Abstract:
A structural analysis of Ps 88 serves as a point of departure for a study of the poetics and especially the sound patterns and other stylistic figures that characterize the psalm. The ways in which sonic figures can serve to counter traumatic need in the psalm are discussed. The vocative expression in the opening line, 'Yhwh, God of my salvation!', already marks an important moment in this process. Because of the divine silence, dialogue does not take place. And yet, the situation is expressed via details of the psalm's structure, including the alternating sonic expressions of first and second person suffixes. Viewed as a whole, there is a progressive descent from the opening exclamation to the dismayed and powerlessly whispered conclusion in which 'a dark place' occupies the foreground.
