Who are the fallen people?
The word fall traces its roots to Old English feallan, meaning “to drop from a height; fail, decay, die,” from Proto-Germanic fallanan. The meaning “come suddenly to the ground” is from late Old English. The etymology dictionary online writes, “Of darkness, night, from c. 1600; of land sloping from 1570s; of prices from 1570s. Of empires, governments, etc., from c. 1200. Of the face or countenance from late 14c. The meaning “to be reduced” (as temperature) is from 1650s. That of “die in battle” is from 1570s. The meaning “to pass casually (into some condition)” is from early 13c.”
There are people who fall. There are things that fall through, fail to come to a conclusion. Then there is falling ill, witnessing your body decay, rot, or die. Or, falling asleep, a dive straight into the black of the mind. Then there is falling behind, a strange vantage point.
Another fall is to fall for someone, feeling a stumble in the heart, whereupon all your belief in yourself as an upright, standing person vanishes. A steeper fall is to fall in love, suddenly finding yourself in the gravitational pull of a person.
Degraded people. Infamous people. Injured people. Sleeping people. Dead people. Failed people. Ill people. Exhausted, tired, autumn like people falling like leaves. People in love. Fallen people.
