Lyres, harp, lutes and zithers: The instrumentarium of the psalm 136, Super flumina Babylonis
In the first verses of the Super flumina, the Hebrews are forced to remain silent. They quit their Kinnors and refuse to sing for their victors. From 1700 to 1820, the numerous poetic translations, imitations and paraphrases use an important instrumentarium in order to orchestrate this touching silence, the study of which, regardless of the skill of the poets, allows an interesting approach to the conception of lyric poetry.