"Chains of Hell" as Poetry, part 1

It seems the imagery of the "chains of hell" shows up more than once in poetry form in the Book of Mormon.

Compare this chiastic formatting of 2 Nephi 1:13-23:

13 O that ye would 

A     awake; 

        awake from a deep 

        sleep, yea, even from the 

        sleep of hell, and shake off the awful 

        chains by which ye are bound, which are the 

        chains which bind the children of men, 

B                that they are carried away captive down to the eternal gulf of misery and woe.

C                        14 Awake! and arise from the dust, and hear the words of a trembling parent, 

D                                whose limbs ye must soon lay down in the cold and silent grave, from whence no traveler                                                  can return; a few more days and I go the way of all the earth.

E                                         15 But behold, the Lord hath redeemed my soul from hell; I have beheld his glory, and I                                                                am encircled about eternally in the arms of his love.

F                                               16 And I desire that ye should remember to observe the statutes and the judgments                                                       of the Lord; behold, this hath been the anxiety of my soul from the beginning. 17 My                                                       heart hath been weighed down with sorrow from time to time, for I have feared, lest                                            for the hardness of your hearts the Lord your God should come out in the fulness of                                                          his wrath upon you, that ye be cut off and destroyed forever; 18 Or, that                                                                    a cursing should come upon you for the space of many generations; and ye are                                                              visited by sword, and by famine, and are hated, and are led according to the will and                                                         captivity of the devil. 19 O my sons, that these things might not come upon you, but                                                        that ye might be a choice and a favored people of the Lord. But behold, his will be                                                            done; for his ways are righteousness forever.

F'                                                20 And he hath said that: Inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye                                                                     shall prosper in the land; but inasmuch as ye will not keep my commandments ye                                                             shall be cut off from my presence.

E'                                   21 And now that my soul might have joy in you, and that my heart might leave this world with                                                    gladness because of you, 

D'                               that I might not be brought down with grief and sorrow to the grave, 

C'                     arise from the dust, my sons, and be men, and be determined in one mind and in one heart, united in                                    all things, that ye may not come down into captivity;

B'               22 That ye may not be cursed with a sore cursing; and also, that ye may not incur the displeasure of                                 a just God upon you, unto the destruction, yea, the eternal destruction of both soul and body.

A'     23 Awake, my sons; put on the armor of righteousness. Shake off the chains with which ye are bound, and come forth out of obscurity, and arise from the dust.

...with this arrangement of Alma 5:7-9:



Even more evidence that the layers of depth in the Book of Mormon text are not accidental.

Hat tip: Jeff Lindsay (If you haven't read his multi-part series on these themes, you should.)