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The Historians' History of the World 02 [Israel, India, Persia, Phoenicia, Minor Nations of Western Asia]
- Автор: Gutenberg
- Год: 1905
- Язык: английский
- Жанр: История
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And with twain he covered his feet,
And see ye indeed, but perceive not.
And with twain he did fly.
3) And one cried unto another, and said,
10) How fat is the heart of this people
Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts.
And their ears how heavy,
The whole earth is full of his glory.
And their eyes as it were shut.
Else might they see with their eyes
4) And the foundations of the thresholds were moved at the voice of him that cried,
And hear with their ears
And understand with their heart,
And turn again, and be healed.
And the house was filled with smoke.
5)
Then said I
, Woe is me!
11)
Then said I
, Lord, how long?
Because I am a man of unclean lips, etc.
And he answered, Until the cities be waste, without inhabitant, etc.
Besides these two-column discourses, of which we have just seen an example, we find three-column discourses, especially in Micah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. They frequently consist of three parallel parts, each divided into two or three strophes. The strophes of each column correspond on the one hand, the corresponding stanzas of each part on the other, so that we have, if we may so express it, a vertical and a horizontal responsion. The double responsion gives, as it were, the fixed points between which the network of the strophes is outspread. A classic example of this method is the great discourse in the ninth chapter of Jeremiah, which belongs to the best period, and the authenticity of which is unreservedly admitted by Biblical criticism. Lack of space unfortunately forbids me to give it here arranged according to the principles I have laid down.
It is time to observe that the same laws may be shown to prevail in cuneiform inscriptions and the works of the prophet Mohammed.
AN ASSYRIAN EXAMPLE
As an example of responsion I give a passage from the great inscription of Sargon (L. 186-194).
That city and that palace,
(But) its ruler,
Asshur, the father of the gods,
Its royal architect,
In the glory of his shining countenance
May he attain to old age,
May he obtain power
Graciously may he look upon it,
For ever and ever
,
To days far hence
May
its
maker
grow
old
.
May he proclaim its
renewing
.
With his shining mouth may he decree
:
With his sounding lips may he speak
:
The protecting genius,
He who dwelleth in them,
The rescuing God,
In health of body,
Day and night
And joy of heart,
Let them rule therein,
And gladness of spirit,
Nor let their power cease.
May he rejoice therein,
May he taste the joy of life.
A BABYLONIAN EXAMPLE
A very instructive example of the strophe combined with responsion is afforded by the second Babylonian version of the Creation, which has been for the first time translated and published by T. G. Pinches. It consists of forty lines, and is arranged in four strophes of ten lines each. The responsion is clear and vivid to the last degree, the end harks back to the beginning with manifest intention. The concatenation constitutes, as it were, a rivet between the strophes. I will confine myself at present to quoting the beginning of the first three and the ending of the last two strophes.
Str. I (beginning),
The glorious house, the house of the gods, in a glorious place had not been made,
A plant had not been brought forth, a tree had not been created, etc.
Str. I (end),
(As for) the glorious house, the house of the gods, its seat had not been made,
The whole of the lands were sea.
Str. II (beginning),
When within the sea there was a stream
In that day Eridu was made, Ê-sagila was constructed, etc.
Str. II (end),
The gods were to be caused to sit in a seat of joy of heart,
He made mankind.
Str. III (beginning),
Aruru had made the seed of mankind with him.
He made the beasts of the field and the living creatures of the desert; etc.
The age of this Babylonian story of the Creation probably goes back to at least the middle of the second millennium of our chronology, and in this very ancient specimen of Semitic poetry we find this poetic form fully developed.
EXAMPLES FROM THE KORAN
It seems hardly possible to believe that the Arab prophet, who regarded it as an insult to be described as a poet, should have employed definite literary forms, and more particularly the strophe combined with the responsion, in his revelations. Yet such is the fact. In most cases the strophes rise and fall in harmony with his abrupt and agitated style (similar strophes occur in the prophetic books), but regular strophes are to be found, and in those that rise and fall we can trace a definite law which altogether excludes the idea of chance. The occurrence of the strophe combined with the responsion in the Koran, is a point of the utmost importance to the hypothesis of strophic composition, because the correctness of the arrangement of the Koran in lines seems to be assured both by the rhyme and by tradition. I will bring to your notice in this place an example of the regular strophe from the Koran. In the thirty-sixth surah we come upon a passage framed, as it were, between two verses, which form the inclusion.
v. 28. There was only one cry (of Gabriel from heaven), and behold, they became utterly extinct.
v. 49. They only wait for one sounding (of the trumpet), which shall overtake them while they are disputing together.
Between these two lie five strophes of four lines each.
Str. I, begins (v. 29),
Oh, the misery of men! no apostle cometh unto them but they laugh him to scorn.
Str. II, begins (v. 33),
One sign [of the resurrection] unto them is the dead earth, we quicken the same, etc.
Str. III, begins (v. 37),
The night also is a sign unto them, we withdraw the day from the same, etc.
Str. IV, begins (v. 41),
It is a sign also unto them that they carry off their offspring in the ship filled with merchandise, etc.
Str. V (v. 45), takes up the burden of the first, and begins,
And if it is said unto you, Fear that which is before you and that which is behind,
It may be ye shall find mercy, etc.
I will also subjoin an example of the falling strophe combined with the responsion, from sura 56, vv. 57-72.
57) We have created you, will ye not therefore believe.…
58) What think ye? The seed that ye emit.
59) Do ye create the same or are we the creators thereof?
60) We have decreed death unto you all, and we shall not be prevented.
61) We are able to substitute others like you in your stead, and to produce you again in the condition or form which ye know not.