Midnight Mission
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The 'lay' form is octosyllabic medieval poetry, from six to sixteen lines
His days were hard, his nights were long
The Psalmist woke, six hours 'fore dawn
Awakened by a breeze so slight
His chamber still bereft of light
Some scoff he rose the lyre to play
The record shows he stood and prayed
**********
Notes:
The Psalmist is King David
The record is the Babylonian Talmud:
Tractate Brochos (Blessings), pages 3a & 3b
The lyre functioned as David's alarm clock, its strings
stirred by the breeze that arises in Israel at midnight
David formulated a long prayer service, known as Tikkun Chatzos,
loosely translated as 'Midnight Prayers,' which pious Jews still perform today
Copyright © Gershon Wolf | Year Posted 2019
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