114 FORMS OF HEBREW POETRY
there alternate schemes such as
a. b. c. d. e
a'. b'2. d'. e'
but not such as
a. b. c. d. e
a'. b'2. c'. d'. e'
or with schemes
a. b. c
a’. b’
schemes such as
a. b. c
a’2
or
a. b. c
a’2. b’
but not such as
a. b. c
a'2. b'
Now, if my analysis is even approximately
correct, what, stated in general terms, are the facts
of the Book of Lamentations, and the questions,
which, once the facts are analysed and classified,
almost necessarily arise? Lamentations iii. con-
tains sixty-six sections unmistakably marked off
from one another by the alphabetic scheme: there
is no complete parallelism between any two suc-
cessive sections: there is incomplete parallelism
between perhaps fifteen groups of two sections:
there is none at all between the rest. Why are