S
ometimes that well-worn adage doesn’t really mean what our literal-minded, text-focused, Google-driven world thinks it means. One reason this happens is that, quite simply, language evolves.

To further complicate matters, as with books, all too often the context of these popular wisdoms has been forgotten. Though these aphorisms may still contain some good advice, their original message is typically richer and more profound than our contemporary interpretation.

This Book is Banned proffers a few proverbs, sayings, and other pearls of wisdom that have been “unplugged,” as it were. We’ve rebooted, gone back-to-basics, and re-discovered their intended message. For example:

Charity Begins at Home

“Charity begins at home.” We’ve all heard the expression. Usually in response to financial aid going to other nations. Or when we’re asked to donate to an organization that serves people outside our immediate circle.

“Charity begins at home” is effectively understood to mean charity ends at home. Once again, however, that is precisely the opposite of what this aphorism is actually meant to convey.

Misunderstanding of the adage “charity begins at home” hinges on a shift in the interpretation of the word charity. These days, charity is understood as almsgiving, monetary donations to provide help for those in need – typically through organizations set up to do so.

But charity’s original meaning can be traced back to the 4th Century, when St. Jerome translated the Bible from Greek into Latin. [1] And, he translated the Greek agape (ἀγάπη) into the Latin charitas.

Charity is described as “a state and disposition of the heart.”[2] It is defined as the spirit of universal good-will that promotes a concern for the welfare of others, and as a result, calls good deeds into action. Monetary contributions are the manifestation of this altruistic state.[3]

The phrase “Charity begins at home” is often thought to have biblical origins, but it does not. The original understanding of charity is, however, considered a theological virtue. Sir Thomas Browne is credited with coining the phrase in his 1643 spiritual testament titled Religio Medici.[4]

Browne begins his observations on the virtue of charity by stating that, without it, “Faith is a meer notion.”[5] He continues by noting:

I have ever endeavoured to nourish the mercifull disposition, and humane inclination I borrowed from my Parents, and regulate it to the written and prescribed Lawes of Charity.[6]

In short, he learned the virtuous disposition known as charity, and received instruction about how to put it into practical action from his parents. Hence, “charity begins at home.”

Browne also points out that an unwillingness to help those in need is nothing short of sinful. That sin being pride, you know, one of the seven deadlies. Because it’s only “nimbler & conceited heads, that never [look] a degree beyond their nests.”[7]

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Check out more unplugged proverbs, sayings,
and other pearls of wisdom here.

#aphorisms unplugged            #the art of reading

Endnotes:

[1] Taggart, Deborah R. “Charity.” Learning to Give.org    https://www.learningtogive.org/resources/charity

[2] Rev. T. H. Stokoe, M.A. The Use and Abuse of the Proverb, “Charity begins at home.” London: John Henry and James Parker, 1859. Pg 9.

[3] Rev. T. H. Stokoe, M.A. The Use and Abuse of the Proverb, “Charity begins at home.” London: John Henry and James Parker, 1859. Pg 8.

[4] Kastan, David Scott. “How This World Goes: On Shakespeare and Charity.” April 23, 2020. Beinecke Rare book & Manuscript Library.
https://beinecke.library.yale.edu/article/how-world-goes-david-scott-kastan-shakespeare-and-charity

[5] Sir Thomas Browne. Religio Medici. 1642.The Second Part. Section 1.
https://penelope.uchicago.edu/relmed/relmed.html

[6] Sir Thomas Browne. Religio Medici. 1642.The Second Part. Section 1.
https://penelope.uchicago.edu/relmed/relmed.html

[7] Sir Thomas Browne. Religio Medici. 1642.The Second Part. Section 8.
https://penelope.uchicago.edu/relmed/relmed.html

Image:

Charity Begins at Home:  Photo by Tim Marshall on Unsplash      Edited.

.
ometimes that well-worn adage doesn’t really mean what our literal-minded, text-focused, Google-driven world thinks it means. One reason this happens is that, quite simply, language evolves. To further complicate matters, all too often the context of these popular wisdoms has been forgotten.

In the case of  “I took the road less traveled by, and that has made all the difference,” the aphorism comes from a poem that is typically misinterpreted.

The closing lines of Robert Frost’s poem The Road Not Taken are ubiquitous in American culture as an anthem of independence. We’ve seen this verse printed on t-shirts, coffee mugs, and refrigerator magnets just to name a few.

These words have been borrowed for everything from high-school commencement speeches to product advertisements, to episode titles of over a dozen television series, and more.[1]

But, The Road Not Taken isn’t actually a paean of bold self-assertion and uniqueness. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. As Frost himself warned audiences, “you have to be careful of that one; it’s a tricky poem – very tricky.”[2] Even the person who inspired the poem didn’t “get it” at first.

What Inspired The Road Not Taken?

