Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Rochelle Altman <willaa AT netvision.net.il>]

Hi, Bill,

At 12:27 AM 5/1/2006, you wrote:
> 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.

With Biblical texts, it's very simple -- they say it's a song. :-)

Yes, I am aware that modern experiments, etc., do blur the distinctions... 
but we are not talking about modern.poetry/songs. We are talking about 
antiquity... and they did differentiate.

Actually, what is important to remember is that songs are not poems. The 
ancients treated song differently, classified differently.; While these 
differences are most evident when the texts are set to melodies, 
differences can be seen even without the melody. Jeremiah is full of poetic 
insertions. Very literary too..(You can see how clever he thought himself.) 
Could you ever think of Jeremiah's poetry as song? It was chanted, to be 
sure -- melody is a terrific mnemonic -- but a song? like a Psalm?

Come to think of it, would you ever class Kohelet as song and not poetry? 
It's not merely a matter of style.

Then, as a long-time collector of folk music....  yes, you can tell the 
difference between a poem and a song...

If you wish more modern examples, look at Elizabethan and Jacobean plays. 
Poetry, yes, but there is no mistaking the songs in the texts for poetry.

Not functioning too well at the moment; have a bad cold... get back to you 
later with examples.

Rochelle




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