| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from All's Well That Ends Well by William Shakespeare: If I should swear by Jove's great attributes
I lov'd you dearly, would you believe my oaths
When I did love you ill? This has no holding,
To swear by him whom I protest to love
That I will work against him: therefore your oaths
Are words and poor conditions; but unseal'd,--
At least in my opinion.
BERTRAM.
Change it, change it;
Be not so holy-cruel. Love is holy;
And my integrity ne'er knew the crafts
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Lesson of the Master by Henry James: a considerable part of his short life in foreign lands, made now,
but not for the first time, the reflexion that whereas in those
countries he had almost always recognised the artist and the man of
letters by his personal "type," the mould of his face, the
character of his head, the expression of his figure and even the
indications of his dress, so in England this identification was as
little as possible a matter of course, thanks to the greater
conformity, the habit of sinking the profession instead of
advertising it, the general diffusion of the air of the gentleman -
the gentleman committed to no particular set of ideas. More than
once, on returning to his own country, he had said to himself about
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Lady Windermere's Fan by Oscar Wilde: so distressed about it. Only last night at dear Lady Jansen's
every one was saying how extraordinary it was that, of all men in
London, Windermere should behave in such a way.
LADY WINDERMERE. My husband - what has HE got to do with any woman
of that kind?
DUCHESS OF BERWICK. Ah, what indeed, dear? That is the point. He
goes to see her continually, and stops for hours at a time, and
while he is there she is not at home to any one. Not that many
ladies call on her, dear, but she has a great many disreputable men
friends - my own brother particularly, as I told you - and that is
what makes it so dreadful about Windermere. We looked upon HIM as
|
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 Marriage Contract by Honore de Balzac: Evangelista. "Paul," she continued, "you are not to give either
corbeille, or jewels, or trousseau. Natalie has everything in
profusion. Lay by the money you would otherwise put into wedding
presents. I know nothing more stupidly bourgeois and commonplace than
to spend a hundred thousand francs on a corbeille, when five thousand
a year given to a young woman saves her much anxiety and lasts her
lifetime. Besides, the money for a corbeille is needed to decorate
your house in Paris. We will return to Lanstrac in the spring; for
Solonet is to settle my debts during the winter."
"All is for the best," cried Paul, at the summit of happiness.
"So I shall see Paris!" cried Natalie, in a tone that would justly
|
