| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Duchess of Padua by Oscar Wilde: You came, and in the passion of your eyes
I read love's meaning; everything you said
Touched my dumb soul to music, so I loved you.
And yet I did not tell you of my love.
'Twas you who sought me out, knelt at my feet
As I kneel now at yours, and with sweet vows,
[Kneels.]
Whose music seems to linger in my ears,
Swore that you loved me, and I trusted you.
I think there are many women in the world
Who would have tempted you to kill the man.
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas: the provost of the merchants made him the speech of welcome--a
compliment to which his Majesty replied with an apology for
coming so late, laying the blame upon the cardinal, who had
detained him till eleven o'clock, talking of affairs of state.
His Majesty, in full dress, was accompanied by his royal
Highness, M. le Comte de Soissons, by the Grand Prior, by the Duc
de Longueville, by the Duc d'Euboeuf, by the Comte d'Harcourt, by
the Comte de la Roche-Guyon, by M. de Liancourt, by M. de
Baradas, by the Comte de Cramail, and by the Chevalier de
Souveray. Everybody noticed that the king looked dull and
preoccupied.
The Three Musketeers |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Plain Tales from the Hills by Rudyard Kipling: Sickness does not matter, because it's all in the day's work, and
if you die another man takes over your place and your office in the
eight hours between death and burial. Nothing matters except Home
furlough and acting allowances, and these only because they are
scarce. This is a slack, kutcha country where all men work with
imperfect instruments; and the wisest thing is to take no one and
nothing in earnest, but to escape as soon as ever you can to some
place where amusement is amusement and a reputation worth the
having.
But this Boy--the tale is as old as the Hills--came out, and took
all things seriously. He was pretty and was petted. He took 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 Emma McChesney & Co. by Edna Ferber: At the end of three weeks, Hortense, with that display of
temperament so often encountered in young ladies of her
profession, announced in desperation that, if this thing kept on,
she was going to forget herself and jeopardize her position by
demanding to know outright what the trouble was.
From the direction of Pop Henderson's inky retreat, there came
the sound of a dry chuckle. Pop Henderson had been chuckling in
just that way for three weeks, now. It was getting on the nerves
of his colleagues.
"If you ever spring the joke that's kept you giggling for a
month," snapped Hortense, "it'll break up the office."
Emma McChesney & Co. |
