Ten Greatest Poets – David, Sweet Singer of Israel

DAVID, SWEET SINGER OF ISRAEL

Judaeo-Christianity is one of the foundations of Western civilization. It is a major cultural stream in the religious and spiritual heritage of the West. Therefore, our list of the ten greatest poets selects a preeminent poet in this tradition.

The Bible, the sacred text of Christianity, is a rich repository of religious and spiritual poetry. One of the central figures of the Bible, David, is credited by Jewish lore with composing at least one third of the psalms—there are 150—in the Book of Psalms.

Biblical psalms are today still an essential part of Jewish and Christian religious practice. They are used in formal prayers, religious rites, and public worship.

David is a legendary figure. Beyond his Biblical persona, there is nothing that we directly know of David from historical evidence. His authorship of one third of the psalms is legendary as well.

Did David, slayer of Goliath, Saul’s armor-bearer, sweet singer of Israel, ruler of the house of Jacob, conqueror of Jerusalem, adulterer with Uriah’s wife, the same man’s murderer, target of a failed rebellion led by one of David’s sons, Absalom…father through Bathsheba of Israel’s most powerful king, Solomon, renowned for his unrivaled wisdom…royal ancestor of Jesus Christ, really exist?

A spreading pool of ink, still growing, has been spilled over this question.

Because practically everything we know about David comes from the Bible, it is easy to argue that he is a work of fiction.

However, nothing in the archaeological record says that he didn’t exist. Although only one or at most two inscriptions actually mention David, more accurately, the “house of David,” a great deal of archaeological data reveals that the rise of a kingdom around the time of David centered in Jerusalem is a credible claim.

What is certain is that from the time of David’s death, the Biblical David is a construction that was many years in the making and used to advance the religious nationalist aspirations of the Jews.

Demonstrably, the Biblical David romanticized as “a man after God’s own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14; Acts 13:22) is not a factual account. The real David was probably the audacious, ruthless leader of a Palestinian militia and exhibiting the unsavory attributes we would expect to find in a tenth-century B.C.E. mercenary of that locale and period.

Steven McKenzie plausibly argues:

“David maintained power in the same way he had attained it in the first place—by removing anyone who was in his way. …There was conscription and taxation to support the king’s projects, military and domestic. David probably confiscated other lands, as he did those of Meribbaal, in order to reward his supporters. This was a king who took what he wanted as in the story of Bathsheba. The story of Absalom’s revolt indicates that there was widespread discontent with David and sectionalism fostered by his unequal treatment of Israel and Judah. As usual, David regained control by military means. Ironically, at the end of his life David himself became the victim of others’ political maneuvering. His own son, Solomon, used contrived orders from David to launch a coup against the presumed successor, Adonijah, and to get rid of the members of the old regime (Joab, Abiathar) who supported Adonijah. Bathsheba herself may have orchestrated the coup.”

See: http://www.bibleinterp.com/articles/mck020301.shtml

 

[See updated link below]

The Davidic psalms are remarkable for their powerful expression of religious and spiritual sentiment, splendid lyricism, and characteristic Jewishness.

Psalm 23, for example, is distinctively Jewish—it conceives of Yahweh as a devoted shepherd, a motif which derives from the longtime historical experience of the Jews, who for centuries existed as a nomadic pastoral society.

Reading the Davidic psalms in the context of the Biblical persona of David enriches our interpretation of them. When we read, for example, Psalm 51, David’s prayer of repentance, in the context of his remorse for his sins of adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of Uriah, the verses carry that much more pathos.

For you are not pleased with sacrifices; should I offer a holocaust, you would not accept it.

My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit; a heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.

The psalms are not dead letters to the world. They speak to the present day because they recapitulate universal human experience.

Consider, for example, the opening verses of Psalm 53, which bring to mind, among others, endemic corruption at the highest levels of government in the Philippines:

The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” Such are the corrupt; they do abominable deeds; there is not one who does good.

God looks down from heaven upon the children of men to see if there be one who is wise and seeks God.

