Meaning & Analysis
An ox can be physically controlled or led by grabbing its horns, just as a person can be held accountable or bound by what they say—their promises or statements.
Insights
Verbal Commitment and Accountability
A person’s words are binding commitments. Once spoken, they create an obligation that defines one's reputation and subjects them to the consequences of their speech, much as an ox is physically subjected to control via its horns.
The Power of Language
Language is the primary instrument of human influence. A person can be persuaded, bound to an agreement, or 'captured' intellectually and emotionally through speech, highlighting the immense power of words in social interactions.
Vulnerability Through Speech
The proverb serves as a caution about the vulnerability that comes from speaking. A person's words can reveal their intentions, weaknesses, or commitments, leaving them open to being held to account or manipulated by others.
Integrity and a Person's Bond
The core of the proverb rests on the principle of integrity. It implies that the hallmark of an honorable person is that their word is as reliable and binding as a physical restraint. To be 'taken by the word' is a mark of a trustworthy individual.
Agrarian Analogy
The proverb draws a powerful analogy from agrarian life, where controlling an ox by its horns was a tangible act of physical leverage. This grounds the abstract concept of verbal commitment in a universally understood physical reality, making the weight of one's word feel immediate and concrete.
Social Contract and Honor
This proverb underscores the foundation of social contracts and legal systems, where a person's word is their bond. It reflects a cultural value system where verbal integrity is paramount, and being 'taken by the tongue' is the basis for trust, reputation, and honor.
Psychology of Commitment
The proverb highlights a key distinction between animal and human control. While an ox is managed by physical force, a human is bound by the abstract, yet powerful, force of language. This speaks to the psychological weight of promises and the human capacity for self-governance through speech.
Rhetorical Power and Seduction
The variations in quotations, such as Burton's reference to Cleopatra inveigling Anthony with 'pleasant speech', show the proverb's flexibility. It can mean not only being held to a promise but also being persuaded, manipulated, or captured by the power of rhetoric.
Rhetorical Devices
Parallelism
The proverb is built on a clear and balanced parallel structure, directly comparing the physical restraint of an animal to the moral or social restraint of a human, which makes the meaning clear and memorable.
Antithesis
It employs a powerful antithesis by contrasting the physical world of the beast (ox, horns) with the abstract, intellectual, and moral world of the human (man, tongue), emphasizing what makes human society unique.
Symbolism
The 'horns' serve as a symbol for physical power and control, while the 'tongue' or 'word' symbolizes the abstract but equally potent power of language, promise, and social contract.
Transcription
Quotations
Le bœuf par la corne, et l'homme par la parole. (For in forreine countries Oxen are yoked by the hornes.)
A Ox (is bound) by the horne, a man by his word.
It was Cleopatras sweet voice, and pleasant speech, which inveigled Anthony .. As a bull's horns are bound with ropes, so are men's hearts with pleasant words.
Take a Bull by the horn, and a man by his word.
An Ox is bound by his hornes, a man by his word.
(by his tongue).
Horses are taken by the bridle, and men by their words.
Cross References
Related Proverbs
Original Scan
Used under CC BY-NC 3.0.