Go Down, Moses

The lyric is a traditional song of lamentation that moves nevertheless to a vision of hope. The lines capture the feeling of a people in chains who feel their liberation nearing by manipulating vowel and consonant sounds. Because the lyric lightens despair with hope, the form and meter reflect that dynamic of both tragedy and hope. To suggest that dynamic, for instance, the lines balance gentle long vowels and sibilant consonants (particularly “s”) with harsh guttural “p,” “c,” and “d” sounds. 

The meter is rhythmically tight to assist musical delivery and to make memorization of the song easier. Each line is a set of four two-syllable beat-units. 

The only exceptions are Lines 3 and 4. Here form and meter shift along with a change in mood. As Moses is commanded to confront the Pharaoh and demand the freedom of the Israelites, the song marks the new era for the enslaved Israelites with lines that break free of the poem’s otherwise consistent meter. 

In addition, these lines also break the lyric’s otherwise regular rhyme pattern. In most of the song, each line ends with a word that rhymes with another in that stanza.