All alike have gone astray; they have become perverse; there is not one who does good, not even one.

Will all these evildoers never learn, they who eat up my people just as they eat bread, who call not upon God?

The psalm ends with the exclamatory supplication:

Oh, that out of Zion would come the salvation of Israel!

When God restores the well-being of his people, then shall Jacob exult and Israel be glad.

Sappho, Tenth Muse:

https://poetryofgonzalinhodacosta.blogspot.com/2018/06/ten-greatest-poets-sappho.html

The Old King (1936) by Georges Rouault

Ten Greatest Poets

TEN GREATEST POETS

Anytime you set out to list the ten greatest anything, you’re setting yourself up for a takedown. Because any ten greatest list is bound to be controversial, and there will always be mountains enough to dispute. Still, it’s worth undertaking the intellectual and aesthetic exercise for the sheer stimulation of it.

In putting together this list, I had to first decide on evaluative criteria. I settled on three:

1. Influence on world culture

2. Critical legacy

3. Female representation

The first criterion, influence on world culture, seeks to elevate judgment beyond individual, idiosyncratic taste. We all have our favorite poems, and if we considered them the greatest on this basis solely, they would hardly qualify as the greatest.

This criterion necessarily leads us to bypass many cultures of lesser influence, such as, for example, the rich cultures of the indigenous North American tribes. We would inevitably emphasize Western culture because of colonial and imperial history. By weight of sheer population numbers, Chinese and Indian cultures would be considered very influential. Not surprisingly, this criterion inevitably introduces selection bias.

The second criterion, critical legacy, is principally located in academic sources, not exclusively Western. There is something to be said for the value of academic evaluation—among others, it is intellectual, often rigorous, and peer-reviewed.

This criterion also introduces selection bias. However, bias does not by itself disqualify this criterion. After all, bias exists everywhere. In coming to judgment, it is necessary to recognize bias for what it is and how it applies in particular cases.

The third criterion has been introduced because males dominate the world literature canon. A list of the ten greatest poets tends to select males because society is historically patriarchal. In the interest of balance, I thought it important to include at least some females. Still, results end up favoring males, and there is only one female in the list.

In two instances, I sought to explain the basis for my selection, male or female, when equivalent choices of different genders presented themselves.

Minority representation, practically nonexistent in the traditional canon, Western or otherwise, is an important criterion. It should be included as a fourth criterion, but it isn’t.

Unfortunately, the world literature canon is occupied by high culture representatives of hegemonic societies. If we include minority poets in the list of the ten greatest, we would have to select them from recent or contemporary poets who exist outside the canon.

In the end, only one twentieth-century poet—and he is not a minority—made it to the list. For so short a list, the status quo, among others, works against minority representation.

To address the issue of lack of minority representation in the world literature canon, I have prepared another list, Numbers 11 to 20 Greatest Poets, which will appear later.

My list of ten greatest poets is organized chronologically, earliest to latest, approximately.

The ten greatest poets are—flourish, please:

1. David (c. 1,000 BCE)

2. Sappho (630-580 BCE)

3. Vyasa (c. 400 BCE)

4. Li Po (701-762)

5. Rumi or Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi (1207-1273)

6. Dante Alighieri (c. 1265-1321)

7. William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

8. Matsuo Bashō (1644-1694)

9. Walt Whitman (1819-1892)

10. Pablo Neruda (1904-1973)

This next succession of blogs takes them up one by one.

David, Sweet Singer of Israel:

https://poetryofgonzalinhodacosta.blogspot.com/2018/06/ten-greatest-poets-david.html

The Unexpected Answer (1933) by Rene Magritte

Three Holy Poets

THREE HOLY POETS

“Saint” derives from “Sanctus” in Latin, which means “holy.”

