| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Alkahest by Honore de Balzac: those of other domiciles, the characteristics of the old Flemish
buildings, so naively adapted to the patriarchal manners and customs
of that excellent land. Before describing this house it may be well,
in the interest of other writers, to explain the necessity for such
didactic preliminaries,--since they have roused a protest from certain
ignorant and voracious readers who want emotions without undergoing
the generating process, the flower without the seed, the child without
gestation. Is Art supposed to have higher powers than Nature?
The events of human existence, whether public or private, are so
closely allied to architecture that the majority of observers can
reconstruct nations and individuals, in their habits and ways of life,
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Voyage of the Beagle by Charles Darwin: continent.
I will conclude my description of the natural history of
these islands, by giving an account of the extreme tameness
of the birds.
This disposition is common to all the terrestrial species;
namely, to the mocking-thrushes, the finches, wrens, tyrant-
flycatchers, the dove, and carrion-buzzard. All of them are
often approached sufficiently near to be killed with a switch,
and sometimes, as I myself tried, with a cap or hat. A gun
is here almost superfluous; for with the muzzle I pushed a
hawk off the branch of a tree. One day, whilst lying down,
The Voyage of the Beagle |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Boys' Life of Abraham Lincoln by Helen Nicolay: young manhood, had been severe and bitter training, but nothing
else could have prepared him for the great disappointments and
trials of the crowning years of his life. He had learned to
endure patiently, to reason calmly, never to be unduly sure of
his own opinion; but, having taken counsel of the best advice at
his command, to continue in the path that he felt to be right,
regardless of criticism or unjust abuse. He had daily and hourly
to do all this. He was strong and courageous, with a steadfast
belief that the right would triumph in the end; but his nature
was at the same time sensitive and tender, and the sorrows and
pain of others hurt him more than did his own.
|
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 Market-Place by Harold Frederic: "Fortunately, it is a clear day," said Julia. "We shall
see Mont Blanc."
Her voice seemed to have a hollow and unnatural sound
in her own ears. Neither her uncle nor her brother
answered her.
At breakfast, meanwhile, in the apartment toward which
the young people had turned their farewell gaze in vain,
Miss Madden sipped her coffee thoughtfully while she read
a letter spread upon the table beside her.
"It's as they said," she observed. "You are not allowed
to drive in the mountains with your own horses and carriage.
The Market-Place |
