CHAPTER II,

POETRY AND THE BARDS OF THE BIBLE.

Nature and Uses of Poetry in the Bible-Difference between Hebrew Prose and Poetry -Style of Hebrew Poetry, Parallelism-Spirit of Hebrew Poetry-Departments o Hebrew Poetry-Influence of Hebrew Poetry-Writers of Poetry in the Bible-The Seven Greater Bards-The Argument from Poetry-Concluding Remarks.

I. THE NATURE AND USES OF POETRY IN THE BIBLE.

To a mind capable of appreciating the sublime and the beautiful, one of the highest literary attractions which the Bible presents, is its poetry. And as all educated persons are presumed to have a taste sufficiently cultivated to admire what is grand or beautiful, both in nature and in art, we could not easily find a theme, in the whole circle of sacred literature, whose announcement ought to be more popular and inviting than this-The Poetry and the Bards of the Bible.

Poetry is the highest style of human speech; just as speech is the noblest vehicle of thought and feeling. Poetry is the language of human nature when it has found the sublime and beautiful-and not only found, but felt it, and sought to embody and express in numbers, those swelling conceptions which are too big for common words. It is the language of the soul, by which it seeks to rise above itself, to hold sympathetic and congeniai brotherhood with all that is true and great, all that

is lovely and good in the universe around. It is the utterance of mortal man, when he feels the most immortal-when standing with his feet upon fields of living green, his eyes upon the blue fields of ether, he seeks to tell to his companions, on the earth and in the heavens, what he sees and what he feelswhat worlds of joy, what visions of hope. It is the royal speech of high-born genius, striving to make known to others, in "thoughts that breathe and words that burn," its own discovery and appreciation of the infinite, the eternal, the Divine. Hence poetry, in its highest style, is ever the language of the emotions and of the imagination—the sublime utterance of the heart's truest best emotions, when quickened into life by the imagination, and borne away on winged words, to find a congenial home and resting-place with whatsoever is most grand and beautiful in the universe.

"As imagination bodies forth

The forms of things unknown, the poet's pen

Turns them to shapes, and gives to airy nothing,

A local habitation and a name."

So sings the bard of Avon; and no one ever illustrated more strikingly than himself, the great truth of which he sings. If then, the plastic pen cf poesy, thus wielded by the creative power of imagination, can do so much, even for "airy nothing," what, think you, might it not do for the grand realities of lifethe substantial, unfading, eternal verities of nature, man and God?

Is it any wonder that when the Almighty had purposed to make a revelation to his children of things which they did not and could not know without it, of things relating to himself and to the eternal interests of the soul, such as truth

and virtue, life and death, heaven and hell, bliss and woe-and when it was determined that this revelation should be delivered by human tongues, recorded in a book and handed down for the reading of all generations to the end of time-is it any wonder, that holy men of old, speaking as they were moved by the Divine spirit, should speak on such themes in the sublimest language known to man-even the impassioned, universal, imperishable language of poesy? Indeed it would have been strange, had it been otherwise-strange if the book of God, had not been clothed in the brilliant burning words and images of heaven-born poetry: for if human language in any form is of Divine origin, who can doubt that the art of poetry, at the fountain-head, is Divine? Accordingly we find this most ancient of all books full of poetry; nay more, we find its very prose, where there are no poetic forms or numbers, often impregnated with a glowing poetic spirit, and adorned with the drapery of beautiful poetic images.

If you will examine the Bible by any just criterion as to the nature of prose and poetry, you will soon find that the Old Testament naturally falls under two grand divisions, in regard to its style. The first, embracing all the historical books, and extending from Genesis to the close of Esther, is written in narrative prose, with occasional odes and minor poems, ranging from a verse to a chapter in length, interwoven with the history, like jewels of precious stone in a coronal of gold. The second, reaching from Job to Malachi, and embracing all the writings of Job, David, Solomon and the prophets, is genuine poetry, both in its spirit and its style, with occasional pieces of historical prose, ranging from a verse to a few chapters in length, and interspersed through the whole, like the walks and borders in a garden of flowers-being thrown in for explana

tion, as these are for convenience. Thus we have about as much narrative prose sprinkled over the poetical department, as there is of poetry in the historical department. And you will find, upon examination and comparison, that the division of poetry comprises more than one third of the Old Testament Scriptures.

As for the New Testament, it is for the most part historical and epistolary. Accordingly it is all written in a prosaic style, with the single exception of the Apocalypse, which being a prophetic and somewhat allegorical book, has all the sentiment and imagery of poetry, without the form of rhythm. The narrative and epistolary parts of the New Testament, however, like the prose division of the Old, are interspersed, though somewhat more sparsely, with occasional odes, and short poetic sentences" disjecta membra poetæ !"

Now, lest any one should doubt the propriety of calling so large a portion of the Bible poetry, let us take a single passage from the prophetical books, as an illustration. Perhaps you have often read the fourth chapter of Jeremiah, without any thought that you were reading poetry. But tell us, what poet ever gave a more fearful and vivid picture of utter desolation, than the prophet has given of the land of Judah in the follow. ing words, taken just as they stand in our English version:

"I beheld the earth, and lo! it was without form and void!
And the heavens, and they had no light!

I beheld the mountains, and lo! they trembled !

And all the hills moved lightly!

I beheld, and lo! there was no man!

And all the birds of the heavens were fled!

I beheld, and lo! the fruitful place was a wilderness!
And all the cities thereof were broken down

At the presence of the Lord

And by his fierce anger."

This is only a small part of the description, but if this is not poetry of the highest order, then where will you find poetry, and what will you say constitutes a title to the name of poetry? You will accordingly find the prophetical books mostly poetical and even in the historical books, you will find many occasional pieces of true poetry. Do you ask for some examples of these scattered members of the poem-these rare jewels of the coronal? In the New Testament, the most noted examples are the joyful odes of Elizabeth, Mary, and Zacharias on the occasion of our Saviour's approaching advent, the song of the angels at his birth, and that sublime strain of the Baptist from the wilderness, which seemed to echo, as from the long silent harps of the ancient prophets. In the Old Testament, you will find such examples, as David's dirge over Jonathan and Saul, and his lament for Absalom, Deborah's martial hymn of victory, Hannah's beautiful song of thanksgiving for Samuel, the ode of deliverance and triumph at the Red Sea, the farewell address of Moses to Israel on the borders of the promised land. You will find the elements of poetry in such brief phrases as this"Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands," or this-"Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord;" or still earlier in such as this-"Let there be light, and there was light." This last, which was pronounced by Longinus, the celebrated critic of Greece, to be one of the finest specimens of the sublime, we may safely claim as the most ancient line of poetry in the world and certainly we do not know of any modern line, more pregnant with thought or beauty. Well might the patriarch of Uz, long afterwards, respond to this first livine utterance of poesy, as with a kindred spirit, saying—

"Then the morningstars sang together,

And all the sons of God shouted for joy."