part of the 'Divine Intervention,' which may be read as a complete poem.
That drama introduces the Voice of God out of the whirlwind as taking a
part in the dialogue. The link between the Divine Intervention as a
whole and the general argument is the impossibility of any mortal
grasping the mysteries of the universe, which mysteries enfold the
glories of nature as well as the dark ways of providence which Job and
his friends have been discussing. As a part of this general thought the
portion here cited works out the idea of the Creator's joy in his
creation--a joyous sympathy with the infinities of great and small
throughout the universe. It might be an expansion of the words in the
story of the creation: "And God saw everything that he had made, and,
behold, it was very good."--The metrical scheme of this poem is a
variation of the 'pendulum structure.' [Page 251.] It may be called a
'triple pendulum,' or alternation between three notes: one note is made
by the startling questions of nature mysteries, another (lines indented
to the right) exquisitely pictures the details of these wonders of
nature, while for a third (lines still more to the right) there is a
word of challenge to Job to answer.
/iii-v./ These three selections are lyrics in the strictest sense.
Originally all poetry is of the form technically called 'Ballad-Dance,'
that is, verse combined with musical accompaniment and dancing. When
this primitive poetry branches out into other forms, lyric is the form
which retains most of the musical element. The poems here cited are
lyrics in the strict sense that their structure is determined by the
mode of their musical performance. This is seen by the 'antiphonal'
distribution of the matter, for example, between choruses of men and
women, and by the recurrence of passages ('refrains').
/iii. Song of Moses and Miriam./ This is arranged for a Chorus of Men,
taking the successive sections of the song, and a Chorus of Women,
singing the refrain. The metre is Antique Rhythm (above, page 242): the
successive strophes augment with the growing fulness of the theme. The
first strophe (after the prelude) simply states the fact of the
deliverance; the second pictures it in detail, the third meditates on
the consequences to the furthest future.
/iv. Deborah's Song./ This also is arranged for a Chorus of Men, led by
Barak, and a Chorus of Women, led by Deborah. It is in Antique Rhythm
(above, page 242). Its structure is antiphonal as between Men, Women,
and the two combined. The structure is further elaborated by
'interruption' [passages printed in italics], where the singers
encourage one another.
To appreciate the matter of the song it should be compared with the
description of the incident in plain historic prose (Judges, chapter
iv). It is not difficult to make out from this narrative (1) that Heber
the Kenite, Jael's husband, was acting as a spy against his allies of
Israel, and betraying their movements to the tyrant. Jael's act was
treachery in retaliation for the treachery on the other side by her
husband. This explains the exultation over her deed in Deborah's Song.
(2) This treachery of Heber had upset the plans of Deborah and Barak:
helpless against the iron chariots, their only hope had been to assemble
secretly on the heights of Kedesh and attempt a surprise. But while the
army of Sisera, warned by Heber, were awaiting them on the plains of
Esdraelon, a sudden thunder storm with rain (commemorated in the Song)
converted the whole plain into a morass. The army of Barak fell on the
foe while their horses were struggling in the mud, and extirpated them
at a blow.
/V. David's Lament./ This simple elegy is cast in quatrain stanzas. Its
only elaboration is an augmenting refrain. This beautiful refrain seems
to rest for its effect upon the bringing together of two ideas, like a
crescendo and decrescendo in music: How are the mighty fallen! This
fragmentary refrain as it appears at the beginning is enlarged at the
passage from the section on Saul to that on Jonathan, and still further
enlarged at the close of the whole.
/vi. David's Song of Victory./ This is in Antique Rhythm: its structure
is 'strophic' (above, page 243). There is an introduction and
conclusion, and three unequal strophes: the first pictures the
deliverance, the second meditates on the principle involved (deliverance
of the righteous), the third extends the confidence thus produced to the
whole past and future. The most notable artistic effect is the sudden
change at the prayer of the afflicted one: all nature is convulsed as
the Almighty rushes to the rescue.