As with prose literature, when engaging poetry the author and their life experience comes into play.  Inspiration for The Road Not Taken came from Frost’s mirth over a personality trait of his closest friend in England, Edward Thomas.

While Frost was living in Gloucester, he and Thomas would take long walks through the countryside together. Repeatedly, Thomas would choose a route on the promise of showing his American friend rare wild-flowers or birds’ eggs, only to have the walk end in laments and self-reproach when his chosen path failed to produce any such marvels. Ribbing Thomas after one of their best flower-gathering walks, Frost chided, “No matter which road you take, you’ll always sigh, and wish you’d taken another.”[3]

After Frost returned to the U.S., where he finished The Road Not Taken, he sent a copy to Thomas. Frost’s expectation was that his friend would understand the poem as a joke, and respond with something along the lines of “very funny”…  “stop teasing me.” But as noted above, that isn’t what happened.

Instead, Thomas praised the poem, his remarks indicating he missed the joke. Much to Frost’s chagrin, he would have to explain to Thomas that he’d been the butt of a joke. And, not surprisingly, Thomas didn’t find it the least bit funny. Frost’s joke had pricked Thomas’ already wavering confidence.

None too pleased, Thomas declared he doubted anyone would see the poem as a joke unless they had Frost to personally guide them through it. Frost came to realize just how tricky The Road Not Taken is when he read it for a group of college students – who didn’t get it either. Frost ultimately extended a “Mea culpa” to his good friend.[4]

It’s a Tricky Poem… Very Tricky

A careful reading begins with Frost’s title. His poem isn’t called The Road Less Traveled, though it’s often mistaken to be. Rather, it is titled The Road Not Taken. So, the poem is definitely not about the road the narrator chose to walk, less-traveled or otherwise.

When The Road Not Taken is read carefully, it becomes apparent that the poem functions on a fluctuating rhythm, one that reflects indecisiveness. More significantly, it is evident that the narrator isn’t simply telling us about these vacillating perspectives, he’s experiencing these emotions in real time.

But, here’s where Frost’s trickiness can trip up a reader. Given the way Frost structured The Road Not Taken, when read superficially it can act as a verbal thaumatrope – rotating two opposed visions in such a way that they, deceivingly, seem to merge.

Much like the Victorian-era toy in which two objects drawn on opposite sides of a card – a bird and a cage for instance – are, by quick spinning motion, made to appear as a single image of the bird in a cage.[5] In the case of The Road Not Taken, the illusion is that the poem is from a consistent viewpoint rather than fluctuating perspectives.

But if we engage Frost’s work deeply, and take it line-by-line, we can see the shifts in perspective that lead to the more nuanced understanding Frost indicated.

Line 1: Frost introduces his primary symbol, diverging roads in the woods.

Lines 2-3: The speaker expresses regret for the human limitation that restricts his travel to one road, forcing him to choose between them. It’s clear that making a choice isn’t easy for him, since “long I stood” before reaching a decision.

Lines 4-5: He examines one road as well as he can, but information is limited because the road takes a turn into an area covered by low-lying vegetation.

Lines 6-8: At first blush, these lines seem to suggest the speaker finds the second path a more attractive choice because it appears no one had traversed it recently.

Lines 9-12: Here’s a tricky bit. The speaker backpedals, pointing out that this road is no more or less worn that the first one, that they both “equally lay in leaves no step had trodden black.”

Lines 13-15: Another slippery passage – the speaker tells himself he’ll take a walk on the first road another day. Given the exclamation point at the end of this line, he’s clearly excited about having solved his dilemma.  But, “knowing how way leads to way,” he immediately reverses himself, doubting if “I should ever come back.”

Lines 16-20: The tone clearly shifts here. The speaker is no longer in the moment. Rather, he imagines himself in the future, near the end of his days, talking about the life he’s lived. In perhaps the most subtle nugget of all, the speaker will be telling his audience that “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.”

The “I—I” ever-so-deftly suggests a pause before the speaker recounts the story, as if he’s taking a beat to remember/decide how to characterize his choice.[7]

Psychologically Speaking

The Latin origin of the verb “to decide” means to cut off (de=off, caedere=cut). The act of deciding is supposed to cut off the deliberation process after a choice has been made. But psychologically, that isn’t the way it works. Instead, the deliberation process actually binds the options together in our memory, and the unchosen option lingers in our minds.

This psychological development leads to an inverse inference of value. What this means is…  after we realize the consequences of our decision, the perceived value of the unchosen option is inversely related to that outcome. And the stronger our memory is of deliberating between options, the greater the disparity between the value attributed to the chosen and unchosen options.

For example, if Frost’s speaker ended up having a lovely walk on the road he ultimately chose, he’ll remember the other road as having been inferior in some way even if it wasn’t.[8] This is, of course, precisely what occurs in the closing lines of The Road Not Taken.

