Speaking in and of silence.

LISTEN = SILENT. A profound anagrammatic equation!

While we have cultivated an amazing capacity for noise absorption by our ability to adapt, accept, analyse and attach meaning to the multifarious sounds that rule our world today, why do we find silence so deafening instead? Deafening silence is becoming increasingly irksome; irrelevant to our pace and place in life today. Forget the boast of the past – about it being gilded in gold.

But hushhh ... Surely, silence is a welcome restorative in a world “full of sound and fury”. Silence is simply defined as the absence of sound. An absence that evokes an aura of profundity. A profundity that engages and affects our literal and metaphoric sensibilities.

The evocative language of silence is rich in sensibilities, sentiments, soul, heart and spirit. For example, Simon and Garfunkel’s 1964 title song, The Sound of Silence (which inspired me to write this piece), depicts the ominous presence of darkness, loneliness and emptiness in one’s life.

Paul Simon wrote the song when he was only 21, yet the maturity and intensity of his experience is very telling, “Nobody’s listening to me, nobody’s listening to anyone.” Are we better listeners today? I recall writing a piece – “We don’t listen either” (StarMag, Feb 22, 2009). But I digress.

Not really. Take the classroom – many teachers continue to scream at the top of their lungs to get students to listen. They use a miscellany of expressions set in equally diverse tones and timbre, depending on the purpose to summon silence in each instance.

Some commands that come “trippingly on the tongue” of most teachers are: (please) keep/be quiet, stop the noise! enough! quiet now, you hear me? stop talking! pay attention (please), may I have your attention, please?

Some simply shush or hush, at times with a capital “S” – Silence, I say! But I think teachers would bite their tongue first before bellowing the severe and rude shut up! Or, the figurative hold your tongue! Such language would be deemed uncivilised. A wordless approach, with a finger to the lips, works in its own quiet way.

Order, order! No, no, it’s not an exasperated mother’s call for tidiness! It’s also not a desperate holler for food from someone impatient and very hungry! It’s the honourable judge, who, with a bang of his gavel, demands that silence be observed in his court. Or, he may simply command, Silence in Court!

Here’s another legalistic term that impels you to fall silent lest you incriminate yourself when you are most vulnerable: You have the right to remain silent. This in turn reminds me of a preacher’s assertion – Speak now or forever hold your peace – heard at traditional Christian weddings (for an unimpeded union). The utterance has been removed from many liturgies, since civil registration of all marriages is now mandatory. However the term remains a popular TV trope ... for drama appeal.

Some figures of speech with “silence” in them are: the silent majority (the large number of people/group who do not express their opinion publicly); silent/quiet as the grave (completely silent); the strong, silent type (usually used to describe a strong quiet man; could be a woman, no?); and of course the precious – speech is silver, silence is gold(en). Others strongly imply the need to be silent: keep it to yourself; keep it under your hat; keep mum/mum’s the word; don’t breathe a word; keep (something) under wraps; keep your lips sealed.

Imagine, in a moment of perfect silence one can even hear a pin drop! But what if this is the dreaded silence one seeks to avoid? Meanwhile, an ominous silence may be calculated to convey a reactionary reluctance to communicate or comment. For sure, spiteful silence is sinister in character. Didn’t G.B. Shaw say, “Silence is the most perfect expression of scorn”? In context, perhaps. A deathly hush can be equally foreboding, especially in response to distressing news.

In its quiet employ, the language of silence effectively communicates attitude, meaning, feeling, power and quiet appraisal of self, and/or one’s lot. Loaded words (I cannot resist quoting Jean-Paul Sartre here, “Words are loaded pistols”!) like tacit, implicit, implied, deduced, understood, unspoken, unexpressed, hinted, inferred ... underscore silence as a medium that awakens one’s sensibilities to contemplate and make sense of things. A sense of awareness and awe can only result from a felt sense of stillness. For me, the biblical behest: Be still and know that I am God/The Spirit of Truth (Ps 46:10), is an awesome challenge. It suggests the necessary attitude and stance of silence to discern the truth and reality of our “being”.

Silence is also a presence to be reckoned with in theatre/drama. Pinter, Beckett and Kafka are among those known to employ silence to intensify experiences of uncertainty, impermanence, detachment, alienation, suspension and inarticulateness. Mute performers such as mime artists (Marcel Marceau comes to mind) are highly skilled to bodily convey their act and emotions. It is essentially through a bond of silence that connectivity is established between audience and performers on stage.

Silence speaks volumes, beyond words, to encapsulate our experiences or struggles. Some of which may be to contend with silence itself! Be they overwhelming or exasperating, most silent moments are instances of heightened feeling, perhaps such as described by Lord Byron, “All heaven and earth are still, (italics, mine) though not in sleep, But breathless, as we grow when feeling most.”

A liaison with silence often delivers a much needed pregnant pause to help us prioritise and pace our life anew.

Oh, did I tell you about an unforgettable experience that shocked me into silence? Me, turning stone silent! Byron’s heaven and earth surely conspired that afternoon to hurl me into a star-studded galaxy, a whirlpool of heightened stupefaction ... and pain.

Err ... I fell into an orchestra pit. In pitch-dark. A day before our opening night of a stage production. I still shudder at the memory of pain and shame each time I step into a certain hall of fame ... I knew it! I hear you laughing, wickedly. I should just zip my lips now and give you the silent treatment!

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