I've let it slip.
I've let it fall away.
Down into the dark corners.
Down into the great abyss.
Down into the forgotten realm.
How can I find it?
Where can I find it?
How can I find it again?
It was not so long ago that I held it.
It was only a little while ago that I held it tight.
I may never know what happened.
I may never know how.
I may never know why it fell.
All I know is that it is gone--
all the way,
the whole way,
all the way down.
No match,
No flashlight,
No floodlight would help.
If it is to be found, I will have to search.
If it is to be found, I will have to crawl.
If it is to be found, I will have to find it.
In the dark.
In the abyss.
In the forgotten realm.
Don't worry everyone. I'm just practicing. It doesn't mean anything...*shifty eyes*...or does it...
The interesting thing is that this kind of writing isn't so different from some of the techniques used by the Psalmists. Well, except that I don't use them very well, but that's mostly because I have not idea what I'm doing.
These ideas of repetition, of rephrasing, and of image development are used in the Psalms. My music history teacher gave me some brilliant insight to the purpose for such techniques. The way she explained it makes so much sense.
Anyone who has studied a second language--to any extent--has discovered that hardly anything translates directly. There are some times more, some times less words in a language. There are different grammatical arrangements from language to language. Add this to the fact that a rhyme in one language is not in the least bit likely to come out as a rhyme in another language, and you might have a problem if you are the ruler of the universe trying to write poetry that will be understood by all peoples for all time.
So what does God do?
He writes his poetry through a people who don't use rhyme. These people write poetry through concept development, through imagery development, through repetition and restatement. It is a rhyme of thoughts, of ideas, of images. This is something that translates into any language. It doesn't have to rhyme in the ear, because it rhymes in the mind.
Psalm 1
Blessed is the man who does not
walk in the council of the wicked,
stand in the way of sinners,
nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on His law he meditates day and night.
He is like a tree planted by streams of water
which yields its fruit in season,
and whose leaf never whithers.
Whatever he does prospers.
Not so, the wicked.
They are like chaff
which the wind blows away.
Therefore, the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked shall perish.
Can you see it? Such poetry. Such wisdom. It is a strong image. God doesn't hold back. He puts everything out there, and just in case you missed it the first time, He says it again only in a different way. If the image is a little fuzzy, if you aren't quite sure about what He's trying to say, if there is some doubt as to whether or not He means it, He paints the picture clearer and in bolder colors that declare emphatic certainty of the message he is trying to convey.
