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b-hebrew - Re: [b-hebrew] Genesis 8:22

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  • From: Rochelle Altman <willaa AT netvision.net.il>
  • To: bill.rea AT canterbury.ac.nz
  • Cc: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Genesis 8:22
  • Date: Mon, 01 May 2006 07:28:37 +0200

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




Bill Rea, IT Services, University of Canterbury \_
E-Mail bill.rea AT canterbury.ac.nz </ New
Phone 64-3-364-2331, Fax 64-3-364-2332 /) Zealand
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