“Language is the dress of thought.”
Samuel Johnson
I am pretty sure this would be Samuel Johnson of dictionary fame; it makes sense that he tries to understand what words and language are.
And I really do quite love the notion of thoughts being cloaked by words - that words and language provide the visible shape and form to thoughts. For surely that is what a book is? The physical manifestation of somebody's thoughts?
I suppose that the spoken word is also an auditory manifestation, but it is words that cloak and shape thoughts no matter how they are delivered.
For every culture and nation that creates a language - we are trying to find ways to express our thoughts; written or spoken. We use words to cloak our thoughts and and then language to dress them more fully.
Some visual part of me reads this quote and want to try the clothes on - to try putting a summer frock on a thought; or a long skirt or a winter coat or even some socks!
Samuel Johnson
I am pretty sure this would be Samuel Johnson of dictionary fame; it makes sense that he tries to understand what words and language are.
And I really do quite love the notion of thoughts being cloaked by words - that words and language provide the visible shape and form to thoughts. For surely that is what a book is? The physical manifestation of somebody's thoughts?
I suppose that the spoken word is also an auditory manifestation, but it is words that cloak and shape thoughts no matter how they are delivered.
For every culture and nation that creates a language - we are trying to find ways to express our thoughts; written or spoken. We use words to cloak our thoughts and and then language to dress them more fully.
Some visual part of me reads this quote and want to try the clothes on - to try putting a summer frock on a thought; or a long skirt or a winter coat or even some socks!
If this comment is too much of a downer, please feel free to not post it. However, this quote coupled with your "WORDS" recalled a story. A gentle-man told me the story of his retired librarian mom who was struggling with dementia. Her reading material, once rich, became more and more simple. Reader's Digest became a staple and she would put a check mark on each page to show that she had read it as her memory slipped away. For the first time, I see your piece in this context as one of my greatest fears: that my command of words might someday slip away.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this appreciation of language and words ... the very foundation of our selves.
Dear Liz - not too hard or down at all - simply real. I have often thought these works could reflect the loss of language as some slip into dementia; or when women's voices aren't heard or listened to, or in my case, when I was left with nothing to say after my mother's death. The work poignantly reflects those micro moments of holding on, but losing grip...go well.
Deletethe power of words
ReplyDeleteOh yes, Mo, oh yes.
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