| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Exiles by Honore de Balzac: his vision of Paradise. He thought perhaps that he heard the voice of
Beatrice.
A light step, and the rustle of a woman's gown, were audible in the
silence. Dawn was now showing its first streaks of light. The fair
Comtesse de Mahaut came in and flew to Godefroid.
"Come, my child, my son! I may at last acknowledge you. Your birth is
recognized, your rights are under the protection of the King of
France, and you will find Paradise in your mother's heart."
"I hear, I know, the voice of Heaven!" cried the youth in rapture.
The exclamation roused Dante, who saw the young man folded in the
Countess' arms. He took leave of them with a look, and left his young
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Another Study of Woman by Honore de Balzac: said the Princesse de Cadignan, addressing the women with a smile at
once sceptical and ironical. "Because, in these days, under a regime
which makes everything small, you prefer small dishes, small rooms,
small pictures, small articles, small newspapers, small books, does
that prove that women too have grown smaller? Why should the human
heart change because you change your coat? In all ages the passions
remain the same. I know cases of beautiful devotion, of sublime
sufferings, which lack the publicity--the glory, if you choose--which
formerly gave lustre to the errors of some women. But though one may
not have saved a King of France, one is not the less an Agnes Sorel.
Do you believe that our dear Marquise d'Espard is not the peer of
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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 New Arabian Nights by Robert Louis Stevenson: these were ecclesiastical foundations, and in their time had
sheltered pious hermits.
I found a den, or small hollow, where there was a spring of pure
water; and there, clearing away the brambles, I pitched the tent,
and made a fire to cook my supper. My horse I picketed farther in
the wood where there was a patch of sward. The banks of the den
not only concealed the light of my fire, but sheltered me from the
wind, which was cold as well as high.
The life I was leading made me both hardy and frugal. I never
drank but water, and rarely ate anything more costly than oatmeal;
and I required so little sleep, that, although I rose with the peep
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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 Agesilaus by Xenophon: "Ages." iii. 3 (Cloigh, iv. 3 foll.); Paus. iii. 3.
[4] See Aristides ("Rhet." 776), who quotes the passage for its
measured cadence.
And so I pass on at once to narrate the chief achievements of his
reign, since by the light of deeds the character of him who wrought
them will, if I mistake not, best shine forth.
Agesilaus was still a youth[5] when he obtained the kingdom, and he
was still but a novice in his office when the news came that the king
of Persia was collecting a mighty armament by sea and land for the
invasion of Hellas. The Lacedaemonians and their allies sat debating
these matters, when Agesilaus undertook to cross over into Asia. He
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