SAINT FRANCIS OF ASSISI (1181/82-1226)

Saint Francis of Assisi is a major figure in the history of Western civilization. His troubadour interpretation of Christianity influenced Western philosophy, theology, Christian practice, the arts, indeed, the world at large. While many saints gave Christian witness through a life of poverty, even destitution, Saint Francis, Il Poverello, accorded this difficult virtue his own endearing interpretation, personifying it as “Lady Poverty.” His inimitable love for animals was immortalized in stories the likes of the saint preaching to the birds or taming the wolf of Gubbio. He bore the stigmata of Christ, the first recorded instance in the history of Christianity. Not surprisingly, his legacy is touched by controversy. He has been charged with the sin of prelest by the Orthodox yet described by the contemporary religious and spiritual writer and priest, Richard McBrien, as the archetypal saint. 

Historians observe that his original composition “Canticle of Brother Sun” is one of the first poems, if not the first, written in Italian, or more accurately, an Umbrian dialect of Italian. His charming spin on Biblical psalms of praise personifies the works of divine creation—the moon, the stars, water, fire, and so on—as his siblings, blood relations. Death, in particular, is personified not as a frightful stalker but rather as a blessed sister.

Cantico di Frate Sole (original language Umbrian)

Altissimu, omnipotente bon Signore,

tue so le laude, la gloria e l’honore et onne benedictione.

Ad Te solo, Altissimo, se konfano,

et nullu homo ène dignu te mentouare.

Laudato sie, mi Signore cum tucte le Tue creature,

spetialmente messor lo frate Sole,

lo qual è iorno, et allumini noi per lui.

Et ellu è bellu e radiante cum grande splendore:

de Te, Altissimo, porta significatione.

Laudato si, mi Signore, per sora Luna e le stelle:

in celu l’ài formate clarite et pretiose et belle.

Laudato si, mi Signore, per frate Uento

et per aere et nubilo et sereno et onne tempo,

per lo quale, a le Tue creature dài sustentamento.

Laudato si, mi Signore, per sor’Acqua,

la quale è multo utile et humile et pretiosa et casta.

Laudato si, mi Signore, per frate Focu,

per lo quale ennallumini la nocte:

ed ello è bello et iucundo et robustoso et forte.

Laudato si, mi Signore, per sora nostra matre Terra,

la quale ne sustenta et gouerna,

et produce diuersi fructi con coloriti fior et herba.

Laudato si, mi Signore, per quelli ke perdonano per lo Tuo amore

et sostengono infirmitate et tribulatione.

Beati quelli ke’l sosterranno in pace,

ka da Te, Altissimo, sirano incoronati.

Laudato si mi Signore, per sora nostra Morte corporale,

da la quale nullu homo uiuente pò skappare:

guai a quelli ke morrano ne le peccata mortali;

beati quelli ke trouarà ne le Tue sanctissime uoluntati,

ka la morte secunda no ’l farrà male.

Laudate et benedicete mi Signore et rengratiate

e seruiteli cum grande humilitate.

Text is copied from Wikipedia.

Canticle of Brother Sun (translation adapted from the website Custodia Terrae Sanctae: Franciscan Missionaries Serving in the Holy Land)

Most High, all-powerful, good Lord,

yours are the praises, the glory, and the honor, and all blessing.

To You alone, Most High, do they belong,

and no human is worthy to mention Your name.

Praised be You, my Lord, with all Your creatures,

especially my lord Brother Sun,

who is the day and through whom You give us light.

And he is beautiful and radiant with great splendor:

Of You, Most High One, he bears a likeness.

Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars:

in heaven You formed them clear and precious and beautiful.

Praised be You, my Lord, through Brother Wind

and through the air, cloudy and serene, and every kind of weather,

through whom You give sustenance to Your creatures.

Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Water,

who is very useful and humble and precious and chaste.

Praised be You, my Lord, through Brother Fire,

through whom You light the night:

and he is beautiful and playful and robust and strong.

Praised be You, my Lord, through our Sister Mother Earth,

who sustains and governs us,

and who produces various fruit with colored flowers and herbs.

Praised be You, my Lord, through those who give pardon for Your love

and bear infirmity and tribulation.

