Kristen Rowe - Van der Leeuw and Beautiful Words

According to Van der Leeuw, the beauty of words does not reside in their meaning, but in their rhythm. He claims that the words generate a certain power which is fixed by the rhythm. I find this interesting in the claims that when I read up on the Bible for my final paper, I didn’t notice a “rhythm” or meter that these words create. I feel as if it’s all in how you read the Bible and how you decide to interpret them. Van der Leeuw also suggests that although word is secondary to primitive man, it still has meaning, and that meaning creates an image. I agree with this statement in saying that every word, no matter religious, or not religious, creates an image in someone’s head of something. People may interpret the same words in totally different ways, however, it still creates an image for them.