A Poetic Creation

Most scholars have pronounced Genesis 1 as a work of prose, not poetry. It does not have a set meter or rhyme. Yet, from my childhood, I read it like poetry. Now I know why. It is poetry, but not a commonly used form. It is Circular Poetry, a style that does not require meter or rhyme.

Circular Poetry has one rule; the first and last lines must contain the same concept with a progression connecting them. The use of this style of poetry in Genesis 1 shows the interrelationship of everything created.

The introduction proclaims everything created comes from One Creator (a).

Linking Day 1 to Day 4 — After the beginning, first light (b) leads to separation of light from dark (c), which produces stars (d) like our sun, around which unlit bodies (e) form, which guide us to understanding the light (b).

Linking Day 2 to Day 5 — From the “heavens” (days 1 and 6), atmosphere (f) collects and precipitates oceans (g), which provides a suitable environment for prolific aquatic life (h), which slowly transforms into flying animals (i) capable of dominating the atmosphere (f).

Linking Day 3 to Day 6 — Out of the oceans (day 2) dry-land (j) expands and provides suitable minerals to support life, from which came the first multi-cellular life forms to dominate land, plants (k). They provide an environment for prolific land animals (l), which eventually produced humans (m), which govern the dry-land (j) and carry the image of the One Creator (a).

Day 7 through Genesis 2:4 — The poetic conclusion invites the reader to contemplate the loving details of God’s creation. It links that expansive creation time with the time it took for the Hebrew nation to form. Both involved a continuously ongoing process and began with the loving voice of the One Creator (a).

Rejoice! Our universe is one, as our Creator is one.