I will not again pass by them any more.

And the songs of the temple shall be howlings in that day.

The dead bodies shall be many; in every place have they cast them forth: be silent.

This vision of Amos sets forth a series of punishments which have overtaken or threaten to overtake the land. “The first two refer to dangers already past at the time of the discourse, the last two to the future.” In form, again, the first two and the last two exhibit a close affinity with one another. All four strophes have eight lines apiece and begin with the same phrase; in all four the second line begins in the same fashion, but proceeds differently even in the verses of each couple. In the third line the couples diverge entirely, the twin strophes alone remaining in close correspondence.

This method of working on a definite plan was a favourite one with the prophets. The change of picture in the same framework produces a lasting impression, and the repetition of the same form with a different substance fixes the mind on the thing seen, which is in danger of vanishing all too quickly. The responsion in verses apparently different is very noteworthy; as are lines 7 and 8 respectively, where the desolate places of Isaac correspond to the songs of the temple changed into howlings, and the rising with the sword of the third strophe to the many dead bodies of the fourth.

AN EXAMPLE FROM EZEKIEL

I take another example of correspondence between the strophes from the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel, Chap. xxi.

1) And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,6) And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
2) Son of man,7) Son of man,
Set thy face toward the South.Set thy face toward Jerusalem
And drop thy word toward the South,And drop thy word toward the Sanctuaries,
And prophesy against the forest of the field in the South;And prophesy against the land of Israel;
3) And say to the forest of the South:8) And say to the land of Israel:
Hear the word of the Lord;
Thus saith the Lord God:Thus saith the Lord:
Behold I will kindle a fire in theeBehold I am against thee,
And it shall devour every green tree in thee and every dry tree.And will draw forth my sword from its sheath
And will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked.
9) Seeing that I will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked.
The flaming fire shall not be quenched,Therefore shall my sword go forth out of its sheath against all flesh
And all faces shall be burnt thereby.
From the north to the south.From the north to the south.
4) And all flesh shall see10) And all flesh shall know
That I, the Lord, have kindled it:That I the Lord have drawn forth my sword out of its sheath;
It shall not be quenched.It shall not return any more.