THE SYSTEM OF HUMORS & POETIC FORM

The system of four humors formalized by the Greeks is also a "poetic template" that guides the construction and perception of works of art. Using the descriptors of hot/wet, hot/dry, cold/wet, and cold/dry for blood, choler, phlegm, and melancholy reveals a "dry line" set in counterpoint against a narrative "wet line" -- very useful for poets and artists who wish to establish a chiastic fugue between life and fate.