Abstract
The aim of this study is to discuss some poetic aspects in isiZulu hymns of two churches; the Methodist Church of Southern Africa’s hymn book titled: Incwadi Yenkonzo Nezingoma and the Seventh-day Adventist Church hymn book titled: UKrestu EsiHlabelelweni. The main poetic aspect that is examined is parallelism. This study reveals that music and poetry cannot be entirely separated and that good songwriters know how to play with language in an attempt to communicate their message to the audience, as poets also do. In the discussion, parallelism is divided into complete parallelism, incomplete parallelism and parallelism by linking. The concept of parallelism will be defined as part of the introductory section of the discourse. A concluding remark, which contains the summary of the study, evaluation and recommendations, will be included towards the end of the essay.