/vii. The Bride's Reminiscences./ This is introduced as an example of
the Lyric Idyl. The term 'idyl' has been explained above (page 248, note
to iv): such idyls may be either narrated as stories, or brought out
lyrically or dramatically, as in the present case. It is one of a series
of lyric idyls making up the poem of Solomon's Song. The story
underlying this poem has been variously interpreted; the interpretation
followed in this series (Biblical Idyls volume) is that King Solomon,
visiting his vineyards on Mount Lebanon, has come by surprise upon a
beautiful Shulammite maiden. As she flies from the royal suite he seeks
her in shepherd disguise and wins her love, then he brings her as queen
to his palace. The present selection is Idyl II of the series, and
contains two of the Bride's Reminiscences of this courtship. The first
is of a visit by the disguised king on a fair spring morning, and how
the lovers were interrupted by the harsh voices of the Bride's Brothers
crying out that the foxes were in the vineyards. The second is a dream
of losing and finding her lover. [The passages in italics are not spoken
by the Bride, but are the poet's interludes, dividing the different
sections of the poem.]--Metrical scheme. The idyls are a combination of
Antique Rhythm and Antistrophic structure: but the parallelism of
strophe and antistrophe must be reckoned in strains, not in lines (see
above, page 242): thus we have four strains balanced by four, then two
by two; then (in the Dream) three by three. [The refrains are outside
the metrical scheme.]
/viii, ix./ These are songs from the books of the prophets.
/viii. The Battle of Carchemish./ This is a War Ballad, in triplet
stanzas with 'duplication.' The battle celebrated was a turning-point in
history, settling for ever the supremacy of the Babylonian over the
Egyptian empire: these were the two world empires between which parties
in the nation of Israel fluctuated, the whole strength of Jeremiah and
the prophetic party being thrown against Egypt.
/ix./ This /Song of Zion Redeemed/ forms a section of the Isaiahan
'Rhapsody of Zion Redeemed' [chapters xl-lxvi]. It is in stanzas of 4,
or occasionally 6 and 8 lines, the flow interrupted by couplets,
especially at the beginning of the sections. Compare above, page 262,
note to /vii/ (Sonnets).
/x, xi./ These are illustrations of a characteristic feature of
Biblical poetry--the 'Doom form.' See above, page 245.
/x. Isaiah's Doom of Babylon./ The structure is made up of the Divine
word of the overthrow of Babylon [prose passages] interrupted at
intervals by [impersonal] songs, realising or celebrating what the
Divine word brings forward. The last of these verse interruptions is a
fully developed Ode on Fallen Babylon. The structural form of this ode
is antistrophic inversion (7, 6; 6, 7), like that of No. /iv/ of the
Sonnets (above, page 260). Another effect in this ode is the Taunt or
Dirge Song.--_My consecrated ones ... them that exult in my majesty._
The Divine voice is heard calling to God's 'hosts,' the idea suggested
by the title 'Jehovah Sabaoth.' Compare Joel, chapter iii. 11 and 13;
Psalm ciii. 20, 21.--_I will sit upon the mount of congregation in the
uttermost parts of the north_: the north is regularly in Scripture the
quarter from which Divine judgment is looked for (e.g. Ezekiel, chapter
i. 4; Jeremiah vi. i; Job xxxvii. 22).
/xi. Nahum's Doom of Nineveh./ This is a Doom Prophecy directed against
Nineveh, partly in the structure called above 'doom form,' partly in
other forms. It falls into seven sections. Sections 1 and 2 are
meditations in pendulum form (above, page 251), the paragraphs
alternating between judgment and salvation. Section 3 is in doom form:
the Divine announcement of doom is interrupted by lyric realisation of
the sudden attack upon Nineveh in the midst of its careless security.
Section 4 is a brief lyric triumph over Nineveh overthrown. Section 5
resumes the doom form: the Divine denunciation interrupted by lyric
realisation of Nineveh in its pride. With section 6 this passes into a
Taunt Song (as in example /x/). The seventh section is a brief lyric
meditation upon Nineveh overthrown and desolate.
