Der Strophenbau in den Gedichten Ephraems des Syrers

Ephrem stands preeminent in the Syriac poetic tradition. His works have been the subject of numerous articles and monographs over recent centuries. This volume focuses specifically on the strophic patterns used by Ephrem. Grimme first lays down some basic principles of Syriac meter and then turns directly to Ephrem’s poetry, which he breaks down into five types: 1. simple strophes with repetition, 2. strophes with two different verse forms regularly alternating with each other, 3. two-part strophes in which each part contains at least two non-alternating verse forms, 4. three-part strophes in which the two first parts, built of at least two different verse forms, correspond exactly to each other, and 5. strophes of various verse forms with arbitrary connections. The appendix (18 pgs.) deals with possible relationships between Byzantine (esp. Romanos) and Syriac poetic forms, a subject that continues to be discussed today. The focus is on the meters, rather than the language itself, and what Syriac occurs is given in transliteration, so knowledge of Syriac is not necessary to benefit from this work, which will be of interest to any reader concerned with poetry in Late Antiquity.