So Shall It Be Written...
/So Shall It Be Written, So Shall It Be Done
Aren't all command proclamations written in concrete?
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What a phrase! You can almost hear the roll of thunder behind the words. The decree precludes any possibility of negotiation or exception. Are there any among us who would not like to have such power? Even timid people secretly wish they could say, “Because I said so, that’s why”.
Beside the appealing prompt of power there is another word in the phrase that deserves attention - Written.
There is a confident implication to words set down in print. Even if backed by no more than opinion, the written word has authority the spoken word lacks. That may be for no other reason than our expectation that important things get written down.
Therefore, whatever is written has a certain built-in cachet, though it’s a cachet that isn’t necessarily deserved.
Written assertions intend persuasion, only readers can make it so. Reader reaction seals the deal. Readers may agree, disagree, stop reading, or write a rejoinder. Dr. Johnson wrote, “He that writes may be considered a kind of general challenger whom everyone has a right to attack”.
Of course, The kind of writing Dr. Johnson refers to is discursive prose.
Other kinds of writing are more insular. Writers who write diaries expect no readers; in fact, most would be terrified at the thought. Writers who write history, how-to, self-help, and requiems, expect appreciative readers. Writers of poems, stories, and reflection are of a different class. They’d like to be read, but they don’t really require any readers at all.
Writers without readers are talking to themselves.
That’s not necessarily a problem. Many writers use writing as a way to explain their own thoughts to themselves. If a reader listens-in, it’s a bonus.
“So shall it be written/ So shall it be done”, only has real clout when the words are backed with overwhelming power. Actually, words aren’t needed by overwhelming power, gesture is usually enough.
The written word affects only the mind.
The written word mirrors the world, but is not of the world. It’s altogether unnatural.
It compels loose impulse and emotion into coherent thought. It lives indefinitely by allowing the past to speak to the future. It entertains, instructs, and evaluates. It’s almost magical.
It’s only marginally useful at command proclamation.
By K. L. Shipley
Website: https://www.eclecticessays.com