2 ESSAYS – WORDS

Any word, every word in language, every circumstance, becomes poetic in the hands of a higher thought. Ralph Waldo Emerson, Letters and Social Aims: Poetry and Imagination

We cannot live without air and water, without food and drink. Somehow or other, thoughts come into or out of our brains.  Thoughts are expressed and conveyed through words, spoken or written. We use so many of them each day and in so many contexts, we seldom realize their relevance and important, indeed their indispensability for us as social beings.

Words are the backbone of all the prose and poetry that enrich our lives. Every novel and every essay, every sonnet and every epic is built on words.  Words are indispensable for the plays that entertain and the philosophy that makes us reflective. Every prayer and hymn is like a string of word-pearls. Words can also be the source of humor. Written words conquer space and time, for what is written can be transported to long distances and stay on for centuries, even millennia.

Cristopher Marlow wrote in Quickening:

  Such little, puny things are words in rhyme:

  Poor feeble loops and strokes as frail as hairs;

You see them printed here, and mark their chime,

And turn to your more durable affairs.

So let us pay homage to words through words.

Words, words, I love all words.

They open for me whole new worlds.

Words can sound or just be silent,

Make us vicious, and even violent.

They can shock, and be daring,

They can soothe, be inspiring.

They can be lofty, they can be lovely,

They can be uttered clearly and coolly.

Spoken with anger, stated as rules

By people wise, and even fools.

They can be rich and be readable

They can be powerful, and be punnable,

Words are interesting, informative,

Imaginative, instigative.

Words can be crude or be colorful,

They can be big and be beautiful,

Long and separable,

Short or laughable.

Lots of fun from words I reap.

They’re really, really, really cheap.

For dollars few one can hook

Thousands of words in a big fat book.