RHAPSODY
This has been explained in the Introduction (pages xii-xiii) as a term
applied to a highly characteristic form of prophetic literature,
amounting to spiritual drama: actual dramatic dialogue and action being
combined with other literary modes of expression to produce the general
effect of dramatic realisation and movement. Some of the examples
(I-III) are complete rhapsodies; IV is a discourse that becomes
rhapsodic at its conclusion; V is a rhapsodic morceau, a single thought
cast in this literary form; VI and VII are integral portions of one of
the long rhapsodies.
/I. Rhapsody of the Drought./ This is a simple and clear example of
rhapsodic writing. It opens with scenic description of the drought; the
rest is dialogue between God, Repentant Israel, and the Prophet. The
action of the rhapsody consists in the gradual effect of intercession:
God at first refuses so much as to answer the sinful People, and speaks
only through the Prophet; at last he answers the People directly, but
only to threaten; finally he shows mercy to the repentant remnant.
/II. Habakkuk's Rhapsody of the Chaldeans./ This is a thoroughly typical
and a splendid specimen of the rhapsody as a form of literature, (1) The
historic situation is the appearance of the Chaldeans as a conquering
power trampling down surrounding nations. This suggests the thought of
judgment upon unpunished sin in Israel. But the Prophet feels a
difficulty: how can a righteous God use a godless people as an
instrument for the punishment of wickedness that is less than its own?
The elaboration of this spiritual problem, in dramatic dialogue between
God and the Prophet, makes the first section of the rhapsody.--(2) The
Divine solution of this problem comes under the image of intoxication:
the haughty career of the Chaldean is no more than the drunkard's
reeling which precedes his fall. But as the idea of the fall of the
Chaldean is reached there is a sudden change from dialogue to the doom
form. This Doom of the Chaldeans has five stanzas of the usual
combination between prose and verse: the prose is Divine denunciation,
the verse passages are the imagined triumphing of the down-trodden
nations over their fallen oppressor. Four of the stanzas express the
fall of the Chaldean in four images: his uninterrupted career has been a
heaping up of usury, but the exactor shall come; it has been building a
house of refuge, but shame has been built into its walls; it has been
building a huge city only to make a bigger bonfire to the glory of the
avenging God; it has been giving drink to behold shame, but the drink of
shame shall be given to the oppressor. The fifth stanza goes to the root
of the matter: the Chaldean has trusted to senseless idols: Jehovah is
the true teacher.--(3) So far the overthrow of the Chaldeans has been
presented as a thing of the distant future; in the third section it is
realised as visibly present: thus the movement of the rhapsody has been
steadily advancing from the first forming of a problem to the climax of
its solution. The literary form now changes to that of an Ode, realising
the idea of Jehovah come to judgment. The prelude and postlude express
the Prophet's feelings at the vision he hears and sees; the body of the
ode realises the theophany itself. [Strophe, All nature convulsed as God
comes; antistrophe, Is it against nature that the coming is directed?
conclusion, Nay, but God comes to deliver his people. Compare Psalm
cxiv.]
/Page 205./ _I have heard the report of thee._ This _report_, and so
_the voice_ in the second line of the postlude, refer to the voice
supposed to sing what makes the body of the ode. This is the voice of
Israel, heard in the vision describing the advent of Jehovah.--_O LORD
revive thy work in the midst of the years_: compare on page 202 _though
it tarry, wait for it_: the Prophet prays God to interpose before it is
too late.
/Page 207./ _I trembled in my place_, etc. The Prophet has a strange
mingling of different feelings: terror at the vision of Jehovah's
advent, though it be for his deliverance, and confidence, as a result of
this vision, in the midst of desolation.
