| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Soul of Man by Oscar Wilde: is all.
It is a question whether we have ever seen the full expression of a
personality, except on the imaginative plane of art. In action, we
never have. Caesar, says Mommsen, was the complete and perfect
man. But how tragically insecure was Caesar! Wherever there is a
man who exercises authority, there is a man who resists authority.
Caesar was very perfect, but his perfection travelled by too
dangerous a road. Marcus Aurelius was the perfect man, says Renan.
Yes; the great emperor was a perfect man. But how intolerable were
the endless claims upon him! He staggered under the burden of the
empire. He was conscious how inadequate one man was to bear the
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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 Father Goriot by Honore de Balzac: Two days later, Poiret and Mlle. Michonneau were sitting together
on a bench in the sun. They had chosen a little frequented alley
in the Jardin des Plantes, and a gentleman was chatting with
them, the same person, as a matter of fact, about whom the
medical student had, not without good reason, his own suspicions.
"Mademoiselle," this M. Gondureau was saying, "I do not see any
cause for your scruples. His Excellency, Monseigneur the Minister
of Police----"
"Yes, his Excellency is taking a personal interest in the
matter," said Gondureau.
Who would think it probable that Poiret, a retired clerk,
Father Goriot |
