Goodwin - Lovers Three Thousand Years Ago As Indicated by The Song of Solomon (1895)

Three Thousand
GOODWIN
Ago
vA*
LOVERS THREE THOUSAND

YEARS AGO
LOVERS
THREE THOUSAND YEARS AGO

AS INDICATED BY
THE SONG OF SOLOMON
REV. T
A.
GOODWIN,
D. D.
CHICAGO
THE OPEN COURT PUBLISHING COMPANY
1895
copyright by
The Open Court Publishing

chicago, ill., 1895.
Co.
PREFACE.
THE
author of this
little
book does not claim
covered that the Song of Solomon
is
to
have
That was suggested by Bible-scholars many years
ago,
and
been very generally accepted by the scholarship of to-day.

all
the literature
upon the
whether
subject,
just dis-
a love-story in verse.
in the
it
has
But
in
form of mono-
graphs, or of articles in magazines, or reviews, or encyclopaedias,

there
is
not found a single presentation of
allow
it
to
in
be read
in its real character.
it
in a
form which would
These discussions are
all
the form of critical expositions of the text, so that in most of
them the
text
appears only in fragments.
to eliminate all textual criticism
and
The
plan of this book
to restore the text to the
is
form
which made the poem a treasure with the ancient Hebrews, and
which, when thus read, will make
day as
it
was when
first
it
as dear to every true lover to-
read and recited three thousand years ago.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
The
Historical Import of the
The Character
The Song
of
of the
Songs
Poem
Poem
n
21
THE HISTORICAL IMPORT OF THE

POEM.
r
O THE common reader of the Bible,
*
the
to the careful Bible student, the
Song
of
Solomon is
and little less
book known as
Not seem-
a perpetual enigma.
ing to meet any of the supposed purposes for which
many good men,
the Bible was written,
many whose
if
ever read
business
it
few hold that

is
to teach Bible truth,
it is
as they read other Scriptures,
when we
It is
to
call
opinion of what the Bible
found
in
seldom
and not a
incorporation into the sacred canon
its
somebody's blunder.
for this,
including
not
difficult to
account
mind the once prevailing

is
and what
it is
for.
Being
that collection of histories and prophecies
and songs, which by the way of pre-eminence we

the Bible, and which
is
learned Christians and

correct doctrine
seeming
and
to contain
call
held sacred by devout and
Hebrews
as the repository of
of safe rules of
nothing that
conduct
and
may be regarded
as
either doctrinal or didactic, Bible students as well as
the
end
common
Bible reader have been put to their wits'
to find a place for
it.
LOVERS THREE THOUSAND YEARS AGO.
During the Middle Ages the dogma

inspiration of the Scriptures
of the plenary
was promulgated with
such pertinacity, that long after the Bible became the
common
property of the
place in their thoughts.
King James
translators
this
was
whom
people this figment held a
Even
as late as the days of
the case to such an extent that the
he had chosen
prepare an author-
to
Timothy
ised version so rendered Paul's language to
as to read, "All Scripture
God."
common
Book
is
given by inspiration of
This practically settled the question with the
of
reader, so that the
Song
Ruth were placed on
of
Solomon and the
a level with the proph-
and Daniel and the writings
ecies of Isaiah
and of David, as being designed
Moses
of
to teach doctrine or to
administer reproof, or to instruct in right living.

All
down
the ages following, individual scholars
protested against this rendering, but their protests
went unheeded, as unworthy
of
of the opinion of the learned
commission
who,
in the
acceptance
popular thought, were
of the king,
little if
spired than the sacred writers themselves.

pelled Bible scholars to adapt the
in the face
any
This com-
"Song"
general purpose of inspired Scripture, so that
be profitable
in
for correction,
some way "for
and
to
it
the
might
doctrine, for reproof,
for instruction in righteousness."
One can hardly review with complacency

schemes
less in-
of Bible teachers to bring this
the
book
many
into line
with Isaiah and Daniel and the Psalms, so that with
them and other inspired books
it
may refer
to the
Mes-
THE HISTORICAL IMPORT OF THE POEM.