Remember, he told us both roads were equally fair and equally traveled. And don’t forget the speaker’s pause, as he mines his memory before recounting his story in the future. Plus, we end where we began our examination of The Road Not Taken, by noting that Frost’s title refers to the road his speaker didn’t choose.

So, rather than being an anthem of independence, Frost’s The Road Not Taken is an ode to the decision-making process, and how that activity effects memory.

#aphorisms unplugged           #the art of reading

Endnotes:

[1] Orr, David. “The Most Misread Poem in America.” September 11, 2015. The Paris Review.

[2] Thompson, Lawrance. Selected Letters of Robert Frost. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1952. Pg xv. https://ia801500.us.archive.org/15/items/in.ernet.dli.2015.111084/2015.111084.Selected-Letters-Of-Robert-Frost_text.pdf

[3] Thompson, Lawrance. Robert Frost: A biography. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1981. Pg 234.

Thompson, Lawrance. Selected Letters of Robert Frost. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1952. Pg xiv. https://ia801500.us.archive.org/15/items/in.ernet.dli.2015.111084/2015.111084.Selected-Letters-Of-Robert-Frost_text.pdf

Hollis, Matthew. “Edward Thomas, Robert Frost and the road to war.” July 26, 2011. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/jul/29/robert-frost-edward-thomas-poetry

[4] Hollis, Matthew. “Edward Thomas, Robert Frost and the road to war.” July 26, 2011. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/jul/29/robert-frost-edward-thomas-poetry

[5] Orr, David. “You’re Probably Misreading Robert Frost’s Most Famous Poem.” August 18, 2016. Literary Hub. https://lithub.com/youre-probably-misreading-robert-frosts-most-famous-poem/#:~:text=Because%20the%20poem%20isn’t,the%20road%20he%20never%20tried.

[6] Frost, Robert. “The Road Not Taken.” The Atlantic Magazine. August 1915, Pg. 223.

[7] “The Road Not Taken.” Encyclopedia.com https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/road-not-taken

[8] Natalie Biderman, and Daphna Shohamy. “Memory and decision making interact to shape the value of unchosen options.” Nature Communications. 12, 4648 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-24907-x

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Images:

The Road Not Taken. iStock.com/credit: Alex

What Inspired The Road Not Taken? Boulter, Liz. “Roads taken: the Gloucrstershire footpaths that were the making of Robert Frost.” The Guardian. June, 2021.  https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2021/jun/14/walking-gloucestershire-footpaths-making-of-robert-frost-and-revolutionary-poets

It’a a Tricky Poem… Very Tricky  https://teacherswebresources.com/2016/03/28/victorian-thaumatrope/  

Taking it Line by Line Photo by Johnny Briggs on Unsplash

Psychologically Speaking  Photo by Yeshi Kangrang on Unsplash

ll too often the context of popular expressions has been forgotten. Their original message is typically richer and more profound than our contemporary interpretation.

This Book is Banned proffers a few proverbs, sayings, and other pearls of wisdom that have been “unplugged,” as it were. We’ve rebooted, gone back-to-basics, and re-discovered their intended message. In recognition of Juneteenth, we’re taking a look at the expression…

It’s a Cakewalk.

The phrase “It’s a cakewalk” is typically used to mean something so easy success is certain –  like Shakespeare getting an A in English class. It’s ironic, however, that this expression has come to mean something that’s absurdly easy, because the origin of this folk form is anything but easy.

These days a cakewalk is a musical game where participants promenade in a circle comprised of numbered spaces where players land when the music stops. If the number you end up on is drawn by the caller you win, and your prize is – you guessed it —a cake.[1]

The origin of the cakewalk, however, is dark and much more complicated than this appropriated version. Oral histories of enslaved people reveal that the cakewalk originated in the antebellum slave quarters of Southern plantations.[2]

The parents of ragtime musician Shepard Edmonds shared memories of their enslavement with him, and he explained that the dance typically took place on Sundays, when there was little work to be done. It was performed by young and old alike, in “hand-me-down finery,” and involved a prancing walk, high kicks, and personalized shuffles.[3]

Edmonds characterized the cakewalk as a “takeoff on the high manners of the folks in the ‘big house’.”[4]  The story that actor Leigh Whipple related about his childhood nurse, however, is more direct. Her account ends with the statement “we used to mock them, every step.”[5]

Plantation owners gathered around to watch the fun, but they clearly missed the satirical point. For, Edmonds’ parents also indicated that competition among enslaved couples “started with the master giving a cake to the couple that did the proudest movement” – hence the term cakewalk.[6]

Exceptional dancers were often taken from one plantation to another to compete in dancing contests with other enslaved Africans. Such competitions were typically betting events for the plantation owners, not unlike betting on the winner of a horserace.[7]

After the Civil War, the cakewalk became a mainstay of the minstrel show, with lavish, mammoth productions often in the guise of a “walkaround finale.”[8] With this turn of events, the cakewalk found a much wider audience, and it was so popular it became a fad.

