Lawrence Hall, HSG
On the Unlocking of
Words
Their leader answered him, Beowulf unlocking
Words from deep in his breast: "We are
Geats…”
-Beowulf to the Danish Coast Watcher
One does not imagine President Roosevelt, on the 8th
of December in 1941, skipping his appearance before Congress and, wearing knee
pants, a slogan tee, and some tats and piercings while blocking Pennsylvania
Avenue and chanting, “Hey, hey! Ho, ho! Hirohito has got to go!”
In his four-minute speech to Congress, President Roosevelt
eloquently stated the facts of Japan’s simultaneous aggressions against American
and British territories throughout the far east, and then simply asked Congress
for a declaration of war. He did not talk about himself or his mood or his
feelings; he addressed the topic. More than that, he addressed the topic with
words that, because of their simplicity, were powerful.
The art of oratory is little studied now, and so speeches
are seldom about stating the facts and coming to a conclusion, but rather a
matter of posturing and yelling and chanting.
The ultimate failure to persuade is in the use of a
bullhorn. When a speaker at a rally or protest lifts up a bullhorn instead of
his heart, he has demonstrated that he has nothing to say that will appeal to the
intelligence of his hearers, and is now going to make loud noises as camouflage
for his inadequacies.
Good speakers study the great ones, and learn from them: primary
and secondary epics, Shakespeare’s speeches, especially in Julius Caesar,
Macbeth, and Henry V, Macaulay’s Lays of Ancient Rome,
Prime Minister Churchill, President Roosevelt, President Kennedy, Reverend
King, and President Reagan.
In Beowulf, for example, our hero is confronted by a Danish
coast watcher who says, in the strong cadence of the four-beat Old English
line:
“…You! Tell me your name,
And your father's; no spies go
further onto
Danish Soil than you've come
already. Strangers,
From wherever it was you sailed,
tell it,
And tell it quickly, the quicker
the better,
I say, for us all. Speak,
say
Exactly who you are, and from
where, and why.”
Beowulf responds:
Their leader answered him,
Beowulf unlocking
Words from deep in his
breast:
"We are Geats…
…And we have come seeking
Your prince, Healfdane's son,
protector
Of this people, only in
friendship: instruct us,
Watchman, help us with your
words! Our errand
Is a great one, our business
with the glorious king
Of the Danes no secret…”
After more of this polite but firm back-and-forth, the coast
watcher says,
"A soldier should know the
difference between words
And deeds, and keep that
knowledge clear
In his brain. I believe your
words, I trust in
Your friendship. Go forward,
weapons and armor
And all, on into Denmark. I'll
guide you…”
(Beowulf- Burton Raffel - Google Docs)
We hear little such good, plain, meaningful language these
days, either in our streets or in those famous halls of power or in the
unfortunate presentations that constitute popular culture just now. Instead we the
people are often subjected to shouting, screaming, chanting, and unfocused
babbling that seems to echo from, in Milton’s poetic re-naming of (Newark, New
Jersey), Pandaemonium.
The good use of language is important. We need to hear each
other, not yelp at each other. And keep it short. There are many variants of
this old wheeze: An effective speaker must be focused, be clear, be respectful,
and be seated.
Let us, like Beowulf, unlock from our hearts good words as a
form of respect for each other.
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