siah,
and may instruct the Church
By some
in things spiritual.
has been regarded as an allegory, by oth-
it
ers a parable,
at, if
whose hidden meaning might be guessed
not comprehended. In keeping with this thought
almost from the
first
edition of the authorised version,
the editors of the several editions have
seemed
to vie
with each other in ingenious suggestions as to the signification of this or that sentence or
paragraph
and
preachers, from the unlearned rustic, in ministering to

his
uneducated and emotional
flock, to the
profound
doctor of divinity in his city pulpit, preaching to

of culture,
have found
passages as "
men
spiritual "instruction" in such
have put
off
my
coat,
how can
on?" "Thy teeth are like a flock of sheep."

head upon thee is like Carmel." "We have
put
it
"The
a
little
and she hath no breasts."
sister
The sermons may all have been good enough and

may have conveyed important lessons to the hearers,
but they might have been " founded " as well upon
some passage
upon
these.
in
Not the
Song, or parts of
Who
Milton or Shakespeare or Dante as
it,
least objectionable use of this

is
made by hymn-writers.
hymns that find their chief
that
can enumerate the
attraction in poetic changes
upon the Rose
of
the Lily of the Valley, the Turtle Dove, the
Sharon,
One Alto-
gether Lovely, or some other similar phrase in this
book?
If all
the
hymns which
are inspired by
some
passage from the Song of Solomon were expurgated
from some collections of hymns there would be
little
4
left
worth singing.
Many
of
them
are beautiful, but
their beauty does not consist in the thought of the text
as
stands in
it
It
is
proper meaning.
its
positively ludicrous,
tion of the
Song be the
if
the following exposi-
correct one, to read the head-
ings of the chapters and the running
mon
titles in
our com-
family Bibles, which are intended to give a clue
to the
meaning
They run thus: "The

"She confesseth her de-
of the text.
Church's love for Christ,"
formity," "Christ directs her to the Shepherd's tent,
and showeth His love to her," "Having a

Christ's love,
is
taste of
sick of love," and so on, calling the
lover's passionate description of his affianced,
showing the graces
of the
"Christ
Church, and His love towards
her," though elsewhere they have the Church confessing her deformity.
It
book,
is
plain that any intelligent exposition of this
or, for
Scriptures,
that matter, of any part of the sacred
must be along the
line
which repudiates
the figment of Plenary Inspiration, at whose doors
most,
if
Song
of
ble
not
all,
Solomon
the obscurity which

lies,
as well as
envelops this
do many indefensi-
dogmas, which have the same paternity. Not only
does the Bible nowhere make such a claim for
itself,
but the structure of the book as a whole, and of
its
contents taken separately, are evidences against the
assumption.
The advent
of the revised version, the product of
a ripe scholarship that cannot be gainsaid, has greatly
aided in the proper understanding of this Song, as well
many other
as of
is
There
parts of our sacred Scriptures.
a far-reaching difference between "All Scripture
is
given by inspiration of God," as the authorised version has

as
and "Every Scripture, inspired
it,
appears in the revised version.
it
this treatise
difference.
It is sufficient for its
and
The scope
does not require the elaboration of
the plain inference

period,
God,"
of
is
that Paul
of
this
purpose to state that
and the Jews
of his
of course the Christians also, held that
some portions
of the sacred writings, as they then pos-
sessed them, were not so inspired as to be specially
printable for doctrine or for reproof, or for instruction

in righteousness.
The assumption
Solomon was himself
that
author of the Song has very

called the
it is
which
is
Song
it.
That
of
Songs,
little to
He
to
could not
unless the remorse which possessed
it,
him towards the

him
sustain
Solomon, or the Song
Solomon's, proves nothing.
have written
led
of
the
close of his misspent
pronounce that
life
life,
and which
a failure, implied
The author was

The whole poem is a
more
than remorse usually does.
not even
a friend of Solomon's.
scathing
rebuke to
all
his social
and domestic methods.
quite as likely to be the product of
man
a hundred years or
time,
and more
likely to
more
later
than Solomon's
be that of a
woman than of a
of many portions
man, judging from the tender pathos

of the
poem which
It is
some man or wo-
very few
men
could exhibit.
The
author, whether male or female, whether living near
Solomon's time or much
later,
gave birth to this un-
dying poem and then died leaving nothing else worth

preserving, not even a name.
It
was probably founded upon some
fact in the life
which had been transmitted
of that lecherous king,
through generations by authentic history or by tradition or both, out of
which the
gifted poet built this
most admirable production as Longfellow
built his
Miles Standish out of the traditions and history of the

