It is a difficult thing. Writing or speaking anything is a powerful expression of the ego. "I" is the most self-assertive word of all, I guess. Notice JHVH referred to himself as I AM. His name was so Holy that he was referred to by pious Jews as "Adonai" ("Lord") and his personal name was never pronounced. When one refers to himself in prayers as "Have mercy on this miserable sinner" he is abasing himself. When one closed a letter with, "Your most obedient servant," he was engaged in (mock) humility. Today, in a high democratic age, we are usually more egalitarian in our language, and show little exaggeration in our references to others. We recognize that we are not any better in essence that anyone else, and that it is ridiculous to pretend that we. This puts the Queen of England in a difficult position, but not you or me. We are simply "I" and she is, of course, "We". You and I are simply "you" and she is "your Majesty."
(Charleston, S.C.)
I thank my God on bended knee,
That I am half Middleton and half Huger (pronounced "U G")
(Boston)
Here's to the town of old Boston,
The home of the bean and the cod,
Where Cabots speak only to Lowells (two local aristocratic families)
And Lowells speak only to God.
(New Haven)
Here's to the town of New Haven,
The home of the truth and the light. ("Lux et Veritas" = Yale motto)
Where God speaks to Jones,
In the very same tones,
That he uses with Hadley and Dwight. (two local aristocratic families) |
