Jeremiad

Jeremiad

A Jeremiad is a long literary work, usually in prose, but sometimes in poetry, in which the author bitterly laments the state of society and its morals in a serious tone of sustained invective, and always contains a prophecy of society's imminent downfall.

The word is an eponym, named after the Biblical prophet Jeremiah, and is inspired by the tone of his surviving literary works, the "Book of Jeremiah" and the "Book of Lamentations". The Book of Jeremiah prophesies the coming downfall of the Kingdom of Judah, and asserts that this is because its rulers have broken the covenant with the Lord:

But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.
But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.
Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt unto this day I have even sent unto you all my servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them:
Yet they hearkened not unto me, nor inclined their ear, but hardened their neck: they did worse than their fathers.
Therefore thou shalt speak all these words unto them; but they will not hearken to thee: thou shalt also call unto them; but they will not answer thee.
But thou shalt say unto them, This is a nation that obeyeth not the voice of the LORD their God, nor receiveth correction: truth is perished, and is cut off from their mouth. [Jeremiah 7:23-28 (KJV)]

The "Lamentations", similarly, lament the fall of the kingdom of Judah after the conquest prophesied by Jeremiah has occurred:

How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people! how is she become as a widow! she that was great among the nations, and princess among the provinces, how is she become tributary!
She weepeth sore in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks: among all her lovers she hath none to comfort her: all her friends have dealt treacherously with her, they are become her enemies.
Judah is gone into captivity because of affliction, and because of great servitude: she dwelleth among the heathen, she findeth no rest: all her persecutors overtook her between the straits.
The ways of Zion do mourn, because none come to the solemn feasts: all her gates are desolate: her priests sigh, her virgins are afflicted, and she is in bitterness. [Lamentations 1:1-4 (KJV)]

Generally, "jeremiad", is given to moralistic texts that denounce a society for its wickedness, and prophesy its downfall. The jeremiad was a favorite literary device of the Puritans especially in sermons like Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. Authors from Gildas to Robert Bork have had this label hung on their works. In contemporary usage, it is frequently pejorative, meant to suggest that the tone of the text is excessively pessimistic.

References

External links

* [http://www.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit/jeremiad.htm Forms of American Puritan Rhetoric: The Jeremiad]
* [http://www.figarospeech.com/it-figures/2006/2/17/noah-god-on-line-2.html The Jeremiad as a figure of speech]


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  • Jeremiad — Jer e*mi ad, Jeremiade Jer e*mi ade, n. [From Jeremiah, the prophet: cf. F. j[ e]r[ e]miade.] A tale of sorrow, disappointment, or complaint; a doleful story; a dolorous tirade; generally used satirically. [1913 Webster] He has prolonged his… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • jeremiad — (n.) 1780, from Fr. jérémiade (1762), in reference to Lamentations of Jeremiah in Old Testament …   Etymology dictionary

  • jeremiad — *tirade, diatribe, philippic …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • jeremiad — ► NOUN ▪ a long, mournful complaint or lamentation; a list of woes. ORIGIN French jérémiade, with reference to the Lamentations of Jeremiah in the Old Testament …   English terms dictionary

  • jeremiad — [jer΄ə mī′ad΄, jer΄ə mī′əd] n. [Fr jérémiade < Jérémie, Jeremiah: see JEREMIAH] 1. a long lamentation or complaint: in allusion to the Lamentations of Jeremiah 2. a long, scolding speech, sermon, etc. expressing disapproval or warning of… …   English World dictionary

  • jeremiad — I. n.; (also jeremiad) [Term of ridicule.] Tale of sorrow, lamentation, lament, doleful story. II. n. See jeremiad …   New dictionary of synonyms

  • jeremiad — UK [ˌdʒerəˈmaɪəd] / US noun [countable] Word forms jeremiad : singular jeremiad plural jeremiads literary a long sad complaint or list of things that have gone wrong …   English dictionary

  • jeremiad — noun /ˌdʒɛr.əˈmaɪ.əd/ A long speech or prose work that bitterly laments the state of society and its morals, and often contains a prophecy of its coming downfall. Father Maguire, he said in the broadest of Cork brogues, without the ghost of a… …   Wiktionary

  • jeremiad — noun Etymology: French jérémiade, from Jérémie Jeremiah, from Late Latin Jeremias Date: 1780 a prolonged lamentation or complaint; also a cautionary or angry harangue …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • jeremiad — /jer euh muy euhd, ad/, n. a prolonged lamentation or mournful complaint. [1770 80; JEREMI(AH) + AD, in reference to Jeremiah s Lamentations] * * * …   Universalium

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