In one respect alone does the art fail to reach its culminating point under the hands of David. His Psalms commonly lack the smooth ness and polish which give a kind of artificial beauty to the far inferior compositions of the post-exilic period. They are characterized by a terseness of expression which not unfrequently obscures the sense intended. To the ear they are often harsh and rugged. In fact the majority of them - these traits are not always present, and Psalms viii., xix., xxiii. Are remarkable exceptions to the rule - must have been very ill-adapted for public singing, and all attempts of translators to repro duce the sense and at the same time introduce such uniform rhythm as is required by musical schemes, have as yet proved failures. Our Prayer book Version recklessly sacrifices the sense to sound. In David's time musical (not poetical) schools were founded under the presidency of Asaph and others, and the sons of Korah, probably not long afterwards, undertook the actual vocal performance of such hymns as were used in public service. For the relation of these guilds of musicians and singers to the Poetry of the Psalter, see Proleg., Chap. VI.

About the Publisher

Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com

This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.