Instrumental Reasons - Chapter II
About the Oratory, Symbolic & Lapidary witticisms (pages 57 - 58)
“Finally from the same origin proceeds what is agreeable and ingenious in the MUTE GAMES, representing no heroic matter. As it is the game of Tarots; worthy concept of barbarian genius: where you see every person of the world becoming ruffle in a mix way with uniforms, Rich people with Money, Drunk with Cup, Warriors with Spades, Shepherds with Batons. Emperors, Prelates, Angels, Demons: as the player holding a card deck in his hand had the whole world in a punch: & playing metaphorically is just putting the universe in confusion; & the one who more ruins is the winner. But the game the most heroic and witty; even a war school is the Chess; where in a small battle Field there are two armies, one of White Assyrians, the other of Black African Moors: & here there are Kings, Queens, Soldiers, Knights, Towered Elephants; and Infantrymen: at the sign of the two players, as War Masters, facing, assaulting, ling in wait, surprising, running, helping, hurting, covering, imprisoning, getting out of the world: finally after having won the adversary army & imprisoned the King (the only one whose life is preserved) there is a difficult but sweet victory, a conflict with no blood, but not without the looser’ rage. A game really born from the war intellect of Palmed among the Greek tents, to fight against idleness, so you have not to be surprised, if from Zeus brain was born Pallade warrior, since by a soldier’ brain are born armies. So, what is this game, but a heroic symbol, a continuous metaphor? Those little images animated by a living hand allegorically represent the conflict of ingenious; they have the moving for the Word. So the player identifies in the characters represented by wooden soldiers: & in our images lives the player’ mind” (27).
Tarots and Chess therefore, according to the author, belong to the Heroic Matters; they are Mute symbols (images of words) and are Composed. The author writes about Composed Symbols: “In the COMPOSED WITTICISM there are two or more of the simple witticisms…; so the Witticism which is nothing but a poetical Imitation; with the mix of MUTE and TALKING methods, & of these or the ones into them; gives birth to a numerous and various and pretty offspring of Symbols; many of them even today are know more by opinion than by their name by literati” (page 39).