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Biblical poetry

Genre
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Sacred poetry from the Bible, characterized by parallelism and rhythm.

Detailed Definition
Biblical poetry refers to the poetic passages found throughout the Hebrew Bible and Christian Old Testament—especially in Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Song of Songs, and Lamentations—that employ parallelism (synonymous, antithetic, or synthetic), elevated diction, metaphor, and rhythmic cadence rather than strict meter or rhyme; this poetry conveys theological, ethical, and emotional truths through structured repetition and symbolic imagery, forming a foundational influence on Western religious and literary traditions.
Example
Example in poetry:
Biblical poetry appears in the Psalms’ parallelism: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want”; In Song of Songs: “My beloved is unto me as a cluster of camphire”; Milton’s “Paradise Lost” adapts Hebrew parallelism into English blank verse; Blake’s “The Lamb” echoes Psalms in simplicity and structure; Denise Levertov’s “Mass” uses liturgical rhythm and biblical allusion; Contemporary poet Lucille Clifton invokes biblical cadence in “won’t you celebrate with me”.
Additional Notes
Poetry found within the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), predominantly in books like Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Song of Songs, and Lamentations, and also interspersed in prophetic and historical books; Characterized by parallelism (synonymous, antithetic, and synthetic), rhythm, and rich imagery; Not always focused on Western meter or rhyme.
Also Known As
Sacred poetry Scriptural verse Religious song Ancient Hebrew/Biblical
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