| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Fanny Herself by Edna Ferber: Fanny's hat. Fanny's fingers reached for them too,
fumblingly. "I'd forgotten about it," she said. The heavy
crape fell about her shoulders, mercifully hiding the
swollen, discolored face. She went down the stairs. There
was a little stir, a swaying toward her, a sibilant murmur
of sympathy from the crowded sitting-room as she passed
through to the parlor where Rabbi Thalmann stood waiting,
prayer book in hand, in front of that which was covered with
flowers. Fanny sat down. A feeling of unreality was strong
upon her. Doctor Thalmann cleared his throat and opened the
book.
Fanny Herself |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Bucolics by Virgil: We know who once, and in what shrine with you-
The he-goats looked aside- the light nymphs laughed-
MENALCAS
Ay, then, I warrant, when they saw me slash
Micon's young vines and trees with spiteful hook.
DAMOETAS
Or here by these old beeches, when you broke
The bow and arrows of Damon; for you chafed
When first you saw them given to the boy,
Cross-grained Menalcas, ay, and had you not
Done him some mischief, would have chafed to death.
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Herodias by Gustave Flaubert: situation.
"Without doubt," said Eleazar, "it was necessary for him to marry his
brother's wife; but Herodias was not a widow, and besides, she had a
child, which she abandoned; and that was an abomination."
"You are wrong," objected Jonathas the Sadducee; "the law condemns
such marriages but does not actually forbid them."
"What matters it? All the world shows me injustice," said Antipas,
bitterly; "and why? Did not Absalom lie with his father's wives, Judah
with his daughter-in-law, Ammon with his sister, and Lot with his
daughters?"
Aulus, who had been reposing within the palace, now reappeared in the
Herodias |
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 Flower Fables by Louisa May Alcott: from his long sleep, and looked in smiling wonder at the faces bending
over him.
Then Ripple sang for joy, and, with her sister Spirits, robed the
child in graceful garments, woven of bright sea-weed, while in
his shining hair they wreathed long garlands of their fairest flowers,
and on his little arms hung chains of brilliant shells.
"Now come with us, dear child," said Ripple; "we will bear you safely
up into the sunlight and the pleasant air; for this is not your home,
and yonder, on the shore, there waits a loving friend for you."
So up they went, through foam and spray, till on the beach, where
the fresh winds played among her falling hair, and the waves broke
Flower Fables |
