Metaphor. Rhythm. Metaphysics. Shakespeare.
To turn a beautiful phrase leads to a great feeling of satisfying intellectual progress, getting speedily ahead with meaning, advancing insightful understanding. And if it scans, all the better for emotional impact. I have buried some sonnets in the text of the plays (love that form!), but displayed without the appearance of verse.
"Symbolism". Symbols make the intangible tangible with great economy, going from phenomena to noumena.
Much of the time, the story is not what you are saying, but how you tell it. That's the journey being the focus, not the destination. [Aside:] I realize my hypocrisy in one context. On a trip with the family, I want to get there. No time to stop and smell the posies. But in written composition, I enjoy the journey as much as the dénouement.
There is an alternative to the scientific way of knowing fact. The truth of poetry steps outside the bonds of science. Scientists use metaphor to explain the facts. They are compelled to, by the very immense nature of their subject matter. Astronomers are particularly under pressure to explain their concepts of things so incomprehensible. A philosopher once said, the final tuft and essence of science is art. I want to emulate Shakespeare. I see nothing wrong with that grandiose incentive. I fall short all the time and blame it on my "age".Metaphor. Metaphysics. Shakespearean inspiration. Lacking the iambic pentameter rhythm. But then I am not he.
Symbolism. Most dreams, symbol laden as they are, hold little mystery for me. In my latest dream, I am standing around in my underwear in the company of people who are taller than I, and I am remarking to them about the coziness of their guest accomodations across the way. My insight tells me, and it was immediately apparent on awaking, that deep down I have a serious concern about being regarded as an intellectual exhibitionist, that going on the web with this material conflicts with my basic modesty, and who am I to behave like this since I am one ego in billions. I prefer to be the stage manager behind the scenes; nevertheless, act I must. In fact, I was a stage manager in high school, but I was talked into taking a part in the junior class play. I dropped some lines. I couldn't pass on the experience, and they needed males.
Mostly I do not bother others with my interpretations of the symbolism in their dreams, for they have disclosed something about them that may embarrass them and they may not want to hear, and I hold an advantage of knowing what they may not.
In any progress toward learning the grammar of all life, a basic understanding of the philosophy of science is essential. My high school and college classes in science did not teach me the right things. The revered Dr. Clarence T. Simon at Northwestern University grounded me in the philosophy of science, the nature of operational definition and the physiology and psychology of communication. The honored Dr. Karl F. Robinson at N.U. required definition by setting up lists of criteria. I learned the grammars of English, German and French, with transfer of training to writing and speaking. I learned English grammar by parsing at Indiana U. I am put on edge quite often in the forms of what I read and hear these days. "The media is..." Jay Leno's "Headlines." My style may be correct, but it also may sound stilted in these times of slippage. I understand that the language will evolve. Newer species of birds and words are emerging all the time. But I see the loss (the cup being half empty).
(Last updated on January 30, 2006 )