Friday, April 24, 2020

Psalm 114

attributed to King David (c. 1000 BCE)


Hallelujah!

When Israel came out of Egypt,
⁠the house of Jacob from a people of strange speech,

Judah became God’s sanctuary
⁠and Israel his dominion.

The sea beheld it and fled;
⁠Jordan turned and went back.

The mountains skipped like rams,
⁠and the little hills like young sheep.

What ailed you, O sea, that you fled?
⁠O Jordan, that you turned back?

You mountains, that you skipped like rams?
⁠you little hills like young sheep?

Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord,
⁠at the presence of the God of Jacob,

Who turned the hard rock into a pool of water
⁠and flint‑stone into a flowing spring.

*

Question to think about: When you write a poem, can you make things in the natural world do things they wouldn't usually do (as here, with the mountains and the hills skipping like rams and sheep)?

No comments:

Post a Comment