196 FORMS OF HEBREW POETRY
vv. 1-3 said to contain 8 lines.
4-6 “ 5 lines and a refrain.
7-8 “ 4 “ “
10 “ 3 “ “
9 “ 2 “ “
11 “ 1 “ “
12, 13 “ 8 lines.
It will be observed (1) that vv. 10 and 9 are
transposed to secure the exact arithmetical pro-
gression; (2) that 5 + 4 + 3 + 2 +1 only amount
to 15, while if we add to this all five occurrences
of the refrain the sum is 20; but neither 15 nor
20 is a multiple of eight; so the symmetrical
figure 16 =8 x 2 is obtained by reckoning five
occurrences of the refrain as one line only! But
this is only part of the capriciousness that under-
lies the formula. When we examine the "lines”
we find some to be true lines, while others are a
large number of Hebrew words constituting, or
consisting of a quantity equivalent to, at least
a distich. In verse 9,
Nvqryv Nvpdwb Mktx ytykh
I have smitten you with blasting and mildew,
is reckoned a single line, but in verse 11, which
the arithmetical progression requires shall contain
one line and no more, this single "line" consists
of vyhtv hrmf txv Mds tx Myhlx tkphmk Mkb ytkph
Hprwm lcvm dyxk, “I have overthrown some among
you as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah,