accented; in vv. 17–19*, irregularities in the textual meter are probably caused by intrusions into the text, so that one could proceed confidently with a restoration that reads these verses as having five-stress cola as well. Thus the only verse that does not fit this pattern is v. 21b* (on this, see above, p. 48). Even on purely formal grounds, the diction found in this poem is extremely lively: in v. 8* the cedars speak; in v. 10b* the Rephaim have their say; in vv. 13f.* the tyrant himself is