What do you think is more powerful: Physical strength or the power of words?

Answer 1

"I have little to offer thee," whispered the butterfly, "but all that I am is yours."

CC Ryder 1984

My goal with this poetic effort was to try to put as much meaning as I could into the fewest words, and still maintain the musical aspect, the poetics of the poem itself.

I use it in English 101 classes in college to introduce students to the power of words and the importance of word choice. At first glance, it really does not look like much, but when you start to contextualize all its littlest parts, things begin to happen. The first thing to do is to define for yourself the terms found in the poem, things like 'thee', 'whispered', 'butterfly', 'I am'. So, what is a butterfly? Why would a poet pick the butterfly as the focus of the poem? Why does the butterfly whisper instead of saying or shouting or crying. What is this phrase "I am" about here in the poem? Isn't this supposed to be what man heard God say for the first time? How do these major parts fit together.

Most of the time it doesn't take the students long to define a butterfly as something delicate and beautiful, something easily destroyed that flutters instead of flies, kind of like a dance in flight from flower to flower, but the problem with the butterfly is that it doesn't have much in the way of protection. It's so powerless, and it seems as if it knows it, by what it whispered to the listener, or is it the reader, the butterfly is talking to? On balance, it would seem the "I am" persona holds the power by the nature of very phrase itself in terms of its social and religious context. God can do anything anytime anywhere. And about the only thing a butterfly can do is to get crushed in the wind, and that is why it whispers instead of shouts (because it has a small voice in a small powerless body. If you fly then you gotta be light, right?

And these are the most usual responses to the poem, at first. Then, sometimes, not always, and not regularly, someone in the class whispers, saying yeah but wait, "Yeah, but wait, the butterfly also comes out of a cocoon. In fact, a butterfly does not even start out as a butterfly. At first, it's a caterpillar, a bug, ugly being, that you want to squish away its ugliness. It kinda invites its own demise, either into a butterfly or a squished bug. So, then, what does being a caterpillar have to do with the power of the poem, the words there, taking up a line and a half of paper at most. Okay, what is this poem about, again? Oh yeah, it's about the butterfly having not very much to offer to the listener/reader because it's so small and insignificant, right? But what about the fact that there's more to it than being a butterfly making a small offering, nothing really. I wonder if the fact that it comes from being a caterpillar to a butterfly makes a difference in what the poem is trying to say to me? Let's see. "A" caterpillar becomes "the" butterfly in the poem, moving from insignificant ugly to less insignificant beautiful. What is happening actually here? In the simplest fo terms, the caterpillar is changing, yeah, chaning into a butterfly. But why would that be important in the poem, adding to its meaning for the listener/reader? What does it do again? Oh yeah, it changes. Change. What is change? Is it good? Is the fact that the butterfly can change from the caterpillar into a new "self" important? Oh wait. Change is something that an ugly powerless little caterpillar and butterfly experience naturally while humans hate to change, but when change happens it comes from something powerful within the human being. In fact, many people focus on the fact that what makes the human being the most powerful of the species is due to the fact that s/he can change. Humans have the ability to change and that has proved to be their most powerful advantage of the rest of the world. So many extinctions have come from not having the ability to change. Whoah! Now that changes everything in terms of the poetic elements in the poem. Such a short poem carrying a very large point to be made about the nature of man. And, it begs the question, why does it take so much for mankind to change. We humans hate change. Or, is it the social part of ourselves hates change. Society hates change. It seeks status quo, sameness, a level of being that requires nothing.

Now, I think you can see that this poem is so much more than it appears to be. So, I ask you. What do you think is more powerful: Physical strength or the power of words? I don't think it's a hard choice. Do you?

When you can discuss a line and a half of words for three hours or more because what's in those words spills over into much more space than what is on a page of paper, I believe the answer becomes obvious. Words have the power to change people just as the caterpillar changes to become a butterfly, another being, changing from ugly to beautiful. Then when one adds to that the syntactical choices one makes in composing language, to consciously make the effort to cram into a very small space, as much meaning as words can carry, then you not only have reached the essence of what poetics is, but one has reached the goal of words, to change things. They are the dynamic that drives man's being. Man cannot even be physically strong without thinking about what that means first. S/he must define what that means before being able to achieve it.

I hope this clarifies it for ya. I certainly enjoyed thinkin' 'bout the issue.

CC Ryder
utopianwizard

Answer 2

Definitely it is the power of words. That is why the christian bible starts with the phrase. "In the beginning there was the word and the word was with God". If we didn't have so many words about the meaning of The Almighty we also would not have so much world wide conflicts that are very real if not exactly the truth. On a more personal side, there are people all around losing there cool over some word or inconsiderate phrase that someone said or did not say to them. Whole personalities have been jaded because people did not hear the words, "I love you," often. If you have ever said, "as my grandmother used to say"... You contributed to helping a phrase become not only powerful, but immortal. Physical strength fades... Ask the mighty Solomon- again of the Bible.

Answer 3

Insufficient data to draw a conclusion - you have to define power. But if you take a long view, words can be directed to drive physical strength - you have the power to influence the actions of others - which is scaleable. If you are comparing one isolated incident - at the extreme end of the spectrum physical strength can kill faster than words.

Answer 4

I believe personally the power of words will do more damage than physical strength. My reasoning for this is supported by lots of experience. If one thinks of all the negative aspects of a situation or person per say, you can do more harm and break away their standing guard with guilt tripping and bringing up the past.

Answer 5

I think the power of words because you can destroy a person legacy with words. I yes physical strength can kill a person but with words you kill how a person lives on in the mind of others for years to come.

Answer 6

It depends who you are talking to or fighting with or something. For girls, more the power of words. But for guys, more the power of Physical strength.

Answer 7

I disagree, words can kill people just as well as strength. Some examples are cults. Some cults beliefs which are passed in words are harmful to individuals. Another example would be someone could hire someone else to hurt another individual. They would negotiate that through words as well. Strenght is an individaul measurement meaning that most of the times you are referring to one person when referring to strenght. The power of words can be measured in mass. Word of mouth is a powerful too. I would say words are more powerful.

Answer 8

The power of words.

Answer 9

Words.

"Death and life are in the power of the tongue..." (The greatest good and the greatest harm are in the power fo the tongue.)

"A lying toungue hates those it crushes, and a flattering mouth works ruin."

James provided several analogies that show how the tongue, even though small, has the power to control one's whole person and influence everything in his life.

"Now if we put the bits into the horses' mouths so that they will obey us, we direct their entire body as well. Look at the ships also, though they are so great and are driven by strong winds, are still directed by a very small rudder wherever the inclination of the pilot desires. So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things. See how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire!"

Answer 10

Depends.... i think as far as changing things or touching someones feelings, words have more power.... but physical strength.... can kill a person or a living thing.

Answer 11

Physical strength. Because it takes physical strength to produce words, but not words to produce physical strength.