| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Pierre Grassou by Honore de Balzac: de Fougeres (for so the family persisted in calling Pierre Grassou)
advanced so much that when the portraits were finished he presented
them gratuitously to his father-in-law, his mother-in-law and his
wife.
At the present day, Pierre Grassou, who never misses exhibiting at the
Salon, passes in bourgeois regions for a fine portrait-painter. He
earns some twenty thousand francs a year and spoils a thousand francs'
worth of canvas. His wife has six thousand francs a year in dowry, and
he lives with his father-in-law. The Vervelles and the Grassous, who
agree delightfully, keep a carriage, and are the happiest people on
earth. Pierre Grassou never emerges from the bourgeois circle, in
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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 Reign of King Edward the Third by William Shakespeare: To break a vow made by the name of God.
What, if I swear by this right hand of mine
To cut this right hand off? The better way
Were to profane the Idol than confound it:
But neither will I do; I'll keep mine oath,
And to my daughter make a recantation
Of all the virtue I have preacht to her:
I'll say, she must forget her husband Salisbury,
If she remember to embrace the king;
I'll say, an oath may easily be broken,
But not so easily pardoned, being broken;
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| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Sylvie and Bruno by Lewis Carroll: shock of surprise, to Lady Muriel Orme, who had so lately uttered these
very words of Sylvie's--yes, and in Sylvie's own voice, and with
Sylvie's gentle pleading eyes!
"Follow me!" were the next words I heard, as the old man waved his
hand, with a dignified grace that ill suited his ragged dress, over a
bush, that stood by the road side, which began instantly to sink into
the earth. At another time I might have doubted the evidence of my
eyes, or at least have felt some astonishment: but, in this strange
scene, my whole being seemed absorbed in strong curiosity as to what
would happen next.
When the bush had sunk quite out of our sight, marble steps were seen,
Sylvie and Bruno |
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 Crisis in Russia by Arthur Ransome: most important characteristic of them is that they are
ambitions which cannot but find an echo in Russians of
any kind, quite regardless of their political convictions. The
old anomalies of Russian industry, for example, the
distances of the industrial districts from their sources of fuel
and raw material are to be done away with. These
anomalies were largely due to historical accidents, such as
the caprice of Peter the Great, and not to any economic
reasons. The revolution, destructive as it has been, has at
least cleaned the slate and made it possible, if it is possible to
rebuild at all, to rebuild Russia on foundations laid by
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