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Where Babylonic Rivers Flowed
after Psalm 137, a lament at the destruction of Jerusalem
Where Babylonic rivers flowed
We settled down to weep and mourn
And mused on Zion, our abode,
Our city sullied and forlorn.
In foreign land by poplar trees
We placed our lyres. For it was there
Our captors asked for songs to please;
Our lords demanded festive fare.
“Sing us your Zion songs,” they said.
How could we sing at their command,
Praise Yahweh God, and go to bed
And wake again in a foreign land?
If Jerusalem I should forget,
Let my right hand be shorn of skill;
My tongue be inarticulate,
If I your memory should kill,
O city fair, or fail to set
You high above my highest thrill!
O LORD, repay the Edomites
Who at Jerusalem’s collapse
Said, “Raze it! Raze it from its heights
To its foundation; leave no gaps!”
O Babylon, destroying horde,
How lucky he, who will repay
You with identical reward
You heaped on us that dreadful day.
How lucky he will surely be
Who commandeers your little ones
And slams them in a wanton spree
Against the rocks—your daughters and sons!
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Jeff Kemper has been a biology teacher, biblical studies instructor, editor, and painting contractor. He lives in York County, Pennsylvania.
Terrifying tale of the destruction of Jerusalem and the captivity of the Israelites. This brought to mind the song, “By the Rivers of Babylon,” as sung by the group Boney M out of the Netherlands. This is a wonderfully composed poem and succinctly tells the tale.
Thank you, Roy. I must listen to the song you referenced. It appears to be the same song my favorite vocalist, Linda Ronstadt, once recorded, but without the so-called imprecation at the end.
Jeff, I think this is a marvelous metrical paraphrase of the Psalm. It pretty much covers everything, even the final lines which many would rather leave out; it is “sung” in the same melancholic mood; the rhymes are great (especially forget/inarticulate and Edomites/heights) . I am particularly fascinated with this because I have set some Psalms to hymn tunes I know, and so I immediately wondered if there was one that would fit this poem, since it’s so musically written. I checked the metrical indices of a couple of hymnals I have, and didn’t find anything appropriate for verses with 4 lines of 8 syllables; but since your fourth verse is 6 lines, I found that the tune called “Vater unser in Himmelreich” (alternatively “Old Hundred Twelfth”) would sound very well with that verse.
In any case, it’s a very timely poem.
Thanks, Cynthia. I suppose someone somewhere has poetically paraphrased the entire Psalter (?), however I would shudder at the task of thus reworking Ps 119. I’ve done a number of Psalms and many other biblical passages, as have you. So your book intrigues me.
Very nicely done, Jeff. There have been quite a number of metrical psalters done by one person in English. First to try may have been courtier knight Sir Philip Sidney in the 16th century, but he died young in battle, and his sister Mary completed The Sidney Psalms. One widely popular during the 19th century was the Psalter of Anglican clergyman John Keble. The project is a difficult one, I agree, and I’ve never found any whole Psalter I could enthusiastically recommend. My favorite was the prose or free verse New American Bible (1970), done by a committee, but someone in the group had real literary flair. It is sadly no longer available, having been ruined with feminist language in 1986. Still, psalm translation and/or versification is wonderful devotional work. I did two for recitation at my wedding. Happy to learn that you are among poets giving careful and prayerful attention.
Check out the complete translation done by the late Alan Sullivan earlier in this century. It is completely metrical, and much more faithful to the original Hebrew than better known versions. There is a review of it in the October 2010 issue of Chronicles magazine (available on line), by the Catholic poet Timothy Murphy, Sullivan’s life partner. Sullivan was advised by a scholar of ancient Hebrew, who pointed out several mistranslations of the text that had become embedded in later renderings, whether independently done or officially sanctioned.
Just yesterday, I heard of “The Poet’s Book of Psalms,” that presents an entire metrical Psalter with versions by 25 poets, including both Sidneys and moving forward throughout the 20th century. It was published in 1999, and includes the King James psalms for comparison to the poem paraphrases. Also identifies the lyric kind of each according to the midrash. Used copies are inexpensive.
I just ordered my copy. According to reviews I read, most of those poems are over 200 years old. Furthermore, many are not even close to being paraphrases. An updated version of such an anthology might be an interesting project for the SCP.
???
Yes, it’s a good idea. I can think of many who have already produced potential selections. Right here, you’ve taken care of one with some of the least pleasant verses. But to carry over your original shudder on this topic, who will do Psalm 119?