THE BRIDE'S PROTESTATION OF HER LOVE II A COLLECTION OF ANTE-NUPTIAL SONGS Sg. of Sgs. 12-35 § 27. The Bride's Protestation of Her Love and of Her Desire to Be with Her Lover, Sg. of Sgs. 11-8 Sg. of Sgs. 1 'Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth; For thy love is better than wine. "Thine ointments have a goodly fragrance, 'Draw me. [Attendants]: We will run after thee. с "I am browned. [Attendants]: Yea, but comely. My brothers were angry with me,d $27 For general discussion of the Sg. of Sgs., cf. Introd., pp. 22-29. The scene of this soliloquy and dialogue is evidently the home of the bride. It marks the beginning of the wedding festivities for which she is apparently preparing. Surrounded by her girl friends, who, in keeping with the dramatic customs of the Oriental wedding, are called the daughters of Jerusalem, she throws aside the reserve which shuts the mouth of every unbetrothed maiden in the East and protests her love for her future husband. The scene corresponds very closely to the ante-nuptial parade songs recited by the bride and her attendants in the modern Palestinian wedding, as reported by Dalmann and already quoted. Cf. p. 25. Similarly in the next song the bridegroom himself is introduced. The chief difference between the biblical and the modern songs is that here, as throughout the Sg. of Sgs., the author with rare effectiveness makes the bride the chief speaker. In these poems we have not mere stereotyped wedding refrains but genuine love-songs that recall the similar poems of Theocritus and of the east-Jordan poet Meleager, who wrote in classic Gk. Cf. Anthol. Palatina, V, 160. True, pure love breathes through them-the love that a betrothed bride should properly feel for her future husband. The purpose of these two opening songs, as the closing refrain in 35 possibly suggests, was to awaken such a love in the heart of the bride. a12 Certain interpreters would change the Heb. in this line so as to make it a direct address as in the second line. It is more natural, however, to interpret it as it is and to regard it as the poet's index that the lover is not present except in the heart of the bride. She feels his presence, however, so strongly that her words naturally pass from the third to the second person in the succeeding line. b14 So Syr. Possibly the Heb. represents the original, for it retains the third person as in 2. 15 Many interpreters assign all of this vs. to the bride, but there is an unmistakable element of contrast which strongly suggests the second half of the first two lines were spoken by the daughters of Jerusalem, to whom the bride addresses her words. Her modesty as revealed throughout the book renders it exceedingly difficult to place the closing sentence in each of these lines upon her lips. Some commentators, recognizing the difficulty, revise the text in the second half of the second line so as to read Salama instead of Solomon. d16 This reference to her brothers is further illuminated by 5 and 88. Bride's apostrophe to her absent lover A second address to her lover, echoed by her attendants Dialogue be tween bride and her atten dants The bride's longing for her lover Reply Lover's address to his bride Bride's declaration of her love They made me keeper of the vineyards; But mine own vineyard® I have not kept. "Tell me, thou whom I love, If thou know not, O fairest of women,h And feed thy kids by the shepherds' tents. § 28. Dialogue between the Bride and Her Lover, Sg. of Sgs. 19-27 Sg. of Sgs. 1 'I have compared thee, O my friend, to a steed in Pharaoh's chariots: 10 Thy cheeks are comely with spangles, thy neck with jewels.k 11 We will make thee spangles of gold, with studs of silver. 12 While the king sat on his divan1 my spikenard sent forth its fragrance. 16 I. e., probably her own beauty. 117 The exact interpretation of this and the following vs. is not clear. Certain interpreters regard it as secondary. The songs as a whole imply that the girl's lover was a shepherd. Her words are probably intended to express her passionate desire to be with him at all times. 817 So Syr., Sym., and Lat. This reading is supported by the context. The traditional Heb. reading, veiled, is due to the mistaken transposition of two letters. The meaning evidently is, Why should I be like a vagrant wanton, going from flock to flock in quest of my lover? b18 It is not entirely clear who utters this vs. In the light of the immediately preceding context, however, it is probably the bride's attendants. § 28 The sudden change of metre from the three to the five beat measure suggests that here a new song begins. The lover, who was apparently absent from the preceding dialogue, speaks, describing in characteristically Oriental yet reserved terms the beauty of his bride to be. To-day the Arab poet can pay no higher tribute to the beauties of his wife than to liken her to his stately steed. Vs. 12 introduces a corresponding three-line stanza in which the bride, in exquisitely delicate terms, responds by describing how precious to her is the love which she cherishes for her lover. The next stanza contains a beautiful dialogue abounding in concrete yet felicitous comparisons in which the bride protests that she is but a simple flower of the plains. Her lover with restraint-for he still addresses her as his friend rather than bride-but with marvellous felicity, declares that though she is but a simple peasant girl she is far more beautiful than her attendant friends and that she is well fitted to adorn the palace in which their shepherd life is to be spent, for that palace is the greensward and the pillared forests. Each with rare aptness takes up and carries on the figure suggested by the other. In the concluding stanzas the bride develops the figure of the apple tree and, with reserve and delicacy, expresses her eagerness for the consummation of their approaching marriage. The concluding vs. contains the refrain three times repeated in the poem, cf. 35, 58, and addressed to her attendants. It is evidently intended to emphasize the importance of letting love grow spontaneously with that simplicity and freedom of which the gazelles and the fallow deer that leap over the plain are the fitting symbol. 119 Heb., my. 110 Possibly the Heb. is to be interpreted plaits (of hair). It describes that which was flattened. The next line, however, favors the reading spangles which perhaps corresponded to the coins which are worn across her forehead and hanging down on her cheeks by the modern Palestinian bride. 110 The Heb. word is found only here and probably means strings of beads or of jewels. 1112 Lit., something round. The reference is either to a table or a divan. m114 Fragrant whitish flowers growing in clusters, like grapes. DIALOGUE BETWEEN THE BRIDE AND HER LOVER 15Behold thou art fair," my friend, thine eyes are as doves. 