he above
hints must suffice.

3. We come now to the _form_ of Hebrew poetry. This is distinguished
from the classic poetry of Greece and Rome, as well as from all modern
poetry by the absence of metrical feet. Its rhythm is that of _clauses_
which correspond to each other in a sort of free parallelism, as was
long ago shown by Bishop Lowth in his Prelections on the Sacred Poetry
of the Hebrews, the matter of which has been revised and expanded in
later treatises. Herein, as elsewhere, Hebrew poetry asserts its
originality and independence. Biblical scholars recognize three
fundamental forms of parallelism in Hebrew poetry, which will be briefly
considered, first separately, and then in their combinations.

The _first_ is the _antithetic_ form, where two parallel members are
contrasted in meaning, a form peculiarly adapted to didactic poetry, and
therefore occurring most abundantly in the book of Proverbs. The
following are examples of it:

The memory of the just is blessed:
But the name of the wicked shall rot (Prov. 10:7);

where, in the original Hebrew, each clause consists of three words. In
such an antithetic parallelism the words of one couplet, at least, must
correspond in meaning, as here _memory_ and _name_; while the others are
in contrast--_just_ and _wicked_, _is blessed_ and _shall rot_.
Sometimes the two clauses are to be mutually supplied from each other,
thus:

A wise son maketh a glad father:
But a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother (Prov. 10:1);

where the reader understands that a wise son is the joy, and a foolish
son the grief of both father and mother.

The _second_ form is the _synonymous_, where the same general thought is
repeated in two or more clauses. It is found abundantly in the whole
range of Hebrew poetry, but is peculiarly adapted to that which is of a
placid and contemplative character. Sometimes the parallel clauses
simply repeat the same thought in different words; in other cases there
is only a general resemblance. Examples are the following:

He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh:
The Lord shall have them in derision. Psa. 2:4.

For thou, Lord, wilt bless the righteous:
With favor wilt thou compass him as with a shield. Psa. 5:12.

Perish the day wherein I was born;
And the night in which it was said, There is a man child conceived.
Job 3:3.

Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom:
Give ear unto the law of our God, ye peop