An Attempt to Understand the Mind of Peace



I have often passed up the opportunity to really look at a piece of poetry in this class. However, I found myself unable to resist the urge to write on Paz's "To Talk". To me all the other poems we have looked at have either been uninteresting or too simple to pick apart, but Paz intrigues me. "To Talk" has been a little more difficult to decipher properly, and I feel compelled to take on the challenge. I think the best way to pull apart the meaning of this poem is to work bottom up, so bear with me because it took me a while to figure this method our, but it somehow works.
“We talk because we are
mortal: words
are not signs, they are years.
Saying what they say,
the names we speak
say time: they say us,
we are the names of time.
To talk is human.”
Words for us have to have definition, some sort of meaning, otherwise they have no use. For mortals, words have impact; they can create images, conjure emotions, and stimulate reactions. We use language to define ourselves, to measure and describe, to give name to something we can never understand completely for science, knowledge has no limit. We remember quotes and rhymes and acronyms and apply them to situations and lessons learned. History said, history written, is defined as having happened, as being real. I think this is what Paz means by saying words are years. Words themselves cannot be measured, but rather they are continuous. We try to define them and limit them as we do time, so “we are the names of time” because these limitations and definitions are only in place out of our own accordance.
“Language, lit by a god
is a prophecy
of flames and a crash
of burnt syllables:
meaningless ash.”
Words and definitions are limited by mortals because mortals experience limitations. But to a god, what are words? What is language? It has no meaning or definition. Such limitations are nonexistent to a god. Therefore to speak is a mortal task. Language to a god is meaningless. Think about it. To express yourself, any thought, idea, or emotion has to be limited and compacted into a few sentences. Images mean nothing for a human if it cannot be fully defined in words, but this feat is impossible. No amount of speech could ever replicate the emotion a person feels, the thoughts going on in their mind, or the visions they see. Language is the creation of man. To a god though, it is meaningless, useless, unnecessary.
“But gods don’t speak:
they create and destroy worlds
while men do the talking,
Gods, without words,
play terrifying games.”
As I said before, our thoughts and ideas are limited by words, but gods, immortals, feel no limitations. They can destroy and create with their thoughts and emotions. Words do not have to define the action or the vision. Without words, the power of gods is unlimited, and this is what Paz means by “Gods, without words,/ play terrifying games”. Time means nothing to an immortal; hours, minutes, seconds. They are just words. Life, death, mean nothing to a god. They are just words. Words are nothing if not defined. “To talk is human”, and though this poem might just be meaningless words, for us mortals, it has a great impact.