>
> Psalms almost takes the form of a dramatic monologue, with lots of
> figurative
> language that doesn't easily lend itself to pictorial representation.
> One way
> of bridging the gap is to literalize
Using the psalms every day in the office, one notices how Hedbrew
poetry employes a plethora of metaphors and similes which would be
considered 'over the top' in Latin, or indeed English. Yesterday, for
example, this canticle from Isaiah featured in Morning Prayer:
. . . My dwelling is plucked up and removed from me
like a shepherd's tent.
Like a weaver I have rolled up my life;
he cuts me off from the loom.
. . . like a lion he breaks all my bones;
from day to night you bring me to an end.
Like a swallow or a crane I clamour,
I moan like a dove . . .
Or again, ps. 90(91), used at Night Prayer:
. . . It is he who will free you from the snare
of the fowler who seeks to destroy you;
He will conceal you with his pinions
and under his wings you will find refuge . . .
. . . On the lion and the viper you will tread
and trample the young lion and the dragon . . .
There is no shortage of images to illustrate; if anything, too many.
One might have the choice of a dozen different pictures to illustrate
even a short psalm: a bird escaping from a snare, an eagle (or perhaps
a hen) concealing her young beneath her wings, someone treading down a
lion and a dragon; and many more.
Oriens (now happily supple again, through the prudent application of Dr
Saunders' patent pain pills).
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