early pilgrim fathers.
Its
Solomon no more proves
mon was
its
being called the Song of
or even suggests that Solo-
author than will the Song of Hiawatha
prove or suggest three thousand years hence that Hia-
watha was the author

tion
of the
poem which
this genera-
knows was written by another.
Neither
is it difficult
Books
sacred canon.
to account for its place in the
in those
days were few and only
those that struck the popular heart had the distinction of a reproduction through the expensive process
of being copied
by hand
second edition, much
hence few ever reached the
less a general circulation
through
multiplied copies, so as to be preserved through suc-
ceeding ages.
When
Ezra and Nehemiah returned
after the long captivity in
of course to
Babylon
to
Jerusalem
their first duty
was
provide for immediate physical wants
hence they addressed themselves heroically
to the re-
building of the temple and the reconstruction of the
When
walls of Jerusalem.
this
had been done they
found another work of not less piety and patriotism,
though so much
mention
less ostentatious as hardly to find
in the annals of the
they and those
who
Hebrew
When
people.
followed them looked around they
found that most of the literature of their nation had
To
been "lost by reason of the war."
much
as possible
seems
Nehemiah, hence he
set
to
recover this as
have been a chief aim
about "founding a
of
library,
gathering together the acts of the kings and the writings of the prophets, and of David and the epistles of
the kings" (2
It
Mace,
needed not
to
2,
13).
be specifically mentioned by the
historian of that period that this lover of the literature of the fathers included other songs than the songs
of
David, for others are included in the collection of

In their quest they
pious songs called the Psalms.
fouad among other books
this
poem, and
it,
too,
incorporated into the national library, and thus
it
was
was
preserved through the succeeding ages, and thus
has come
It
less
down
it
to us.
had then been preserved through probably not
than four hundred years in manuscript alone, and
had probably been recited during
all
those years of
tribulation, in which, according to the prophet,
the
nation had been "scattered and peeled and meeted

out and trodden down."
From
the Assyrian captivity
ten of the tribes never returned sufficiently organised

to retain their tribeship.
Finding
this
book thus pre-
served they gave

it
became
der.
it
a place in their collection and thus
a part of the Sacred Writings.
had vindicated
It
read or recited as the

before
it,
it
could not
lineates the
ments
all
It
of all significance,
to interest every true heart.
triumph
de-
It
of true love over all the allure-
wealth and lust in such a manner as
of
pure
fail
When
Hebrew people read and recited
had been allegorised out
it
And no won-
right to immortality.
its
men and women
to strike
as above praise.
was never claimed by those compilers or
them by others
until
for
long after the coming of Christ
that all these books were inspired in the sense inspiration
is
used
in
modern theological
discourse.
It
was
only a collection of history and prophecy and song.
was the beginning
of a public library
means completed during the
It
which was by no
lives of its founders, but
was continued through succeeding generations by the

Great Synagogue.
collection as a
that whatever
of a
"Thus
At no time was
whole that
it
it
it
claimed for this
had such divine sanction
contained should have the authority
saith the
Lord."
In the time of the Maccabees this library was to be
"read with favor and attention

siasticus),
and we
any time down
to
"
(Prologue to Eccle-
have no record that as a whole at
and including the times
of Christ
it
had any other sacredness than that veneration which

is
due
to
any collection
of ancient writings.
Hence
the significance of Paul's distinction in his letter to
Timothy, between the Scriptures which were given by

inspiration and those that
when speaking
of
what
make no
matters nothing one
claim to that origin,
profitable for doctrines
is
reproof and instruction which

It
way
and
righteousness.
is in
or the other that neither
Christ nor any of his disciples ever quoted from this
book, so far as the meagre records of their sayings
show;
for
many
other books of Ezra's canon are in the
same category and some

historic importance.
of these
books are
much more
It is
of
much
significant as
relating to the question cf inspiration that they quoted
from books then
in
common
use,
no copy
of
which has
come down to us, among our Sacred Writings. No book

is
extant which details the contention between Moses
and Jannes and Jambres, nor have we any part
Prophecy
of
Enoch from which Jude quoted
of the
as some-
thing with which the people of his time were familiar.

