Making an Almost Joyful Noise: Augustan Imitation and the Psalms of David

Abstract

AbstractThis essay examines the transformation of psalmody in the long eighteenth century, from metrical translation set to music and sung by an English congregation into a purely literary imitation designed to be appreciated like any other form of modern poetry. Under the influence of an Augustan theory of poetic imitation, poets move beyond simple paraphrase or translation to create a new literary commodity. While these poems identify themselves as Psalms, assuming the cachet of scriptural authority, they seem largely unrelated to worship or liturgy; they are intended not so much to express private devotion as to ‘amuse’ ingenious readers.