Blessed are those who endure in peace,

for by You, Most High, shall they be crowned.

Praised be You, my Lord, through our Sister Bodily Death,

from whom no one living can escape:

woe to those who die in mortal sin;

blessed are those whom death will find in Your most holy will,

for the second death shall do them no harm.

Praise and bless my Lord and give Him thanks

and serve Him with great humility.

Saint Francis in Ecstasy (c. 1480) by Giovanni Bellini

Saint Ephrem the Syrian (Died 373 C.E.)

The farther back in time an important historical figure goes, as a rule the less we know about them as an individual. We could say as much about Saint Ephrem the Syrian, monk and deacon. He is known to us chiefly on the basis of his reputation as a prolific composer of religious hymns in Syriac, estimated at over four hundred, some forever lost and others existing only in translation, particularly in Armenian. His popular epithet, “Harp of the Holy Spirit,” recalls, among others, that he employed hymnody as a vehicle for apologetics and religious instruction. Hymns ascribed to him are today still regularly sung in the liturgy, especially the Syriac Christian liturgy. On October 5, 1920, Benedict XV bestowed upon him the title “Doctor of the Church.” Saint Ephrem is known as the “Doctor of the Syrians.”

Although the English translation below is at least two steps removed from the original Syriac, we can still appreciate it as a lyrical exposition of lasting truths about the power of prayer. The text recapitulates key Biblical motifs.

Excerpt from Hymns Preserved in Armenian, No. 1

Prayer divided the Red Sea, allowing the people to cross through its midst; by the same prayer the sea was reunited once more, swallowing up Pharoah, the rebellious and impious. Prayer brought down manna from heaven, prayer brought the quails from the sea, prayer struck the rock in the desert, causing water to gush forth for the thirsty.

Excerpt is from The Syriac Fathers on Prayer and the Spiritual Life, introduced and translated by Sebastian Brock (Kalamazoo, Michigan: Cistercian Publications Inc., 1987), page 36.

Saint Ephrem the Syrian, National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Washington, D.C.

SAINT TERESA OF AVILA (1515-82)

So famous are Autobiography and The Interior Castle that many Roman Catholics are probably not aware that Saint Teresa of Avila is not only a mystical writer of prose but also a poet. She has written at least sixty poems. See, for example, this listing in the Table of Contents of Flame of Love: Poems of the Spanish Mystics (2005):

http://catdir.loc.gov/catdir/toc/ecip0511/2005010978.html

 

—“Table of contents for Flame of love: poems of the Spanish mystics / San Juan de la Cruz (St. John of the Cross), Santa Teresa de Jesús (St. Teresa of Avila); English translation by Elegies,” University of Toronto LibrarySearch

Saint Teresa of Avila is popularly revered in the Roman Catholic Church and widely celebrated in world culture. A canonized saint, very rare in Roman Catholicism, Saint Teresa is further distinguished by two scarce honors—co-founder, along with Saint John of the Cross, of the Discalced Carmelites, one of the major Roman Catholic religious orders; and the title “Doctor of the Church,” the “Doctor of Prayer.” Astonishingly detailed and highly original, her mystical writings contribute, along with those of Saint John of the Cross, in a major way to our world heritage. Honored as a national hero in Spain, she is extolled there as a spiritual and literary luminary of the Siglo de Oro or Golden Age.

The poem below is notable for, among others, its modern style, namely, elliptical idiom (very nearly so), and the absence of rhyme and punctuation. The close of the poem is explosive and emphatic—“solo Dios basta.”

Nada Te Turbe (original language Spanish)

nada te turbe

nada te espante

todo se pasa

Dios no se muda

la paciencia

todo lo alcanza

quien a Dios tiene

nada la falta

solo Dios basta

Let Nothing Upset You

let nothing upset you

let nothing startle you

all things pass

God does not change

patience

wins all it seeks

whoever has God

lacks nothing

God alone is enough

The above translation is put together from various sources.

nada te turbe in Saint Teresa of Avila’s original handwriting