poetics and reality

It is important to both experience the beauty of poetic expression and also understand the possible misleading effect of expressing something poetically, figuratively, as opposed to using precise, clear expression.

Webster's definition of poetry: "...writing that formulates a concentrated imaginative awareness of experience in language chosen and arranged to create a specific emotional response through meaning, sound, and rhythm..."

Poetic usage influences the emotions and can often be so inspiring, that use of common language descriptions of things seems low and mundane in comparison. Use of figures of speech are convenient, but can be misunderstood. Many historical religious writings are replete with poetics and figures of speech, which lead "literalists" to read and believe something exactly, that was intended by the author as a figure of speech.

We seek to discover the reality of history, our environment and the workings of the world and greater universe, and though we revel in the emotionally awing experience of poetic expression of these things, we know our grounding is usually more firm in the common language, plain-talking exacting speech. The balanced understanding comes from knowing which world you are in when you are conversing, so meaining isn't distorted or lost.

Our search for clear understanding and communication of the simple answers may seem boring to some, but we find it frees us for even higher levels of poetics and beauty.

Some figures of speech and practices to be mindful of:

analogy - "...inference that if two or more things agree with one another in some respects they will prob. agree in others..."

metaphor - "...a figure of speech in which a word or phrase literally denoting one kind of object or idea is used in place of another to suggest a likeness or analogy between them..." People often use sports metaphors, gambling metaphors, religious metaphors, war metaphors, etc.

simile - "...a figure of speech comparing two unlike things that is often introduced by like or as (as in cheeks like roses)"

parable - "...a usually short fictitious story that illustrates a moral attitude or a religious principle..."

allegory - "...the expression by means of symbolic fictional figures and actions of truths or generalizations about human existence; also : an instance (as in a story or painting) of such expression...a symbolic representation"

from Biblical Figures of Speech, Appendix 6 from the Companion Bible

"... A "Figure of speech" relates to the form in which the words are used. It consists in the fact that a word or words are used out of their ordinary sense, or place, or manner, for the purpose of attracting our attention to what is thus said. A Figure of speech is a designed and legitimate departure from the laws of language, in order to emphasise what is said. Hence in such Figures we have the Holy Spirit's own marking, so to speak, of His own words.

This peculiar form or unusal manner may not be true, or so true, to the literal meaning of the words; but it is more true to their real sense, and truer to the truth.

Figures are never used but for the sake of emphasis. They can never, therefore, be ignored. Ingnorance of Figures of speech has led to the grossest errors, which have been caused either from taking literally what is figurative, or from taking figuratively what is literal.

The Greeks and Romans named some hundreds of such figures. The only work on Biblical Figures of speech in the English language is by Dr. Bullinger 1, from which we have taken the whole of information given here as well as in the marginal notes. He has classified some 217 seperate figures (some of them with many varieties or subdivisions), and has given over 8,000 illustrations.

In Genesis 3:14,15. we have some of the earlist examples. By interpreting these figures literally as meaning "belly", "dust", "heel", "head", we lose the volumes of precious and mysterious truth which they convey and intensify. It is the truth whish is literal, while the words employed are figurative. (See under Appendix 19)