The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Daisy Miller by Henry James: whether she was seriously wounded, and for a moment almost
wished that her sense of injury might be such as to make it
becoming in him to attempt to reassure and comfort her.
He had a pleasant sense that she would be very approachable
for consolatory purposes. He felt then, for the instant,
quite ready to sacrifice his aunt, conversationally; to admit
that she was a proud, rude woman, and to declare that they needn't
mind her. But before he had time to commit himself to this
perilous mixture of gallantry and impiety, the young lady,
resuming her walk, gave an exclamation in quite another tone.
"Well, here's Mother! I guess she hasn't got Randolph to go to bed."
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Love Songs by Sara Teasdale: American poet." -- `The Boston Transcript'.
"`Rivers to the Sea' is the most charming volume of poetry that has appeared
on either side of the Atlantic in a score of years." -- `St. Louis Republic'.
Sara Teasdale (1884-1933):
Teasdale was born in St. Louis, Missouri, where she attended a school
that was founded by the grandfather of another great poet from St. Louis --
T. S. Eliot. She later associated herself more with New York City.
Her first book of poems was "Sonnets to Duse" (1907),
[at least one poem in the current volume, "Faults", is from this book,]
but "Helen of Troy" (1911) was the true launch of her career,
followed by "Rivers to the Sea" (1915), "Love Songs" (1917),
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