Passover is also the time of the year with which Song of Songs is associated. Only poetry is capable of expressing the full range of the people's emotion about what has happened.” The Song manages to focus the Israelites' intense feelings. “A poem,” writes Professor and Bible translator Everett Fox, “is necessary at this point in the story, to provide emotional exultation and a needed break before the next phase of Israel's journey in the book. The time of year when we recall the story of the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt, a saga which culminates in the poetic outbursts of Moses, and of his sister, the prophetess Miriam, upon their crossing of the Red Sea. This is, after all, the time of year when we celebrate Passover. But then that leaves room for others to step in and offer their own explanations. “April seemed the best time within the year to turn attention toward the art of poetry,” is all the Academy’s website has to say on the matter. It is not altogether clear why the Academy of American Poets chose April as the month to celebrate poets and poetry. National Poetry Month officially began yesterday.
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