Microstructure and Macrostructure in Isaiah 28–35

Abstract

This dissertation begins by briefly reviewing the history of research regarding poetic microstructure and macrostructure. The key takeaways are that although Robert Lowth articulated Hebrew poetry as consisting of meter and parallelism, a consensus now exists that Hebrew poetry is not metrical. Rather, Hebrew poetry consists of free verse. Parallelism also does not precisely capture the relationships between lines, nor does it explain the contours of a single line. Poetic macrostructure has also been an object of study, but little agreement exists as to how to discern the complete hierarchical organization of a poem. After explaining leading microstructural models according to syntax (Hebrew Verse Structure and The Revised and Extended HVS Model) and a perceptual approach (Unparalleled Poetry), eight chapters are spent explaining how these models lineate Isaiah 28–35. Emmylou Grosser’s perceptual model is also used to examine line-group relationships. The perceptual model was found to account for the greatest amount of textual detail and provide the greatest explanatory power for lineation and verse structure. After an exhaustive microstructural analysis, each chapter continues by examining poetic macrostructure according to the methods of Pieter van der Lugt and Ernst Wendland. These methods fruitfully captured repetitions and patterns spread across large poems and thereby brought clarity to poetic macrostructure. This dissertation argues that Isaiah 28–35 consists of seven poems made of six poetic levels each: line, verse/line-group, strophe, stanza, section, and whole-poem which are clearly indicated by perceptual principles and repetition.