The psalm in Jonah 2:2-9 (2:3-10 in Hebrew) is a fine example of a thanksgiving psalm, and everything in its expression and theology would sound fine in the book of Psalms.
However, on Jonah’s lips after we have heard the narrative of chapter one, it takes a different flavour. Read in its place in the flow of this book it is ironic.
This poem of Jonah is not only appropriate to Psalms by its content but also by form. For, it, as well as the Psalms contain both the syllables meter (and on the syllables meter see my blog in the “website” field). The specific syllables meter of this poem is 7->5->5, and the endings of the lines after this pattern are in free meter. So that we can conclude that this poem is similar to the Psalms (i.e. have syllables meter) yet a bit different (i.e. having free meter endings of lines).
[…] For an example of how this works in a story (not using one of the categories listed above) see the video “Jonah’s Psalm” […]