Hello again, and welcome back to An Aesthetic Education. Recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about words. How wonderful it is that simply by listening to these words we can engage in a discourse, a sharing of ideas and beliefs, and in a small way begin to understand ideas and feelings that are seemingly impossible to fully express. I have always been fascinated by language, not in a technical sense, but in the sense of finding beauty in the expression of ideas of truth. Language is an exceptional thing that we tend to take for granted. Words, those series of sounds that carry so much weight, are too often said without consideration or actual thought. Words are the root of all things. When we use them so unwittingly, when we throw around words like truth, beauty, love, or hate, without even considering what they truly mean, we show a lack of respect. Because words deserve respect. As Tom Stoppard said, “if you get the right ones in the right order, you can nudge the world a little.”
Of course, we all know that language and our use of words is far from static. Words are constantly changing, constantly evolving. They are always moving and flying about dictating our perception and appreciation for life and its moments. The origin of a word, its root, which is the point that first gave our feelings, our beliefs meaning, is frequently forgotten. Let’s for a brief moment indulge in a little study of etymology and look at the origin of the word Root. The word Root is taken from the early Scandinavian word Rot, which is a similar word across old Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian.Let’s start with the primary definition, the first part of any definition of the word Root refers to the part of the plant that persists underground that conveys water and nutrients. The second definition refers to the idea upon or by which a person or thing is established or supported; the means of continuance or growth of something. Two distinct things, one a practical object that has direct reference to a thing that we can see and identify. If you were to ask most people where the roots of a plant are located or what they might look like everyone would have a general idea. Yet, the second part is something abstract, it’s an idea about the origins of something. How things in our world and in our experiences build upon each other. So how is it that this abstraction, this idea that we are trying to explain through language can utilize the same word as the word for the part of the plant that brings water and nutrients?
To better understand and possibly answer this question, I want to look at the etymology of one other word. True. The origin of the word True is actually the word Tree or more precisely the old English trēow. As we can see from our two examples, all language contains our thoughts, opinions, and emotions, which is actually all based upon a deeply felt and expressed symbolism. The word True has its origins from the word Tree because those things that we hold to be true are “deeply rooted within the world”. You see there is an interconnection between the use of our words and how the roots of a plant symbolize something that has taken a hold in our world. Roots reach deep into the land and find their place there. Within that environment they receive nutrients and water allowing them to thrive. Ideas that are true, that are based on those deep abiding truths, which are as real as the soil from which they receive their source of life are built deep into the fabric of our existence. Language and the words that we use are the embodiment of these much larger and far older ideas. That is why I believe it is of paramount importance to understand words and respect them. Only then can you even begin to hope that you might be able to understand and express a moral and beautiful truth.
I believe that part of the reason why words and our understanding of them have developed in such a way dates back to the origins of many of our modern languages, the end of the Dark Ages and the Middle Ages. As I mentioned in an earlier episode, Medieval Man lived a life filled with symbolism and a desire to recognize one’s place within the hierarchy of creation. It is little wonder then, that the words they created were so connected to and deeply symbolic of the world and the universe as they perceived it. To illustrate this point and to understand the impact of words within that context, let’s read a portion of a poem written by a man who single handedly did more to foster the creation of art and beauty than any other at the height of the Florentine Renaissance, Lorenzo De’ Medici.
The Supreme Good by Lorenzo De’ Medici can be heard in the podcast recording.
The words of Lorenzo De’ Medici are ones that we all have expressed at various points in our lives. A tiredness and a questioning of one’s place. A need for a break from the trials and tribulations of everyday life. A desire to step away from oneself. This is a poem filled with symbolism and classical references. Conjuring imagery that not only paints a picture of the natural world, but the complex layers of human interaction that occur in it. It’s within that framework by harkening towards images of nature that beauty is created through the words and Lorenzo is able to express the emotional struggle that is finding satisfaction with one’s situation. There is fascinating rationalization within the first part of this poem between an individual’s wants and desires and reality. The seemingly all-knowing and all-powerful Lorenzo De’ Medici is taught a moral truth by a humble shepherd. The truth being that no man should covet what someone else has, with the acknowledgment that of course man will always be slightly unsatisfied with his lot. The source of the words are irrelevant, it does not matter that they do not come from a man of a higher social class or one with a status that entitles them to deference. All that matters is that the words that are spoken represent a truth, an actual truth. Not one of perception or self-interest, but one that is universal and reflective of a wider and all-encompassing experience. The words of the shepherd are born of experience, the harsher one’s of life perhaps, but ones that still allowed him to learn and understand the beauty in this world. The course of this poem continues as Lorenzo searches for the words to express The Supreme Good. The good that can exist within a person and that through their soul and through their work be reflected on the world.
At the very end of the poem Lorenzo says:
May it blaze with joy in you, for it is led
To you, unbounded Goodness, Truth, and Life,
Through you, the Way, who guides us to this good.
And make us love your boundless beauty, free
Of any care that might the heart torment.
Oh sovereign Good, inciting every mind,
Let us enjoy you always, avid yet content.
In our time we have forgotten the power and the roots of our words. We have distanced ourselves from their meaning and in the process lost sight of Goodness, Truth, and Life. Instead, we have damaged those universal words of experience by adding the determiner, “my”. My Truth, My Life. Those additions do not reflect the power and respect that those words deserve. The distortion of words, the loss of meaning, the inability to understand or express universal and moral truths means that we will lose the ability to find and create beauty. Lorenzo De’ Medici understood better than anyone else the need for humanity to find themselves surrounded by art and beauty. The cynic will say he supported the artists to bring glory to himself and exert political control over Florence. The cynic though is incapable of seeing true goodness or unselfishness in any act of humanity as they themselves would be incapable of such an action. One only has to look at what was created in Florence under the rule of the Medici in comparison to what was created under the rule Savonarola, who came to power in Florence after the death of Lorenzo. An open heart and a love of beauty is needed to create an environment capable of allowing for the creation of art. The words that we say, the words that we use, the power that we give them reflect our values and our society. When we lose the root to those words, we lose our connection to the past. If we lose our connection and appreciation of the past, then we will inevitably lose our future. But if we can spend our days in goodness and find joy and beauty in words of truth then the days ahead may yet be as good as those that have come before.