| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde: intellectual pressure. That is the most unbecoming thing there is.
It makes the noses of the young girls so particularly large. And
there is nothing so difficult to marry as a large nose; men don't
like them. Good-night, dear! [To LADY CHILTERN.] Good-night,
Gertrude! [Goes out on LORD CAVERSHAM'S arm.]
MRS. CHEVELEY. What a charming house you have, Lady Chiltern! I
have spent a delightful evening. It has been so interesting getting
to know your husband.
LADY CHILTERN. Why did you wish to meet my husband, Mrs. Cheveley?
MRS. CHEVELEY. Oh, I will tell you. I wanted to interest him in
this Argentine Canal scheme, of which I dare say you have heard. And
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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 Dunwich Horror by H. P. Lovecraft: English syllables that had poured thickly and thunderously down
from the frantic vacancy beside that shocking altar-stone, were
never to hear such syllables again. Instead, they jumped violently
at the terrific report which seemed to rend the hills; the deafening,
cataclysmic peal whose source, be it inner earth or sky, no hearer
was ever able to place. A single lightning bolt shot from the
purple zenith to the altar-stone, and a great tidal wave of viewless
force and indescribable stench swept down from the hill to all
the countryside. Trees, grass, and under-brush were whipped into
a fury; and the frightened crowd at the mountain's base, weakened
by the lethal foetor that seemed about to asphyxiate them, were
The Dunwich Horror |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Concerning Christian Liberty by Martin Luther: without which none at all of its wants are provided for. But,
having the word, it is rich and wants for nothing, since that is
the word of life, of truth, of light, of peace, of justification,
of salvation, of joy, of liberty, of wisdom, of virtue, of grace,
of glory, and of every good thing. It is on this account that the
prophet in a whole Psalm (Psalm cxix.), and in many other places,
sighs for and calls upon the word of God with so many groanings
and words.
Again, there is no more cruel stroke of the wrath of God than
when He sends a famine of hearing His words (Amos viii. 11), just
as there is no greater favour from Him than the sending forth of
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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 Prince Otto by Robert Louis Stevenson: 'O! O!' cried the Countess.
A silence fell between them.
'I will get it for myself,' said Seraphina; 'and in the meanwhile I
beg you to leave me. I thank you, I am sure, but I shall be obliged
if you will leave me.'
The Countess deeply curtseyed, and withdrew.
CHAPTER XIV - RELATES THE CAUSE AND OUTBREAK OF THE REVOLUTION
BRAVE as she was, and brave by intellect, the Princess, when first
she was alone, clung to the table for support. The four corners of
her universe had fallen. She had never liked nor trusted Gondremark
completely; she had still held it possible to find him false to
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