Chapter 14

/vii. Wisdom and the Strange Woman./ This is at once the foremost of wisdom poems in its thought, and the most elaborate in sonnet structure: here, as always, the structure is an exact reflection of the thought.

The metrical scheme shows stanza structure throughout. The poem falls into seven sections. In sections 1, 3, 4, 7, which contain the thread of argument, we find octet and ten-line stanzas. Section 2, which breaks off from the argument to give a picture of temptation, changes to sextet stanzas. Sections 5 and 6, the monologue of Wisdom, are cast in quatrains, but as the monologue crescendoes to its climax the quatrains 'augment' to 5, 6, 7 lines. There is further the artistic device of 'interruption': the regular flow of stanzas is broken at critical points by single couplets (like musical rhythm interrupted by recitative); again in section 2 the actual speech of the temptress is an irregular mass of lines outside the stanza structure, and this break in the flow of lines has a fine effect.

The thought of the poem is in the highest degree grand and bold. Scriptural philosophy loves to celebrate under the name 'Wisdom' the union of all things, whether of the external universe or of the spiritual life, in one Divine harmony. In this poem this Wisdom is to be personified, and to proclaim her attractions. But the poet prepares the way by contrast with the spirit of temptation, also personified in female form practising her allurements. This is displayed in a boldly drawn picture; and then the poet, with the words _Doth not Wisdom cry?_ suddenly turns round and presents 'Wisdom' as the temptress to good.

LYRICS

/i-ii./ These two selections are from the Book of Job. This consists of matter mainly philosophic worked up into an elaborate poem in which all literary forms--epic, lyric, drama, rhetoric, etc.--are blended in a way unparalleled in modern literature. Hence the form of these two pieces is intermediate between wisdom sonnets and the lyrical poems that follow.

/i. An Elegy of a Broken Heart./ In the Book of Job this intervenes between the Story Prologue, which is prose, and the main body of the poem, which takes a dramatic form. Job breaks the silence to dilate, with lyrical elaboration, upon the situation of utter ruin which is to be the starting-point of the dramatic discussion. Hence the title of the section in the whole poem of Job is 'Job's Curse': but it admits of being separated from the action of the drama as an independent poem, with some such title as I have given it.--In metrical scheme it falls into two sections. Section 1 is an example of 'interruption' (compare note to vii of the sonnets). It will be seen that the last two lines continue the sentence begun by the first two lines, making with them a quatrain: between come masses of parallel lines interrupting with a tour-de-force of execration. Section 2 is made up of introductory quatrain, strophe, and antistrophe.

/ii. The Creator's Joy in his Creation./ This selection from Job is a 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