| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Muse of the Department by Honore de Balzac: Dinah, who believed in a revival of his love. The mother, alas, gave
way to the mistress with shameful readiness. She felt herself a mere
plaything in the man's hands, and at last she confessed to herself:
"Well, then, I will be his plaything!" finding joy in it--the rapture
of damnation.
When this woman, of a really manly spirit, pictured herself as living
in solitude, she felt her courage fail. She preferred the anticipated
and inevitable miseries of this fierce intimacy to the absence of the
joys, which were all the more exquisite because they arose from the
midst of remorse, of terrible struggles with herself, of a /No/
persuaded to be /Yes/. At every moment she seemed to come across the
The Muse of the Department |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte: 'Well, I know it's very wrong; - but never mind! I mean to be good
some time - only don't preach now, there's a good creature. I
haven't told you half yet. Let me see. Oh! I was going to tell
you how many unmistakeable admirers I had:- Sir Thomas Ashby was
one, - Sir Hugh Meltham and Sir Broadley Wilson are old codgers,
only fit companions for papa and mamma. Sir Thomas is young, rich,
and gay; but an ugly beast, nevertheless: however, mamma says I
should not mind that after a few months' acquaintance. Then, there
was Henry Meltham, Sir Hugh's younger son; rather good-looking, and
a pleasant fellow to flirt with: but BEING a younger son, that is
all he is good for; then there was young Mr. Green, rich enough,
Agnes Grey |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Inaugural Address by John F. Kennedy: let the oppressed go free."
And if a beachhead of co-operation may push back the jungle of suspicion. . .
let both sides join in creating not a new balance of power. . .
but a new world of law. . .where the strong are just. . .
and the weak secure. . .and the peace preserved. . . .
All this will not be finished in the first one hundred days.
Nor will it be finished in the first one thousand days. . .
nor in the life of this administration, nor even perhaps
in our lifetime on this planet. But let us begin.
In your hands, my fellow citizens. . .more than mine. . .will rest the
final success or failure of our course. Since this country was founded,
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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 A Lover's Complaint by William Shakespeare: Of folded schedules had she many a one,
Which she perus'd, sigh'd, tore, and gave the flood;
Crack'd many a ring of posied gold and bone,
Bidding them find their sepulchres in mud;
Found yet mo letters sadly penn'd in blood,
With sleided silk feat and affectedly
Enswath'd, and seal'd to curious secrecy.
These often bath'd she in her fluxive eyes,
And often kiss'd, and often 'gan to tear;
Cried, 'O false blood, thou register of lies,
What unapproved witness dost thou bear!
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