It is this “parallelism” which gives such a familiar charm to the language of the Psalms. Unconsciously, and without recognizing the nature of the attraction, we grow used to the double cadence, the sound and the echo, and learn to look for its recurrence with delight. O come let us sing unto the Lord; Let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation, Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving; And make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. If we should want a plain English name for this method of composition we might call it _thought-rhyme_. It is easy to find varied illustrations of its beauty and of its power to emphasize large and simple ideas. Take for instance that very perfect psalm with which the book begins—a poem so complete, so compact, so delicately wrought that it seems like a sonnet. The subject is _The Two Paths_. The first part describes the way of the good man. It has three divisions. The first verse gives a description of his conduct by negatives—telling us what he does not do. There is a triple thought-rhyme here. Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor standeth in the way of sinners, Nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. The second verse describes his character positively, with a double thought-rhyme. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; And in his law doth he meditate day and night. The third verse tells us the result of this character and conduct, in a fourfold thought-rhyme. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water: That bringeth forth his fruit in his season: His leaf also shall not wither: And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. The second part of the psalm describes the way of the evil man. In the fourth verse there is a double thought-rhyme. The ungodly are not so: But are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. In the fifth verse the consequences of this worthless, fruitless, unrooted life are shown, again with a double cadence of thought, the first referring to the judgment of God, the second to the judgment of men. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment: Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. The third part of the psalm is a terse, powerful couplet, giving the reason for the different ending of the two paths. For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous: But the way of the ungodly shall perish. The thought-rhyme here is one of contrast. A poem of very different character from this brief, serious, impersonal sonnet is found in the Forty-sixth Psalm, which might be called a National Anthem. Here again the poem is divided into three parts. The first part (verses first to third) expresses a sense of joyful confidence in the Eternal, amid the tempests and confusions of earth. The thought-rhymes are in couplets; and the second phrase, in each case, emphasizes and enlarges the idea of the first phrase.