| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Cromwell by William Shakespeare: HODGE.
Aye, content; first let's take our morning's draught, and
then to work roundly.
SECOND SMITH.
Aye, agreed; go in, Hodge.
[Exit omnes.]
ACT I. SCENE II. The same.
[Enter young Cromwell.]
CROMWELL.
Good morrow, morn, I do salute thy brightness.
The night seems tedious to my troubled soul,
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Aeneid by Virgil: Who shakes heav'n's axles with his awful nod.
(When he begins, the silent senate stand
With rev'rence, list'ning to the dread command:
The clouds dispel; the winds their breath restrain;
And the hush'd waves lie flatted on the main.)
"Celestials, your attentive ears incline!
Since," said the god, "the Trojans must not join
In wish'd alliance with the Latian line;
Since endless jarrings and immortal hate
Tend but to discompose our happy state;
The war henceforward be resign'd to fate:
Aeneid |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Royalty Restored/London Under Charles II by J. Fitzgerald Molloy: The young noble was Armand Charles de la Porte, Duke de
Meilleraye, who had the sole recommendation of being one of the
richest peers of France. On condition that he and his heirs
should assume the name of Mazarine and arms of that house, the
cardinal consented to his becoming the husband of his niece. And
the great minister's days rapidly approaching their end, the
ceremony was performed which made Hortensia, then at the age of
thirteen, Duchess of Mazarine. A few months later the great
cardinal expired, leaving her the sum of one million six hundred
and twenty-five thousand pounds sterling. Alas that she should
have died in poverty, and that her body should have been seized
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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 King Henry VI by William Shakespeare: Thou canst not, son; it is impossible.
RICHARD.
An oath is of no moment, being not took
Before a true and lawful magistrate
That hath authority over him that swears.
Henry had none, but did usurp the place;
Then, seeing 't was he that made you to depose,
Your oath, my lord, is vain and frivolous.
Therefore, to arms! And, father, do but think
How sweet a thing it is to wear a crown,
Within whose circuit is Elysium
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