On the Art of Reading · Chapter
Lecture X: On Reading the Bible (III) explained
The lecturer focuses on the Book of Job as a practical example of reading the Bible as literature.
What happens
The lecturer focuses on the Book of Job as a practical example of reading the Bible as literature. He argues for its literary merit, its suitability for study in an English school, and uses it to illustrate that poetry can exist without metre or rhyme, citing Job as an example of sublime free verse. He also discusses the concept of static drama, referencing Maeterlinck, and uses Job's structure to counter arguments about the necessity of action in drama.
Themes in this chapter
The Bible as Literature
The entire lecture is a practical demonstration of reading the Bible, specifically the Book of Job, as a literary masterpiece.
Value of the Classics
Job is presented as an indisputable classic, comparable to Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Milton.
The Art of Selection
The lecturer chooses Job for specific reasons (sublimity, structure, brevity) to illustrate broader principles of literary study.
Characters to notice
- Unknown Narrator
The lecturer, who presents the analysis of Job and argues for its literary value.
- Job
The central figure of the Book of Job, used as the primary example of biblical literature.
- Satan
Appears in the Prologue of Job as the Adversary who challenges Job's righteousness.
- Milton
Quoted for calling Job 'a brief model' and for his verse in Paradise Lost.
- M. Maeterlinck
Referenced for his definition of static drama, which the lecturer compares to the Book of Job.
- Aristotle
Mentioned in the context of traditional drama representing men doing (πράττοντας).
- Homer
Implied through reference to epic tradition and comparison with Job's sublimity.
- Shakespeare
Referenced alongside Hamlet and Lear as examples of sublime verse.
Key passages
“My task today, Gentlemen, is mainly practical: to choose a particular book of Scripture and show (if I can) not only that it deserves to be enjoyed, in its English rendering, as a literary masterpiece, because it abides in that dress, an indisputable classic for us, as surely as if it had first been composed in English; but that it can, for purposes of study, serve the purpose of any true literary school of English as readily, and as usefully, as the Prologue to The Canterbury Tales or Hamlet or Paradise Lost.”
The lecturer's goal is to demonstrate that a specific book of the Bible, in its English translation, is a literary classic worthy of study in an English literature course, just like works by Chaucer, Shakespeare, or Milton.
Sets up the central argument of the lecture.
“Is that poetry? Surely it is poetry. Can you improve it with the embellishments of rhyme and strict scansion? Well, sundry bold men have tried, and I will choose, for your judgment, the rendering of a part of the above passage by one who is by no means the worst of them—a hardy anonymous Scotsman.”
The lecturer asserts that the passage from Job is undeniably poetry, and questions whether adding rhyme and metre would improve it, then provides a poor rhyming version as a counterexample.
Illustrates the argument that poetry does not require metre or rhyme.
“These apostles are butting at an open door. Nothing remains for them but to go and write vers libres as fine as those of Job in our English translation.”
Advocates of free verse are arguing for something that already exists in the Bible; they should instead focus on writing free verse as good as Job's.
Dismisses the novelty of the free verse debate by pointing to biblical precedent.