It is
even more significant
in
relation to the plenary
inspiration of the sacred writings of apostolic times
when Christ opened the understanding of his two

disciples who met him on their way to Emmaus, that
that
they might understand the Scriptures that he quoted

only from "the law of Moses and the Prophets and
the Psalms."
That such
of
book should be placed
in the
Ezra and Nehemiah and be preserved
succeeding centuries
wonder
is
no wonder.
that centuries later,
when
we
"Library"
it
Neither
through
is it
any
the Christian fathers
were compiling their collection "to

the things which
in
set forth in order
believe," this thrilling
book should
IO
be retained, though not conspicuously adapted to doc-
The Bible
trine, or reproof, or instruction.
to
human
feet along every pathway of
incomplete without
We
it.
of faith in the story of
story of
Job
of
filial
life
as a light
would be
have the personification
Abraham
of patience, in the
love, in the story of
durance, in the story of Moses
Ruth
of en-
and here we have a
photograph of ardent conjugal love, the most holy

sentiment of humanity, in the story of a humble shepherdess and her equally humble and faithful lover
constant rebuke to that pietism which teaches that

ardent conjugal love
is
only a sensual passion which
must be foresworn or tethered
if
one would attain the
highest type of moral character

heresy.
a most
detestable
THE CHARACTER OF THE POEM.

r
I A
*"
is
is
true place in literature for this
that of a
Love Story
hardly to classify
yet
is
HE
it
of
Songs
call
drama
intelligibly to
it
popular thought,
partakes of most of the elements of a drama, and
it
more
drama than anything
of a
belongs to the drama family.

build a
would
word out
call
it
If
else.
it
when read
It certainly
were allowable to
of recognised material at hand,
While
a drama-et.
it
touches which are necessary to adapt

yet
Song
To
in verse.
lacks the scenic

it
to the stage,
or rendered even in the less pretentious
form of a dialogue
it is
necessary to change time and
place and the dramatis persona, in order to catch
its
significance.
In the following rendering
main the
have followed
more nearly the meaning
of the original,
the metrical arrangement
is
But
in
in the
text of the revised version as bringing out
comparing even
and because
more suggestive
of poetry.
this with the original the Bible
student feels at every step, as he feels a thousand
times elsewhere in such a comparison, that the revisers
were too much handicapped by a well-meant
12
agreement
phraseology of
at the start, to retain the
the authorised version wherever possible without too
much
Here
injury to the sense of the original.
where they have confessedly often
as else-
failed to give the
best possible rendering, perpetuating thereby not a
few incorrect notions
if
not also in some cases
some
doubtful doctrines.
While
changes
therefore scholars readily recognise
many
Song by
for the better in the rendering of this
the revisers, they also detect not a few instances where

the meaning might have been greatly improved by a
Take, for ex-
departure from the old phraseology.
ample, Chapter
7,
verse
2, in
the Song.
It
me
matter of delicacy merely which induces

tute the
word waist
body for the
word
for the
belly.
word
There
is
alone to suggest a round goblet

the aid of a
it.
Neither
that
word
little
is
heap
of
all
words
tors
wheat encircled with
in the original
also waist
lilies,
now used to
of the human
is
easily suggest the figure used.
have given as
mean
suggest
English speaking peo-
include the central and principal parts
several
may
there anything in the belly alone, as
ples, to suggest a
may
and the word
wine, while, by
full of
while a well-formed body, as that word
frame,
not a
nothing in the navel
poetic fancy, the waist
now used by
is
navel,
is
to substi-
mean what
These
the transla-
their English equivalents, but they
and body respectively.
am
sure that
the reader will appreciate the change.
Again, the
Hebrew
text
can never be translated

into our
language
be
literally so as to
intelligible.
For
that matter no dead language can, and very few living
languages; hence in
all
translations explanatory
words
are frequently used of necessity.
In the following
have availed myself of
this necessary pre-
rendering
and prepositions and other
rogative, supplying adverbs
words that seem necessary
to bring out the
meaning
by making the text correspond with the
of the original
idiom of the English language. For example at Chap-
made
ter 2, verse 6, the heroine is
old and in the
my
is
head and
no verb
new
versions
his right
hand
in the original
" His
doth
to say
left
both
hand
is
in the
under
embrace me. " There
from which our
is
can be ob-
tained and the tense of the verb to be supplied can as

well be in the future as in the present; besides,
it
avoids
a false statement not justifiable even by poetic licence,