/III. Joel's Rhapsody of the Locust Plague./ This rhapsody may be
founded on an historic plague of locusts, but the notion is idealised
into mystic forces of destruction. Nothing else in the historic
situation has any bearing on the rhapsody, it is ideal all through:
desolation because of sin, and 'judgment,' in the double sense of first
a judgment on Israel that is turned by repentance to purification, then
a judgment as between Israel and the nations. As arranged in the text
the movement of this rhapsody explains itself.
/VI./ This selection is the Prelude to the elaborate 'Rhapsody of Zion
Redeemed' [Isaiah volume, pages 127-209]. Like the overture of many
modern musical compositions, this Prelude is a lyric anticipation or
foreshadowing of the whole work. A word of comfort for Jerusalem is
spoken by God, and Voices are heard carrying the glad tidings on the way
towards Jerusalem. The words spoken by these voices are anticipations of
subsequent parts of the rhapsody.
/VII./ This selection is the third Act or 'Vision' of the same rhapsody.
It brings out in dramatic realisation the Awakening of Zion. Successive
appeals are made by Jehovah to Zion without response. The Celestial
Hosts join in the appeal: still without response from Zion. At last the
awakening of Zion is brought out by the Chorus of Zion's Watchmen
recognising the advent of the messengers who bring the glad tidings
(compare the Prelude), and calling upon the city to awake and rejoice.
REFERENCE TABLE
The Volumes of the Modern Reader's Bible referred to in the Table are as
follows:
Wisdom Series: four volumes
The Proverbs
Ecclesiasticus
Ecclesiastes and The Wisdom of Solomon
The Book of Job
Deuteronomy
Biblical Idyls
History Series: five volumes
Genesis
The Exodus
The Judges
The Kings
The Chronicles
Prophecy Series: four volumes
Isaiah
Jeremiah
Ezekiel
Daniel and the Minor Prophets
REFERENCE TABLE
To connect the Selections with the Volumes of the Modern Reader's Bible
and with the Chapters and Verses of the Ordinary Versions
Modern Reader's Authorised or Revised
Bible Version
Volume Page Book Chapter Verse
STORY
Genesis 107 I Joseph and his Brethren Genesis XXXVII 1
The Exodus 250 II The Witness of Balaam
to Israel Numbers XXII 2
The Judges 105 III The Crowning of
Abimelech Judges VIII 29
The Judges 122 IV Samson's Wedding Feast Judges XIV 1
The Kings 189 V The Expedition against
Elisha II Kings VI 8
Minor Prophets 15 VI The Dream of the Tree
cut down Daniel IV 1
Minor Prophets 20 VII Belshazzar's Feast Daniel V 1
ORATORY
Deuteronomy 91 I The Oration of Moses at
the Rehearsal of the
Blessing and the Curse Deuteronomy XXVIII 1
Ecclesiastes, 71 II A Discourse on
etc. Immortality and the Wisdom
Covenant with Death of Solomon I 12
Isaiah 7 III Isaiah: The Great
Arraignment Isaiah I 2
Isaiah 93 IV Isaiah: The Covenant
with Death Isaiah XXVIII 1
Isaiah 109 V Isaiah: The Utter
Destruction and the Great
Restoration Isaiah XXXIV 1
Ezekiel 79 VI Ezekiel: The Sword of
the Lord Ezekiel XXI 1
Ezekiel 104 VII Ezekiel: Wreck of the Ezekiel XXVII 1
Goodly Ship Tyre,
VIII Prophetic Sentences
Jeremiah 41 Thus saith the Lord: Let
