Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Bill Rea <bsr15 AT cantsl.it.canterbury.ac.nz>]

Rochelle wrote:-

>You are on track. The structure of the song (a Psalm is a song, NOT a
>poem) is of extreme importance.

How can you tell a poem from a song in Hebrew?  If it is of
extreme importance as you say, then there must be some very simple
method of deciding which is which. In English and
in other languages I've sung (German, French, Italian)
it is impossible to tell them apart. I'll agree that it is far
more common for a poem to be set to music than for lyrics to be
read as poetry, but it is sometimes done.

Bill Rea, IT Services, University of Canterbury \_
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