| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Maria, or the Wrongs of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft: repeat, when wine had loosed his tongue, most of the common-place
sarcasms levelled at them, by men who do not allow them to have
minds, because mind would be an impediment to gross enjoyment.
Men who are inferior to their fellow men, are always most anxious
to establish their superiority over women. But where are these
reflections leading me?
"Women who have lost their husband's affection, are justly
reproved for neglecting their persons, and not taking the same
pains to keep, as to gain a heart; but who thinks of giving the
same advice to men, though women are continually stigmatized for
being attached to fops; and from the nature of their education,
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Marie by H. Rider Haggard: are to burn or publish them as you may see fit.
"So, after all these years, as we both remain alive, I carry out our old
friend's instructions and send you his bequest, which I trust may prove
of interest and value. I have read the MS. called 'Marie,' and
certainly am of the opinion that it ought to be published, for I think
it a strange and moving tale of a great love--full, moreover, of
forgotten history.
"That named 'Child of Storm' also seems very interesting as a study of
savage life, and the others may be the same; but my eyes are troubling
me so much that I have not been able to decipher them. I hope, however,
that I may be spared long enough to see them in print.
Marie |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Woodlanders by Thomas Hardy: steward in Round Wood at twelve o'clock, and yet I want to go for
Grace."
"Why not let Giles fetch her by himself? 'Twill bring 'em together
all the quicker."
"I could do that--but I should like to go myself. I always have
gone, without fail, every time hitherto. It has been a great
pleasure to drive into Sherton, and wait and see her arrive; and
perhaps she'll be disappointed if I stay away."
"Yon may be disappointed, but I don't think she will, if you send
Giles," said Mrs. Melbury, dryly.
"Very well--I'll send him."
The Woodlanders |
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 Distinguished Provincial at Paris by Honore de Balzac: one praises the failures in which he alone discovers all that is
lacking in the eyes of the public. He is whimsical to the last degree.
His friends have seen him destroy a finished picture because, in his
eyes, it looked too smooth. "It is overdone," he would say; "it is
niggling work."
With his eccentric, yet lofty nature, with a nervous organization and
all that it entails of torment and delight, the craving for perfection
becomes morbid. Intellectually he is akin to Sterne, though he is not
a literary worker. There is an indescribable piquancy about his
epigrams and sallies of thought. He is eloquent, he knows how to love,
but the uncertainty that appears in his execution is a part of the
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