"But the most important thing is hearing. To listen to a native word is to listen to a song, a story, to reach the very root, and not only in the grammatical sense, but also the root of thoughts, images, and moods.

 

Hearing is the closest way to the heart ("You hear, my brother..."). Antiquity drew and wove its poetry from sound impressions. The most valuable thread that connects us with the ancient Hellenes is the fine feeling for the words of the song (Marusia Churai - Ukrainian Sappho). Even the ancients claimed: the proportions between visual and auditory perception in the aesthetic sphere reflect the state of the soul, its image. Predominance of sight over hearing leads to inertness, and this in the language of the Romans - "reluctance to creativity."

 

The same Horace, observing the feverish pulsation of life, states with a bitter smile: "All of us are driven somewhere by stubborn inactivity (strenua inertia)." This oxymoron is also a sign of our time: very often behind the most passionate activity is mental inactivity, indifference to the main thing - to the world, which is in ourselves, which is in the word.

 

The speed and breadth of information about the surrounding world, the brightness (not in the artistic sense) of visual effects push the artistic word into the shadows: it is inferior to screen, show, virtual reality. Even in the most intimate thing that connects us not only with God, but also with our ancestors, the word of prayer, even in it we shun old words, poetic forms and phrases, we just want to "understand" - we hurry to keep up with the times. But with his first movement was the Word.

 

In the beginning, there was the Word and each of us - song, mother or father - above the cradle. All of us - from our childhood. And when we rightly identify that childhood with a song, that is, with the Word, does the thought come to us that that homeland, even if it is not always rich and joyful ("She poured her boredom / Into her child"), but always dear and desired, - why are we losing it now?...

 

A folk song also sounded in my village, in my parents' house. And it did not depend on food and drink - it was a state of mind, her sad or joyful voice... We really - from our song lyrics, from childhood. That word is quiet and clear. Our "Kobzar", which is next to the prayer book, also glows with silence and clarity. So we will listen to the word."

Andriy Sodomora

Text source: From the introduction to "Alone with the word"

A. Sodomora. Publishing house "Litopis" 2022.