| Psalm 137
After posting "Kubla Khan" and "Dover Beach", which are both lyric laments, I thought we might take a gander at a Hebrew poem that demonstrates the same sentiment. Arguably, the Hebrews (and Psalm 137 in particular) are the fountainhead of poetic lament in western culture. Unfortunately, I am not a Hebrew scholar, and so we will have to read the poem in translation. In another way, however, this exercise will be fortunate for us, because we will have the opportunity to read from the KJV, a book paralleled only by Shakespeare in its poetic importance for the English language. Let's read the poem and discuss.
By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.
We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.
For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.
How shall we sing the LORD's song in a strange land?
If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember thee,
Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.
Remember, O LORD, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who said, Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof.
O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us.
Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones.
Notice the many parallels between this Psalm and the two other poems we have discussed thus far. Like Kubla Khan, which laments the loss of the "dome of pleasure," the Hebrews lament the loss of Jerusalem. Like "Dover Beach," the Hebrew poet clings to his beloved (God, Jewish cultural identity, Jerusalem) in a time of chaos. Like Arnold's speaker, he mournfully evokes a remembrance of the golden past. Like Coleridge, the Hebrew poet struggles to retain a remembrance of the beautiful. I hope that from these few observations, you are beginning to appreciate the harmonic resonances that intertexts share with one another, and the manner in which those harmonies deepen our readings.
What do you notice about this and other poems?
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Paul Weinhold, Colleyville Presbyterian Church
Currently Reading: Critical Theory Since Plato, Poetry by John Donne, Solon of Athens, and Wallace Stevens
1 Corinthians 8:2-3 "If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, he is known by God."
Last edited by weinhold; 07-07-2007 at 05:38 PM.
Reason: Additional commentary
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