| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Letters of Two Brides by Honore de Balzac: nothing was lacking either of satisfaction for the most fastidious
sentiment, or of that unexpectedness which brings, in a sense, its own
sanction. Every witchery of imagination, of passion, of reluctance
overcome, of the ideal passing into reality, played its part.
Yet, in spite of all this enchantment, I once more stood out for my
complete independence. I can't tell you all my reasons for this. To
you alone shall I confide even as much as this. I believe that women,
whether passionately loved or not, lose much in their relation with
their husbands by not concealing their feelings about marriage and the
way they look at it.
My one joy, and it is supreme, springs from the certainty of having
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne:
291 THE SCARLET LETTER
us! That is but a trifle, when a woman knows the world. But
this minister. Couldst thou surely tell, Hester, whether he was
the same man that encountered thee on the forest path?"
The Scarlet Letter |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Yates Pride by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman: happenings, but the Lancaster house was situated so far from the
road, behind its grove of trees, that nothing whatever could be
seen.
"I doubt if Eudora tells, if he does call--that is, not unless
something definite happens," said Anna.
"No," remarked Amelia, sadly. "Eudora is a dear, but she is very
silent with regard to her own affairs."
"She ought to be," said Sophia, with her married authority. She
was, to her sisters, as one who had passed within the shrine and
was dignifiedly silent with regard to its intimate mysteries.
"I suppose so," assented Anna, with a soft sigh. Amelia sighed
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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 Egmont by Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe: services, you have seldom felt inclined to follow my advice. How often
have you said in jest: "You see too far, Machiavel! You should be an
historian; he who acts, must provide for the exigence of the hour." And yet
have I not predicted this terrible history? Have I not foreseen it all?
Regent. I too foresee many things, without being able to avert them.
Machiavel. In one word, then:---you will not be able to suppress the new
faith. Let it be recognized, separate its votaries from the true believers,
give them churches of their own, include them within the pale of social
order, subject them to the restraints of law,--do this, and you will at once
tranquillize the insurgents. All other measures will prove abortive, and you
will depopulate the country.
Egmont |
