Conies are a people not mighty, But they make in the rock their home; A king the locusts have not, But they march forth in bands - all of them; The spider with the hands thou mayest catch, But she dwells in the palaces of kings. There is also a beautiful temperance poem1 composed of ten pentameter lines. Who hath woe? who hath wretchedness? who hath stripes? who hath murmuring? Who hath wounds without cause? who hath dark flashing eyes? When it giveth in the cup its glance; floweth smoothly: Its end is that as a serpent it biteth, and like an adder it stingeth. Thine eyes will see strange things, and thine heart utter perverse things; So that thou wilt become like one lying down in the heart of the sea; and like one lying down on the top of a mast. They have smitten me (thou wilt say), but I am not hurt they have wounded me, I feel it not: How long ere I shall arise that I may seek it yet again? Another choice piece is the poem of the sluggard 2 of seven trimeters. By the field of a slothful man I passed, And by the vineyard of a man without understanding; And lo, its wall was overgrown with thorns, Its face covered over with nettles, And its wall of stones was broken down; So that I gazed to give it attention: I saw I received instruction. This is followed by a tetrastich trimeter, which is quoted from the Praise of Wisdom.3 A little sleep, a little of slumber, A little folding of the hands to lie down ; And thy poverty comes walking on, And thy want as a man armed with a shield. III. COMPOSITE POETRY Composite poetry starts in part from a lyric base, as in prophecy, beginning with the blessings of Jacob and Moses, and the poems of Balaam, and continuing in lesser and greater pieces in the prophetical writings, the Song of Songs, and 1 Prov. 2329-35. 2 Prov. 2430-84. 3 Prov. 610. Lamentations; in part from a gnomic base as in the book of Job and Ecclesiastes. IV. DRAMATIC POETRY The dramatic element is quite strong in Hebrew poetry. A few examples will suffice. 1. I shall give the first from the Psalter: 2. The prophet Hosea gives a good example: Prophet. O return, Israel, Unto Yahweh thy God; For thou hast stumbled by thy iniquity. Take with you words, And return unto Yahweh; Say unto Him everything. Ephraim. Forgive iniquity and accept good things; And we will render the fruit of our lips. Asshur cannot save us, Upon horses we will not ride, And we will not say any more 'our god' To the work of our hands; Thou by whom the orphan receives compassion. Yahweh. I will heal their apostasy, I will love them freely; For my anger hath turned from him. I will be as the dew to Israel; Let him bloom as the wild flower, And let him strike his roots like Lebanon, Let his shoots grow, And let his majesty be as the olive, And let him have scent like Lebanon ; Let those who abide in his shadow return, 1 Ps. 247-10. See Briggs, Messianic Prophecy, p. 146. And let them bloom like the vine, And their memory be as the wine of Lebanon. Yahweh. Prophet. Of me is thy fruit found. Whoso is wise, let him understand these things; That the ways of Yahweh are upright, And the righteous walk therein, But transgressors stumble therein.1 3. The book of Isaiah gives one of the grandest specimens: Prophet. Who, there, is coming from Edom, Yahweh. Stained red in his garments from Bozrah; That am mighty to save. Prophet. Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, And thy garments like him that treadeth in the wine fat? Yahweh. I have trodden the wine-press alone; And of the peoples there was no man with me : Yea, I have been treading them in mine anger, And trampling them in my fury, So that their juice is sprinkled upon my garments, And all my raiment I have stained. For the day of vengeance was in my heart; And the year of my redeemed is come. Yea, I was looking and there was none to help; And I was wondering and there was none to uphold; And my fury it upheld me. Verily, I have been stamping the peoples in mine anger, And I have been pouring down their juice on the earth.2 The book of Job uses the dramatic element in a series of dialogues between Job and his friends, and concludes with the voice of God. The dramatic element reaches its climax among the Hebrews in the Song of Songs. The first act of the Song of Songs is as follows: Solo. SCENE I Let him kiss me with some kisses of his mouth, For thy caresses are better than wine; For scent thine ointments are excellent; 1 Hos. 142-10. See Briggs, Messianic Prophecy, pp. 176 seq. Solo. Chorus. O thou sweet ointment, poured forth as to thy name! Oh! Draw me! After thee we will run! O that the king had brought me to his apartment! SCENE II Shulamite. Dark am I Chorus. but lovely - daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, Shulamite. Gaze not upon me because I am swarthy, Chorus. Solomon. My mother's sons were angry with me, They set me as keeper of the vineyards; My vineyard, which is my own, have I not kept. O tell me, thou whom my soul loveth : Where feedest thou thy flock? Where dost thou let them couch at noon? Why should I be as one straying After the flocks of thy companions? If thou knowest not of thyself, thou fairest among women, Go forth for thyself at the heels of the flock, And feed thy kids at the tabernacles of the shepherds. SCENE III To my mare in the choice chariot of Pharaoh I liken thee, my friend, Lovely are thy cheeks in rows (of coin), thy neck in thy necklace! Rows of gold we will make thee, with chains of silver. Shulamite. While the king was in his divan, my nard gave its scent. A bundle of myrrh, is my beloved to me, that lodgeth between my breasts; Solomon. A cluster of henna, is my beloved to me, in the vineyards of Lo thou art lovely, my friend, Lo thine eyes are doves. Shulamite. Lo thou art lovely, my beloved, Yea sweet, yea our arbor is green. Solomon. The timbers of our houses are cedar, Shulamite. I am the flower of Sharon, The anemone of the valleys. Solomon. As the anemone among the thorns, So is my friend among the daughters. Shulamite. As the apricot among the trees of the wood, In its shadow I delighted to sit, And its fruit was sweet to my taste. O that he had brought me to the vineyard, His banner over me being love— Sustain me with raisin-cakes, support me with apricots; His left hand would be under my head, His right hand would embrace me. I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles, Or by the hinds of the field that ye arouse not, And that ye stir not up love till it please. V. THE POETRY OF WISDOM There are many fine pieces of composite poetry in Hebrew Wisdom. I shall give as an example the finest piece of ethics in the Old Testament, where the strophes vary with the theme: 1. A covenant have I concluded with my eyes; 2. If I have walked with falsehood, And my foot has made haste unto deceit ; If my step used to incline from the way, Let me sow and let another eat, And as for my crops, let them be rooted out. 3. If my heart hath been seduced unto a woman, And over her let others bend; For that were infamy; And that were an iniquity for the judges; For it is a fire that devoureth unto Abaddon, And in all my increase it rooteth up. 4. If I used to refuse the right of my slave, Or my maid servant, when they plead with me; 1 Job 31. |