| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from A Prince of Bohemia by Honore de Balzac: these 'precious' phrases; I am talking Sainte-Beuve, the new kind of
French.--I resume. Walking one day arm in arm with a friend along the
boulevard, he was accosted by a ferocious creditor, who inquired:
" 'Are you thinking of me, sir?'
" 'Not the least in the world,' answered the Count.
"Remark the difficulty of the position. Talleyrand, in similar
circumstances, had already replied, 'You are very inquisitive, my dear
fellow!' To imitate the inimitable great man was out of the question.
--La Palferine, generous as Buckingham, could not bear to be caught
empty-handed. One day when he had nothing to give a little Savoyard
chimney-sweeper, he dipped a hand into a barrel of grapes in a
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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 Deputy of Arcis by Honore de Balzac: Place du Pont on a line with the rue Vide-Bourse, at the corner of the
rue du Pont, which leads to the Place de l'Eglise. Though, like many
provincial houses, without either court or garden, it produces a
certain effect, in spite of its ornamentation in bad taste. The front
door opens on the Place; the windows of the ground-floor look out on
the street-side towards the post-house and inn, and command beyond the
Place a rather picturesque view of the Aube, the navigation of which
begins at the bridge. Beyond the bridge is another little Place or
square, on which lives Monsieur Grevin, and from which the high-road
to Sezanne starts.
On the street and on the square, the Beauvisage house, painted a
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| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Weir of Hermiston by Robert Louis Stevenson: He was sounding her, semi-consciously, to see if she could understand
him; to learn if she were only an animal the colour of flowers, or had a
soul in her to keep her sweet. She, on her part, her means well in
hand, watched, womanlike, for any opportunity to shine, to abound in his
humour, whatever that might be. The dramatic artist, that lies dormant
or only half awake in most human beings, had in her sprung to his feet
in a divine fury, and chance had served her well. She looked upon him
with a subdued twilight look that became the hour of the day and the
train of thought; earnestness shone through her like stars in the purple
west; and from the great but controlled upheaval of her whole nature
there passed into her voice, and rang in her lightest words, a thrill of
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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 Macbeth by William Shakespeare: Shall neuer tremble. Or be aliue againe,
And dare me to the Desart with thy Sword:
If trembling I inhabit then, protest mee
The Baby of a Girle. Hence horrible shadow,
Vnreall mock'ry hence. Why so, being gone
I am a man againe: pray you sit still
La. You haue displac'd the mirth,
Broke the good meeting, with most admir'd disorder
Macb. Can such things be,
And ouercome vs like a Summers Clowd,
Without our speciall wonder? You make me strange
Macbeth |
