Peculiar in its plan. It is sometimes terse and axiomatic like the Proverbs; and sometimes alphabetical or acrostic in which the lines of stanzas begin with the letters of the alphabet in regular order. Psalm 119.

Peculiar in its rhythm. That is, the rhythm is not found in metrical arrangement or in the sound of words but in the recurrence of thoughts. The thought ebbs and flows or is repeated or differently stated to form the poetical idea. To illustrate, in Psalm 42 and 43 the same thought is repeated in the nature of a refrain. In Prov 10:1 the second clause is placed in opposition to the first. In Is. 15:1 the second clause is a repetion of the first. In Job 3:3-9 the thought is enforced by adding ideas, that is, a proposition is stated and then amplified ow dwelt upon in detail. This last is the rhythm of parallelism which means that the same idea is found in parallel clauses. It often affords the keys to interpretation of a difficult passage.

The merit of Hebrew poetry is that it has become universal poetry in the sense that it can be translated into any tongue without serious loss of the thought in which it is unlike poetry in the general sense.

The URL of this page is https://www.angelfire.com/in3/missgreen/poetry.html