| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Kreutzer Sonata by Leo Tolstoy: tranquilly. I am even gay and contented. Suddenly we start a
conversation on some most commonplace subject, and directly she
finds herself disagreeing with me upon matters concerning which
we have been generally in accord. And furthermore I see that,
without any necessity therefor, she is becoming irritated. I
think that she has a nervous attack, or else that the subject of
conversation is really disagreeable to her. We talk of something
else, and that begins again. Again she torments me, and becomes
irritated. I am astonished and look for a reason. Why? For
what? She keeps silence, answers me with monosyllables,
evidently making allusions to something. I begin to divine that
The Kreutzer Sonata |
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 Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy: country gentleman, a retired army officer, as an enlightened
amateur and patron of the arts, himself a modest artist who had
renounced the world, his connections, and his ambition for the
sake of the woman he loved.
The pose chosen by Vronsky with their removal into the palazzo
was completely successful, and having, through Golenishtchev,
made acquaintance with a few interesting people, for a time he
was satisfied. He painted studies from nature under the guidance
of an Italian professor of painting, and studied mediaeval
Italian life. Media vat Italian life so fascinated Vronsky that
he even wore a hat and flung a cloak over his shoulder in the
Anna Karenina |
