| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Poems by Oscar Wilde: Witness the men of Piedmont, chiefest care
Of Cromwell, when with impotent despair
The Pontiff in his painted portico
Trembled before our stern ambassadors.
How comes it then that from such high estate
We have thus fallen, save that Luxury
With barren merchandise piles up the gate
Where noble thoughts and deeds should enter by:
Else might we still be Milton's heritors.
Poem: Libertatis Sacra Fames
Albeit nurtured in democracy,
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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 Lesser Bourgeoisie by Honore de Balzac: "Oh, Monsieur le maire, you are cruel," said Madame Phellion,
affecting compunction.
"No, but say," returned Minard, "with your hand on your conscience,
whether Brigitte, whether Madame Thuillier could preside in such a
salon? No, it is the Hungarian countess who does it all. She furnished
the rooms; she selected the male domestic, whose excellent training
and intelligence you must have observed; it was she who arranged the
menu of that dinner; in short, she is the providence of the parvenu
colony, which, without her intervention, would have made the whole
quarter laugh at it. And--now this is a very noticeable thing--instead
of being a parasite like la Peyrade, this Hungarian lady, who seems to
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