Together for Life: psalmody
  • Charles in CenCA
    Posts: 2,416
    In this ubiquitous marriage preparation pamphlet the "one from column A, one from B..." method of selecting scripture is laid out. The first of the suggested psalms is their C1- "The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord." No problem.
    But what if one were prone to reorder the prose, for example, as "Of the goodness of the Lord, the earth is full." ?
    Arguments/legislation/IP issues?
  • Adam WoodAdam Wood
    Posts: 6,481
    "and on earth... peace on earth... peace to people of good will"

    I vote "boo, hiss"
  • Carl DCarl D
    Posts: 992
    I MIGHT be inclined to look at it, if it seemed that the sentence was more clear and didn't shift the emphasis at all. That particular example doesn't seem to make the cut.
  • Charles in CenCA
    Posts: 2,416
    I'm not following Carl. Does the original example, which is like most of what we trade in a translation, poetically optimal? Is there a different emphasis by using the prepositional clause first, and stress the definite subject verb; a more (redundant) emphatic declaration?
    I hope that Kathy, Chuck, and others more deft and less arcane than I offer advice. Soon, if possible.
  • GavinGavin
    Posts: 2,799
    To me confusing such syntax is.
  • Charles in CenCA
    Posts: 2,416
    Thanks, Yoda.
    (Rest) Of the kindness of the Lord the earth is full.
    (Rest) ti ti ti ti ti ti/ ta. ti ta ta/ ta___. (Sorry, the Kodaly doesn't align.)
  • Charles in CenCA
    Posts: 2,416
    Thanks again, Adam, Carl and Gavin.
    Don't know how to sink thread any longer. Have a great weekend.
  • Carl DCarl D
    Posts: 992
    My observation is just that it's pretty unusual, and feels awkward, to start with a phrase like "of the goodness." People can figure it out if they think about it, but that's not easy to do - especially if people don't have a written copy in front of them.

    If the original was "Of the goodness of the Lord, the earth is full" then I might support the reordering, just to render something that's easier for people to understand. One can argue, though, whether a bit of balance has shifted between the word "goodness" and "full." To me that doesn't seem a huge deal.

    Adam's example, "and on earth || peace, on earth || peace to people of good will" bugs me every time I hear it at Mass, because it sounds precisely like we've inserted the phrase "peace on earth" in the middle of a different prayer. Sure, I want peace on earth, but it's not a phrase in the Gloria. It sounds like we're adding a prayer of the faithful in the middle of the Gloria.
  • Charles in CenCA
    Posts: 2,416
    I better appreciate your POV, Carl, to which I will return.
    Adam's example I don't find analogous to my proposition.But I like that he doesn't hold anything back!
    I hesitate to shed more questioning light upon the premise of what "is" (I know, it sounds Clintonian) original.
    We can be comfortble with a turned phrase such as "Of mice and men" but revert to funtional prose because......?
    Isn't it conditional, such as how we're coming to terms with MR3?
    If I take "Sing of the Lord's goodness" and rework it to "Of the Lord's goodness, sing," that feels contrived....because of imbalance?
    In Ps. 33, the antecedent "the earth is full", especially when mitigated by emphatic quarter notes. YMMV
Add a Comment