| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Pool in the Desert by Sara Jeanette Duncan: 'Here is Mrs. Symons,' I was able to return, 'and I am afraid she is
looking for you.'
March came, and the city lay white under its own dust. The electric
fans began to purr in the Club, and Lent brought the flagging season
to a full stop. I had to go that year on tour through the famine
district with the Member, and we escaped, gasping, from the Plains
about the middle of April. Simla was crimson with rhododendron
blossoms, and seemed a spur of Arcady. There had been the usual
number of flittings from one house to another, and among them I
heard with satisfaction that Armour no longer occupied Amy Villa. I
would not for the world have blurred my recollections of that last
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Massimilla Doni by Honore de Balzac: What more dramatic than the Prince's love for a Hebrew woman, almost
justifying treason to the oppressor's power?
"And this is what is expressed in this bold and stupendous musical
poem; Rossini has stamped each nation with its fantastic
individuality, for we have attributed to them a certain historic
grandeur to which every imagination subscribes. The songs of the
Hebrews, and their trust in God, are perpetually contrasted with
Pharaoh's shrieks of rage and vain efforts, represented with a strong
hand.
"At this moment Osiride, thinking only of love, hopes to detain his
mistress by the memories of their joys as lovers; he wants to conquer
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