#512 Le Masque Vide

Many believed that politeness
was just a mask, that what was
said may not be what was meant
or thought: or, from the other
side, thought to mean, though
the politeness was reciprocated.
Not quite the bland leading the
bland, but close enough. What
we have here acknowledges
those rules but is much more an-
gular, abrupt, an elbow to the
ribs. All politeness torn away:
the mask is empty; but the words
that hide behind the words be-
hind the mask are now exposed.
A pity we cannot see them all.

#511 La Gravitation Universelle

The wall is artifice, is illusion,
a masque to keep the forest
at bay — at least it seems that 
way until the hunter gets his 
arm stuck in it & Newton's

law of universal gravitation
kicks in. Or, equally, kicks
out. Allegorically, this could be
a depiction of the "first great 
unification," a realization of

the attraction of particles. Or,
if you're so inclined, another 
allegory, where Isaac Newton
is the hunter, presenting the 1st
Book of his Principia to the 

Royal Society, & Robert Hooke 
is represented by the wall, ac-
cusing Newton of plagiarism 
&, as punishment for the theft, 
attempting to take his hand off.