| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Europeans by Henry James: in these glorious deeps of fire that quickened his imagination;
he always found images and promises in the western sky.
He thought of a good many things--of roaming about the world with
Gertrude Wentworth; he seemed to see their possible adventures,
in a glowing frieze, between the cloud-bars; then of what Eugenia
had just been telling him. He wished very much that Madame M;
auunster would make a comfortable and honorable marriage.
Presently, as the sunset expanded and deepened, the fancy took
him of making a note of so magnificent a piece of coloring.
He returned to his studio and fetched out a small panel,
with his palette and brushes, and, placing the panel
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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 Gambara by Honore de Balzac: vehement, passionate man.
"Here, everything is appalling. Will the crime get possession of the
criminal? Will the executioner seize his victim? Will sorrow consume
the artist's genius? Will the disease kill the patient? or, will the
guardian angel save the Christian?
"Then comes the /finale/, the gambling scene in which Bertram tortures
his son by rousing him to tremendous emotions. Robert, beggared,
frenzied, searching everything, eager for blood, fire, and sword, is
his own son; in this mood he is exactly like his father. What hideous
glee we hear in Bertram's words: '/Je ris de tes coups/!' And how
perfectly the Venetian /barcarole/ comes in here. Through what
 Gambara |