| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Dunwich Horror by H. P. Lovecraft: watchers hoped that the storm would prove a short, sharp one followed
by clear weather.
It was still gruesomely dark when, not much
over an hour later, a confused babel of voices sounded down the
road. Another moment brought to view a frightened group of more
than a dozen men, running, shouting, and even whimpering hysterically.
Someone in the lead began sobbing out words, and the Arkham men
started violently when those words developed a coherent form.
'Oh, my Gawd, my Gawd,' the voice choked out. 'It's a-goin'
agin, an' this time by day! It's aout - it's aout an' a-movin'
this very minute, an' only the Lord knows when it'll be on us
The Dunwich Horror |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare: Enter Lysander.
Lys. Where art thou, proud Demetrius?
Speake thou now
Rob. Here villaine, drawne & readie. Where art thou?
Lys. I will be with thee straight
Rob. Follow me then to plainer ground.
Enter Demetrius.
Dem. Lysander, speake againe;
Thou runaway, thou coward, art thou fled?
Speake in some bush: Where dost thou hide thy head?
Rob. Thou coward, art thou bragging to the stars,
A Midsummer Night's Dream |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from An Episode Under the Terror by Honore de Balzac: Church of Saint Laurent. It is in the nature of things that calm must
succeed to violent agitation, even in the weakest soul; for if feeling
is infinite, our capacity to feel is limited. So, as the stranger lady
met with no harm from her supposed persecutor, she tried to look upon
him as an unknown friend anxious to protect her. She thought of all
the circumstances in which the stranger had appeared, and put them
together, as if to find some ground for this comforting theory, and
felt inclined to credit him with good intentions rather than bad.
Forgetting the fright that he had given the pastry-cook, she walked on
with a firmer step through the upper end of the Faubourg Saint Martin;
and another half-hour's walk brought her to a house at the corner
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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 Z. Marcas by Honore de Balzac: it emancipation. It will always remember the young representatives of
the people and the young army leaders! The imprudence of the
Government is only comparable to its avarice."
That day left its echoes in our lives. Marcas confirmed us in our
resolution to leave France, where young men of talent and energy are
crushed under the weight of successful commonplace, envious, and
insatiable middle age.
We dined together in the Rue de la Harpe. We thenceforth felt for
Marcas the most respectful affection; he gave us the most practical
aid in the sphere of the mind. That man knew everything; he had
studied everything. For us he cast his eye over the whole civilized
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