| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Symposium by Plato: beloved come together, having each of them a law, and the lover thinks that
he is right in doing any service which he can to his gracious loving one;
and the other that he is right in showing any kindness which he can to him
who is making him wise and good; the one capable of communicating wisdom
and virtue, the other seeking to acquire them with a view to education and
wisdom, when the two laws of love are fulfilled and meet in one--then, and
then only, may the beloved yield with honour to the lover. Nor when love
is of this disinterested sort is there any disgrace in being deceived, but
in every other case there is equal disgrace in being or not being deceived.
For he who is gracious to his lover under the impression that he is rich,
and is disappointed of his gains because he turns out to be poor, is
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson: He then asked me how I had fared, and I told him my tale. A
south-country man would certainly have laughed; but this old
gentleman (I call him so because of his manners, for his clothes
were dropping off his back) heard me all through with nothing but
gravity and pity. When I had done, he took me by the hand, led
me into his hut (it was no better) and presented me before his
wife, as if she had been the Queen and I a duke.
The good woman set oat-bread before me and a cold grouse, patting
my shoulder and smiling to me all the time, for she had no
English; and the old gentleman (not to be behind) brewed me a
strong punch out of their country spirit. All the while I was
Kidnapped |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Vendetta by Honore de Balzac: happiness of a satisfied love. Ginevra caressed the hair of her Luigi,
never weary of gazing at what she called his "belta folgorante," and
the delicacy of his features. She was constantly charmed by the
nobility of his manners, as she herself attracted him by the grace of
hers.
They played together, like children, with nothings,--nothings that
brought them ever back to their love,--ceasing their play only to fall
into a revery of the "far niente." An air sung by Ginevra reproduced
to their souls the enchanting lights and shadows of their passion.
Together, uniting their steps as they did their souls, they roamed
about the country, finding everywhere their love,--in the flowers, in
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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 The Contrast by Royall Tyler: bow, and it's pray, Ma'am, take it, and pray, Sir, keep
it, and oh! not for the world, Sir; and then the curtain
rises again, and then we blush and giggle and simper
and bow all over again. Oh! the sentimental charms
of a side-box conversation! [All laugh.]
MANLY
Well, sister, I join heartily with you in the laugh;
for, in my opinion, it is as justifiable to laugh at folly
as it is reprehensible to ridicule misfortune.
CHARLOTTE
Well, but, brother, positively I can't introduce you
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