In the meantime, a radically new form of music was emerging. Piano ragtime was an overnight obsession, and it rode in on the cakewalk.[9] Legendary ragtime composer Scott Joplin described this African-American tradition and referred to its history in his song The Ragtime Dance:

Let me see you do the rag-time dance,
Turn left and do the cakewalk prance,
Turn the other way and do the slow drag
Now take your lady to the World’s Fair
And do the rag-time dance. [10]

Not surprisingly, for white writers of ragtime the music was less about a folk form being adapted to the needs of a new age than it was something to be commercially exploited. Even the famous bandleader John Phillip Sousa got into the act.

Sousa featured cakewalk syncopation in his performance at the 1900 Paris Exposition, as well as the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis. In 1908, the Impressionist composer Claude Debussy gave a nod to the cakewalk with his composition The Golliwog’s Cakewalk.[11]

It’s regrettable that, like many African-American folk forms, the cakewalk’s difficult history has been forgotten. In an effort to educate about the origins of this tradition, cakewalks are being incorporated into Juneteenth celebrations around the country… it’s a good start toward setting the record straight.

 Check out more unplugged proverbs, sayings, and other pearls of wisdom.

 #history      #Juneteenth      #cakewalk     #unplugged aphorisms 

Endnotes:

[1] Shrumm, Regan. “Who takes the cake? The history of the cakewalk.” May 18, 2016. Smithsonian Institute. https://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/who-takes-cake-history-cakewalk

[2] Ghandi, Lakshmi. “The Extraordinary Story of Why a ‘Cakewalk’ Wasn’t Always Easy.” December 23, 2013. NPR. https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2013/12/23/256566647/the-extraordinary-story-of-why-a-cakewalk-wasnt-always-easy

Shrumm, Regan. “Who takes the cake? The history of the cakewalk.” May 18, 2016. Smithsonian Institute. https://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/who-takes-cake-history-cakewalk

[3] Baldwin, Brooke. “The Cakewalk: A Study in Stereotype and Reality.” Journal of Social History. Vol. 15 (1981) 208.

Shrumm, Regan. “Who takes the cake? The history of the cakewalk.” May 18, 2016. Smithsonian Institute. https://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/who-takes-cake-history-cakewalk

Ghandi, Lakshmi. “The Extraordinary Story of Why a ‘Cakewalk’ Wasn’t Always Easy.” December 23, 2013. NPR. https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2013/12/23/256566647/the-extraordinary-story-of-why-a-cakewalk-wasnt-always-easy

Moore, Alex. Cross-Cultural Perspectives on the Creation of American Dance 1619-1950. Global Studies Thesis. Hofstra University, 2010.

[4] Sundquist, Eric. To Wake The Nations: Race in The Making of American Literature. Boston: Belknap press, 1998.

Holstrom, David. “Community, Culture, and Black Experience.” Feb 5, 1993. The Christian Science Monitor. https://www.csmonitor.com/1993/0205/05101.html

[5] Baldwin, Brooke. “The Cakewalk: A Study in Stereotype and Reality.” Journal of Social History. Vol. 15 (1981) 208.

[6] Rudi Blesh and Harriet Janis. They All Played Ragtime. New York: Oak Publications, 1971. Pg 96. https://archive.org/details/theyallplayedrag00bles/page/96/mode/2up?q=edmonds&view=theater

[7] Stearns, Marshall and Jean. Jazz Dance: The Story of American Vernacular Dance.  New York: Da Capo Press, 1994. Pp 22-23.

[8] Baldwin, Brooke. “The Cakewalk: A Study in Stereotype and Reality.” Journal of Social History. Vol. 15 (1981) 211.

[9] Baldwin, Brooke. “The Cakewalk: A Study in Stereotype and Reality.” Journal of Social History. Vol. 15 (1981) 211.

Rudi Blesh and Harriet Janis. They All Played Ragtime. New York: Oak Publications, 1971. Pg 13. https://archive.org/details/theyallplayedrag00bles/page/96/mode/2up?q=edmonds&view=theater

[10] Words and Music by Scott Joplin. The Ragtime Dance (1902). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGgS6iGPEaE

[11] Rudi Blesh and Harriet Janis. They All Played Ragtime. New York: Oak Publications, 1971. Pp 74-75. https://archive.org/details/theyallplayedrag00bles/page/96/mode/2up?q=edmonds&view=theater

Stearns, Marshall and Jean. Jazz Dance: The Story of American Vernacular Dance.  New York: Da Capo Press, 1994. Pg 123.

Gammond, Peter. Scott Joplin and the Ragtime Era. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1975. Pg 39.

Image: 

Creator: Michael Ochs Archives | Credit: Getty Images