The Hymn of the Soul

only, at the end of each second line. This refers to the poem's rhyme scheme, which typically appears as a couplet where the second line rhymes with a previous one The only passages in which
this arrangement appears to be abandoned are couplets 25, 68 and
71. The first of these passages is admittedly unintelligible; in the
second, sense can be obtained only by altering the text. Accord-
ingly Wright William Wright (1830–1889), a famous scholar of Semitic languages who produced a foundational edition of this text proposes to read he shall triumph original Syriac: ܢ̇ܨܚ (neṣṣaḥ) (for he triumphed original Syriac: ܢ̣ܨܚ (naṣṣaḥ); the scholar suggests changing the grammatical tense to fix the rhyme or rhythm); but the assump-
tion of a lacuna A gap or missing section in a manuscript where text has been lost over time suffices to account for the syntactical difficulty.
With regard to the number of syllables in each line, it is
impossible, in consequence of the uncertainty of the text, to give
accurate statistics. Moreover Syriac A dialect of the Aramaic language used by Christians in the Middle East from the 1st century AD verse-writers allow them-
selves great license in the insertion and suppression of vowels. But
it will be found, on inspection, that in this Poem about 70 per
cent. of the lines consist of 6 syllables or, at least, may be made to
consist of 6 syllables by assuming some ordinary license¹. In a con-
siderable number of cases (about 18 per cent.) a line seems to
consist of 7 syllables, and in some others (about 9 per cent.) of 5.
By assuming unusual licenses of pronunciation the list of excep-
tions may, of course, be reduced, but even then some cases remain
in which the normal number of 6 syllables cannot be obtained
without some change of the text, although there is no other sign
of corruption—see 18 b, 24 b, 27 b, 31 b, 35 b, 49 b, 76 a, 84 a, 86 b,
95 b (7 syllables) and 21 a, 24 a, 29 a, 47 a, 54 a, 79 a, 81 b, 86 a,
100 a (5 syllables). It will be observed that where there is one
syllable too many the line is generally the second in the couplet,
where there is one syllable too few the line is generally the first.
The only lines which, at first sight, seem to have 8 syllables are
67 a and 104 b; one line (77 a) seems to have only 4. It is there-
fore possible that the poet was guided rather by his ear than by
a strict metrical rule A formal system governing the rhythm and number of syllables in poetry in determining the exact length of each half
of a couplet.

¹ By an ordinary license I mean, for example, the shortening of I have awakened original transliteration: aʿīrĕth to I have awakened a shortened form; transliterated: ʿīrĕthan (65 a), of them transliterated: ennōn to them the shortened suffix form; transliterated: nōn (80 a), and the lengthening of sunrise transliterated: madhnĕḥ to the sunrise the emphatic form; transliterated: madhenĕḥā (3 a), of marked transliterated: rĕshīm to the marked the emphatic form; transliterated: arĕshīm (55 a), etc.