| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Early Short Fiction of Edith Wharton by Edith Wharton: "No, no," said his host, "my wife will not come with us. You
might not suspect it from her conversation, but my wife has no
feeling for art--Italian art, that is; for no one is fonder of
our early Victorian school."
"Frith's Railway Station, you know," said Mrs. Lombard, smiling.
"I like an animated picture."
Miss Lombard, who had unlocked the door, held back the tapestry
to let her father and Wyant pass out; then she followed them down
a narrow stone passage with another door at its end. This door
was iron-barred, and Wyant noticed that it had a complicated
patent lock. The girl fitted another key into the lock, and
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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 Some Reminiscences by Joseph Conrad: a voice in order to bear true testimony to the visible wonder,
the haunting terror, the infinite passion and the illimitable
serenity; to the supreme law and the abiding mystery of the
sublime spectacle.
Chi lo sa? It may be true. In this view there is room for every
religion except for the inverted creed of impiety, the mask and
cloak of arid despair; for every joy and every sorrow, for every
fair dream, for every charitable hope. The great aim is to
remain true to the emotions called out of the deep encircled by
the firmament of stars, whose infinite numbers and awful
distances may move us to laughter or tears (was it the Walrus or
Some Reminiscences |
