A stained glass depiction of Polonius, the officious adviser in Hamlet,
who tells his servant, “By indirections find directions out . . .”
Etymological
There’s
more in a word than is intended
Or what is
the blasted point of it all?
Definitions should be endlessly extended.
How do
we get out of Eden except fall?
The past
tense of the word wend is wended,
But the
word wind, to be etymological
(It
rhymes with mind, wherein it’s suspended),
Is what could be considered elemental.
Wind is from
Old English, that which is bended,
Twisted,
or not—strictly speaking—logical.
The past
tense of fend, my friend, is fended,
Which word’s not just apt, it’s fundamental.
The
point’s not to be specific or shout,
But by
indirections find directions out.
Robert Forrey, 2011
