouan,
"it proves not to be her real name, you are to fire upon her without
pity, as you would on a mad dog."
The Chouans |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Main Street by Sinclair Lewis: played out the game, slowly, painfully, stumbling on the rough
earth, muffing the easiest shots, watched only by the small boy
and his sniveling sister. Beyond the court stretched the eternal
stubble-fields. The four marionettes, awkwardly going through
exercises, insignificant in the hot sweep of contemptuous land,
were not heroic; their voices did not ring out in the score, but
sounded apologetic; and when the game was over they glanced
about as though they were waiting to be laughed at.
They walked home. Carol took Erik's arm. Through her
thin linen sleeve she could feel the crumply warmth of his
familiar brown jersey coat. She observed that there were
|
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 Deputy of Arcis by Honore de Balzac: "The sister whom you have not, madame," he said to me abruptly, "I
shall permit myself to give you, and I venture to hope that you will
see a certain family likeness in her."
So saying, he removed the cloth that concealed his work, and there /I/
stood, under the form of a saint, with a halo round my head. Could I
be angry at the liberty thus taken?
My husband and Nais gave a cry of admiration at the wonderful likeness
they had before their eyes. As for Monsieur Dorlange, he at once
explained the cause of his scenic effect.
"This statue," he said, "is a Saint-Ursula, ordered by a convent in
the provinces. Under circumstances which it would take too long to
|
