| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Bride of Lammermoor by Walter Scott: command that Alice's funeral should be attended to, flung away
from the sexton, under the painful impression that the great as
well as the small vulgar would think of his engagement with Lucy
like this ignorant and selfish peasant.
"And I have stooped to subject myself to these calumnies, and am
rejected notwithstanding! Lucy, your faith must be true and
perfect as the diamond to compensate for the dishonour which
men's opinions, and the conduct of your mother, attach to the
heir of Ravenswood!"
As he raised his eyes, he beheld the Marquis of A----, who,
having arrived at the Tod's Hole, had walked forth to look for
The Bride of Lammermoor |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Ivanhoe by Walter Scott: ---But as concerning rings, jewels, chains,
and what else, you must understand that we are
men of tender consciences, and will not yield to a
venerable man like yourself, who should be dead
to the vanities of this life, the strong temptation to
break the rule of his foundation, by wearing rings,
chains, or other vain gauds.''
``Think what you do, my masters,'' said the Prior,
``ere you put your hand on the Church's patrimony
---These things are _inter res sacras_, and I wot not
what judgment might ensue were they to be handled
Ivanhoe |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Two Brothers by Honore de Balzac: law office. Left orphans and very poor, and devoted to each other, the
brother and sister had seen life such as it is in Paris. The one
wished to be a lawyer that he might support his sister, and he lived
on ten sous a day; the other had coldly resolved to be a dancer, and
to profit by her beauty as much as by her legs that she might buy a
practice for her brother. Outside of their feeling for each other, and
of their mutual life and interests, everything was to them, as it once
was to the Romans and the Hebrews, barbaric, outlandish, and hostile.
This generous affection, which nothing ever lessened, explained
Mariette to those who knew her intimately.
The brother and sister were living at this time on the eighth floor of
|
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 Tess of the d'Urbervilles, A Pure Woman by Thomas Hardy: could do to help them out of it; and then her mother
broached her scheme.
"We must take the ups wi' the downs, Tess," said she;
"and never could your high blood have been found out at
a more called-for moment. You must try your friends.
Do ye know that there is a very rich Mrs d'Urberville
living on the outskirts o' The Chase, who must be our
relation? You must go to her and claim kin, and ask
for some help in our trouble."
"I shouldn't care to do that," says Tess. "If there is
such a lady, 'twould be enough for us if she were
Tess of the d'Urbervilles, A Pure Woman |