2 1I am a crocus flower on the plain of Sharon, a lily of the valley. 2As a lily among thistles so indeed is my friend among the daughters. Lover Bride Lover Bride Lover As the apple tree among the trees of the woods, so is my beloved among Bride § 29. The Bride's Reminiscences of a Recent Visit of Her Lover, Sg. of Sgs. 28-35 Sg. of Sgs. 2 Hark, my beloved! Behold he comes, Leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills. Now he is looking in the window, While I glance out' through the lattice. Monologue of the bride regard ing her lover n115 Through a mistake of the scribe the words behold thou art fair have been repeated in the Heb. and destroy the metre. lovely. 116 As in 15 in the Heb. the thought of the first clause has been repeated: verily thou art P23 The figure of the apple tree, with its beautiful flowers and its grateful shade and its pleasant fruit, is especially felicitous. The figure is carried on in the soliloquy of the bride which follows. 428 It is probable that the poet for emphasis purposely opened this most beautiful of springtime songs with a four-beat couplet. 29 Slightly revising the Heb. 8210 The Lat. adds my dove in the first part and the Gk. in the latter part of this line, showing the tendency to expand which has probably led a later editor to introduce my love from 13, thereby destroying the measure. 1212 In our land is added. His invitation to her to come with him Her response that she would receive him at even tide Her passionate longing and quest for her lover Refrain 13The figtree ripens her figs, And the vines" give forth their fragrance. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away, 140 my dove, in the rocky clefts, in the covert of the cliff, 15 Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes, That spoil the vineyards, when our vineyards are in bloom. 17Until the day becomes cool, and the shadows flee away, Turn, my beloved, and be thou like a gazelle, Or like a young hind on the mountains of spices. 3 1By night on my bed I sought him whom I love; In the streets and in the broad ways I will seek him whom I love.' "The watchmen who go about the city found me; To whom I said, 'Saw ye him whom I love?'y "It was but a little after I passed from them, when I found him; I held him whom I love, and would not let him go, Until I brought him to my mother's house, to the chamber of her who conceived me." "I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, By the gazelles or by the hinds of the field, That you stir not up nor awaken love until it please. u213 A scribe has added, destroying the metre, the explanatory words in bloom. Its lack of syntactical connection with the context reveals its secondary character. 215 Heb. adds My beloved is mine, and I am his, as he feeds among the lilies. This was w217 Restoring from the parallel passage in 814. Heb., Bether. y34 Adding him and joining him whom I love (lit., him whom my soul loves) to the next line THE APPROACH OF THE BRIDEGROOM III WEDDING-SONGS Sg. of Sgs. 36-814 § 30. The Approach of the Bridegroom and His Wedding Address to His Bride, Sg. of Sgs. 36-51 Sg. of Sgs. 3 "Who is this coming up from the wilderness like pillars of Query smoke, Perfumed with myrrh and incense, with all the powders of the merchant? "Sixty brave warriors are about it, of the warriors of Israel, of the people Reply that it is the bridegroom ap proach 10 He made its pillars of silver, its bottom of gold, Its seat of purple, its midst adorned with love. ing with his friends "Go forth, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, and behold King Solomon, Com mand With the crown wherewith his mother hath crowned him on the day of his to the espousals. bride's atten dants 4 'Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; Thine eyes are like doves peeping from behind thy veil. Bride Thy hair is as a flock of goats that stream down from Mount Gilead. § 30 The opening stanzas of this song introduce the bridegroom advancing with his attendants to claim his bride. In keeping with the Palestinian wedding customs, he is spoken of as King Solomon; his attendants are described as mighty warriors corresponding to the royal bodyguard. In imagination he is clad and attended with royal splendor. It is not clear who is speaking in the second stanza. It may possibly have been the bride, but more probably it was the people or some one of the wedding-guests who answered the question of the people and called the attention of the daughters of Jerusalem (the bride's attendants) to the approach of the bridegroom on this his wedding-day. The scene is evidently before the home of the bride and the hour is in the early evening, when the Oriental wedding festivities began. The stanzas which follow represent the bridegroom's praise of his bride. It corresponds to the wasf of the bridegroom in the modern Palestinian weddings. The description is characteristically concrete and typically Oriental. It begins with praise of her eyes and hair. A description of her bodily charms then follows. It was the one occasion when, in the social life of the East, such a description was deemed proper and appropriate. Its spirit, however, is chaste. It is followed by a highly poetic passage in which the bridegroom requests the bride to leave her home and become his wife. It is significant that, whereas in 41, 7 the bridegroom employs as earlier the more formal term friend in addressing the object of his affections, in 9 and 10 he for the first time uses the term bride. The bride is described under the figure of a garden, even as in modern Arabic poetry. Using the same figure, and with great delicacy, the bride in is expresses her willingness to enter into the marriage relation. The song ends with an address to the assembled guests by the bridegroom. This corresponds to the refrain in which the bride addressed her attendants at the conclusion of the earlier songs. a36 The brevity of this line is probably in order to make it more impressive. b311 The Heb. adds daughters of Zion, but this destroys the metre and is evidently a scribal duplicate of the term daughters of Jerusalem, which, in the current division of the vss., is connected with 10 and introduced by from. 311 Heb. adds in the day of the gladness of his heart; this, however, is probably but a scribal duplicate of the preceding phrase in the day of his espousals. d41 Supplying the verb implied by the preposition. e41 So certain Heb. MSS. and Gk. Heb., along the side of Mount Gilead. The goats of Palestine are, as a rule, black, and the poet's figure describes the bride's black, waving locks. groom's |