61r

[rubric, in alternating red and blue letters, enclosed in penwork box tinted yellow: LIBER . SECUNDUS ⸫~]

DI te signor superno habian parlato
E di tuo cieli e di lor influentia
Quanto per gratia ci n’ai demostrato
[marginal rubric: Exordio] Or piacia a la benigna tua clementia
Monstraci li elimenti e lor stato
E le stagion de l’anno e lor sementia
Lor qualita e lor generationi
E di corpi mortali le complesioni

[rubric: Elementi.]

¶ Tu con mesure li elementi legi
Suo termine a ciascun hai stabilito
E l’un da l’altro chiaramente spegi
El fuoco e ’l primo nel piu alto sito
Non conceduto a lui che ’ngiu sp si piegi
Ma per natura quanto po e salito
La soa spera e sotto il cielo de la luna
E qui non a in si mistura alcuna

[rubric: Fuocho]

¶ La vista humana veder non poterebbe
Perche viepiu che l’aria egli e purissimo
Ma chi vi s’apressa si sentirebbe
El caldo suo chocente e ardentissimo
Ogni cossa legier vi passarebbe
Sença violentia perche -e- sotilissimo
Poi sotto lui e la spera de l’aria
La qual -e- molto in suo termine varia

[initial: Opening initial /D/, 3 lines, in blue with red pen flourishing.]

BOOK TWO

Of you, Highest Lord, we spoke,
and of your heavens and their influence—
as much [of them] as you have shown us by your grace.
{Preamble} Now let your kind benevolence
show us the elements and their nature,
the seasons of the year and what they sow,
their qualities, and what they reap,
and the complexions of living bodies.^{*In medieval medical theory, a body's "complexion" was the combination of hot, cold, moist, and dry qualities that determined a person's temperament or personality.}

Elements

You combine the elements in good measure:
you have established limits for each,
and you separate them clearly, one from the other.
Fire is first, located in the highest position,
unreachable by those below;
rather, by its nature, it ascends as high as possible.
Its sphere is under the sphere of the moon
yet here they do not commingle.

Fire

It is not visible to human sight
because it is extremely pure—far more than air—
but someone who approaches it would
feel its burning and fiery heat.
Anything could pass through it easily,
without effort, because it is very thin.
Next, under it is the sphere of air,
which is extremely variable within its own boundaries.

[rubric, in alternating red and blue letters, enclosed in penwork box tinted yellow: LIBER . SECUNDUS ⸫~]

DI te signor superno habian parlato
E di tuo cieli e di lor influentia
Quanto per gratia ci n’ai demostrato
[marginal rubric: Exordio] Or piacia a la benigna tua clementia
Monstraci li elimenti e lor stato
E le stagion de l’anno e lor sementia
Lor qualita e lor generationi
E di corpi mortali le complesioni

[rubric: Elementi.]

¶ Tu con mesure li elementi legi
Suo termine a ciascun hai stabilito
E l’un da l’altro chiaramente spegi
El fuoco e ’l primo nel piu alto sito
Non conceduto a lui che ’ngiu sp si piegi
Ma per natura quanto po e salito
La soa spera e sotto il cielo de la luna
E qui non a in si mistura alcuna

[rubric: Fuocho]

¶ La vista humana veder non poterebbe
Perche viepiu che l’aria egli e purissimo
Ma chi vi s’apressa si sentirebbe
El caldo suo chocente e ardentissimo
Ogni cossa legier vi passarebbe
Sença violentia perche -e- sotilissimo
Poi sotto lui e la spera de l’aria
La qual -e- molto in suo termine varia

[initial: Opening initial /D/, 3 lines, in blue with red pen flourishing.]

BOOK TWO

Of you, Highest Lord, we spoke,
and of your heavens and their influence—
as much [of them] as you have shown us by your grace.
{Preamble} Now let your kind benevolence
show us the elements and their nature,
the seasons of the year and what they sow,
their qualities, and what they reap,
and the complexions of living bodies.^{*In medieval medical theory, a body's "complexion" was the combination of hot, cold, moist, and dry qualities that determined a person's temperament or personality.}

Elements

You combine the elements in good measure:
you have established limits for each,
and you separate them clearly, one from the other.
Fire is first, located in the highest position,
unreachable by those below;
rather, by its nature, it ascends as high as possible.
Its sphere is under the sphere of the moon
yet here they do not commingle.

Fire

It is not visible to human sight
because it is extremely pure—far more than air—
but someone who approaches it would
feel its burning and fiery heat.
Anything could pass through it easily,
without effort, because it is very thin.
Next, under it is the sphere of air
which is, within its boundaries, quite changeable.