| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Ferragus by Honore de Balzac: must call their physiognomy, with certain ideas against which we are
defenceless. There are, for instance, streets of a bad neighborhood in
which you could not be induced to live, and streets where you would
willingly take up your abode. Some streets, like the rue Montmartre,
have a charming head, and end in a fish's tail. The rue de la Paix is
a wide street, a fine street, yet it wakens none of those gracefully
noble thoughts which come to an impressible mind in the middle of the
rue Royale, and it certainly lacks the majesty which reigns in the
Place Vendome.
If you walk the streets of the Ile Saint-Louis, do not seek the reason
of the nervous sadness that lays hold upon you save in the solitude of
Ferragus |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The People That Time Forgot by Edgar Rice Burroughs: and then To-mar picked her up in his arms when the others had
taken her weapons from her. He told the others to look after the
wounded man, who was really already dead, and to seize you upon
your return, and that he, To-mar, would bear Ajor to Al-tan;
but instead of bearing her to Al-tan, he took her to his own
hut, where she now is with So-al, To-mar's she. It all
happened very quickly. To-mar and I were in the council-hut
when Du-seen attempted to take the dog from you. I was seeking
To-mar for this work. He ran out immediately and accompanied
the warriors to your hut while I remained to watch what went
on within the council-hut and to aid you if you needed aid.
The People That Time Forgot |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Lemorne Versus Huell by Elizabeth Drew Stoddard: could not compose myself to appreciation. Either the music or I
grew chaotic. So many tumultuous sounds I heard--of hope, doubt,
inquiry, melancholy, and desire; or did I feel the emotions which
these words express? Or was there magnetism stealing into me from
the quiet man beside me? He left me with a bow before the concert
was over, and I saw him making his way out of the hall when it was
finished.
I had been sent in the carriage, of course; but several carriages
were in advance of it before the walk, and I waited there for
William to drive up. When he did so, I saw by the oscillatory
motion of his head, though his arms and whiphand were perfectly
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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 A Legend of Montrose by Walter Scott: weapon, foretold; and all were of opinion, that the incident of
the ring, with the death's head, related to the death of the
bride's father, who did not survive her marriage many months.
The incredulous held, that all this was idle dreaming, and that
Allan's supposed vision was but a consequence of the private
suggestions of his own passion, which, having long seen in
Menteith a rival more beloved than himself, struggled with his
better nature, and impressed upon him, as it were involuntarily,
the idea of killing his competitor.
Menteith did not recover sufficiently to join Montrose during his
brief and glorious career; and when that heroic general disbanded
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