Babylon [prose passages] interrupted at
intervals by [impersonal] songs, realising or celebrating what the
Divine word brings forward. The last of these verse interruptions is a
fully developed Ode on Fallen Babylon. The structural form of this ode
is antistrophic inversion (7, 6; 6, 7), like that of No. /iv/ of the
Sonnets (above, page 260). Another effect in this ode is the Taunt or
Dirge Song.--_My consecrated ones ... them that exult in my majesty._
The Divine voice is heard calling to God's 'hosts,' the idea suggested
by the title 'Jehovah Sabaoth.' Compare Joel, chapter iii. 11 and 13;
Psalm ciii. 20, 21.--_I will sit upon the mount of congregation in the
uttermost parts of the north_: the north is regularly in Scripture the
quarter from which Divine judgment is looked for (e.g. Ezekiel, chapter
i. 4; Jeremiah vi. i; Job xxxvii. 22).

/xi. Nahum's Doom of Nineveh./ This is a Doom Prophecy directed against
Nineveh, partly in the structure called above 'doom form,' partly in
other forms. It falls into seven sections. Sections 1 and 2 are
meditations in pendulum form (above, page 251), the paragraphs
alternating between judgment and salvation. Section 3 is in doom form:
the Divine announcement of doom is interrupted by lyric realisation of
the sudden attack upon Nineveh in the midst of its careless security.
Section 4 is a brief lyric triumph over Nineveh overthrown. Section 5
resumes the doom form: the Divine denunciation interrupted by lyric
realisation of Nineveh in its pride. With section 6 this passes into a
Taunt Song (as in example /x/). The seventh section is a brief lyric
meditation upon Nineveh overthrown and desolate.

RHAPSODY

This has been explained in the Introduction (pages xii-xiii) as a term
applied to a highly characteristic form of prophetic literature,
amounting to spiritual drama: actual dramatic dialogue and action being
combined with other literary modes of expression to produce the general
effect of dramatic realisation and movement. Some of the examples
(I-III) are complete rhapsodies; IV is a discourse that becomes
rhapsodic at its conclusion; V is a rhapsodic morceau, a single thought
cast in this literary form; VI and VII are integral portions of one of
the long rhapsodies.

/I. Rhapsody of the Drought./ This is a simple and clear example of
rhapsodic writing. It opens with scenic description of the drought; the
rest is dialogue between God, Repentant Israel, and the Prophet. T