not the wise Jeremiah IX 23
Jeremiah 43 There is none like unto
thee Jeremiah X 6
Jeremiah 71 Thus saith the Lord:
Cursed Jeremiah XVII 5
Jeremiah 127 Behold, the days come Jeremiah XXXI 31
WISDOM
Wisdom Brevities
Proverbs 48 The liberal soul Proverbs XI 25
Proverbs 59 Where no oxen are Proverbs XIV 4
Proverbs 75 He that is slow to anger Proverbs XVI 32
Proverbs 91 It is naught Proverbs XX 14
Proverbs 132 The words of a whisperer Proverbs XXVI 22
Proverbs 133 Boast not thyself Proverbs XXVII 1
Proverbs 43 As vinegar to the teeth Proverbs X 26
Proverbs 85 All the brethren Proverbs XIX 7
Proverbs 94 The getting of treasures Proverbs XXI 6
Proverbs 128 As one that taketh off Proverbs XXV 20
Proverbs 134 Wrath is cruel Proverbs XXVII 4
Proverbs 136 The fining pot Proverbs XXVII 21
Proverbs 108 Epigram: Transitoriness
of Riches, Proverbs XXIII 4
Proverbs 109 Epigram: Hospitality of
the Evil Eye Proverbs XXIII 6
Ecclesiasticus 16 Maxim: My son, if thou
comest Ecclesiasticus II 1
Ecclesiasticus 57 Three Temperance Maxims Ecclesiasticus XVIII 30
Essays
Ecclesiasticus 22 i Wisdom's Way with her
Children Ecclesiasticus IV 11
Ecclesiasticus 40 ii Prosperity and
Adversity are from
the Lord Ecclesiasticus XI 11
Ecclesiasticus 58 iii Against Gossip Ecclesiasticus XIX 4
Ecclesiasticus 94 iv On the Tongue Ecclesiasticus XXVIII 12
Ecclesiasticus 42 v Choice of Company Ecclesiasticus XI 29
Ecclesiasticus 129 vi The Wisdom of Business
and the Wisdom of
Leisure Ecclesiasticus XXXVIII 24
Ecclesiastes,
etc. 55 vii Life as a Joy
shadowed by the Judgment Ecclesiastes XI 7
Sonnets
Proverbs 23 i The Sluggard Proverbs VI 6
Ecclesiasticus 70 ii Mourning for the Fool Ecclesiasticus XXII 11
Proverbs 18 iii The Two Paths Proverbs IV 10
Proverbs 13 iv The Creator has made
Wisdom the Supreme
Prize Proverbs III 11
Ecclesiasticus 72 v Watchfulness of Lips
and Heart Ecclesiasticus XXII 27
Ecclesiasticus 13 vi Wisdom and the Fear
of the Lord Ecclesiasticus I 1
Proverbs 27 vii Wisdom and the
Strange Woman Proverbs VII 1
LYRICS
Job 15 I An Elegy of a Broken
Heart Job III 3
Job 107 II The Creator's Joy in
his Creation Job XXXVIII 4
The Exodus 43 III The Song of Moses
and Miriam Exodus XV 1
The Judges 88 IV Deborah's Song Judges V 2
The Judges 244 V David's Lament II Samuel I 19
The Kings 67 VI David's Song of Victory II Samuel XXII 2
Bib. Idyls 13 VII The Bride's
Reminiscences Song of Songs II 8
Jeremiah 175 VIII Jeremiah: The Battle
of Carchemish Jeremiah XLVI 3
Isaiah 190 IX A Song of Zion Redeemed Isaiah LX 1
Isaiah 49 X Isaiah: Doom of Babylon Isaiah XIII 2
Minor Prophets 147 XI Nahum: Doom of Nineveh Nahum I 2
RHAPSODY
Jeremiah 61 I Rhapsody of the Drought Jeremiah XIV 2
Minor Prophets 157 II Rhapsody of the
Chaldeans Habakkuk I 2
Minor Prophets 77 III Rhapsody of the
Locust Plague Joel I 2
Jeremiah 35 IV The Hurt of the Daughter
of my People Jeremiah VIII 4
Minor Prophets 140 V The Lord's Controversy
before the Mountains Micah VI 1
Isaiah 131 VI Prelude to the Rhapsody
of Zion Redeemed Isaiah XL 1
Isaiah 165 VII Zion Awakened Isaiah LI 1
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