for as a
matter of fact no
left
hand was under her head
nor was any right hand embracing her.
change
of tense
still
leaves the
But even
rather leaves the sentence meaningless.
herdess
this
meaning obscure, or
The shep-
protesting against the caresses of the lecher-
is
ous Solomon and saying of her shepherd lover: "Only

his left
hand
hand
shall
shall sustain
my
head and
only his right
embrace me;" meaning that none but her
virtuous Shulammite shepherd shall be allowed the

liberties of a lover
the tense
In
all
hence, in addition to changing
have supplied the necessary adverb.
cases
have omitted such distinctive marks
as italics and quotations.
The
curious reader
may
14
easily
compare the
revised version
I
if
text here given with the text of the
he wishes to see how
have departed from
may compare
to see
the
what
it
of the
and wherein
while the scholarly reader
Hebrew
with the original
liberties
meaning
it
far
have taken
poem.
if
he wishes
in order to bring out
have also wholly ignored
the artificial chaptering and versing of the text.
In
no other way can the connexion be preserved which

is
necessary to a right understanding of the book.
be observed that
It will
suggestions of those
making
it
have not followed the
who would
dignify the
drama and introducing
To so construe
One of these is so
acts
poem by
and scenes ac-
many
involves too
cordingly.
it
culties.
great that no two of those
who have attempted
to divide
it
into acts
diffi-
have ever
agreed where one act ends and another begins, neither
can they agree as to the dramatis persona.

ply sought to restore
it
to its original
have sim-
form as nearly as
many cencommon people,
that can be ascertained after the lapse of so

turies, as
it
was read or
recited
by the
three thousand years ago, whether they were captives
by the rivers
of
Babylon or
of Assyria, or
were slaves
on the banks of their own Jordan, with only such
equipments as might be improvised

by slaves and captives.
tentious dialogue places
mon
people,
Classifying
it
for the occasion,

it
with the unpre-
within the reach of the com-
who could read
or recite
expensive paraphernalia of the theatre.
it
without the
The scene opens
gorgeous country seat of
in the
the wealthy and dissipated King Solomon, where were
houses and vineyards and orchards and gardens, with
much silver and gold and cattle and men servants and
women servants and all the peculiar wealth of kings,
including many women and much wine.
It was early
famous monarch.
in the reign of that
had only
that time
sixty
His harem
women who posed
at
as wives,
and only eighty who were classed as concubines, whatever the difference between them
ter these
may have
been. La-
were increased to seven hundred wives and
three hundred concubines.
It
was
in the process of
multiplying these wives that the incidents of the story

belong.
The heroine of the story is a beautiful sun-burnt

maiden, who had been brought from her country-home
in
Northern Palestine to
To assume,
by a band
harem,
nature.
harem
flee for
of
is
as
some
accumulation of splendors.
do, that she
of brigands
to
this
had been captured
and taken by force
to the king's
do violence to every known law
of
human
Unwilling captives would soon transform a

into a hell from
dear
life.
which the would-be lord would
Not one
of the possible pleasures
such an accumulation of the means of sensual en-
joyments could be found there.

wise even
in his
Solomon was too
most abandoned moods
violence to every law of lust.
to
do such
The harem was not
prison for unwilling captives, to be obtained or retained by force, but a place with such attractions as
l6
to
make
a desirable
it
home as compared with

women of Palestine
the or-
dinary home-life of the

time.
We
must not form our estimate
at that
of the lot of a
second or a second-hundredth wife of that period by

our views of polygamy to-day.
tating wars
made
Frequent and devas-
the disparity in
numbers between
males and females very great, and the honor
of
moth-
erhood removed from a multiplicity of wives most of
what now makes polygamy abhorrent.
The harem was

procurers,
replenished through the agency of
whose business
was
it
country and induce handsome
Human
mates.
nature
methods
day.
through the
become
we need suppose
of these procurers
from the methods of
to
in-
not so changed in these
is
three thousand years that
to travel
women
were
that the
essentially different
men and women
of their class to-
Possibly in no case was their purpose fully dis-
The hard lot of women, especially

in the rural districts, made it easy then, as it is too
easy now, for a plausible man or woman to persuade
closed at the
first.
young women
to
and hard work

king's palace.
exchange
for the
Once
their country surroundings
easier lot of an inmate of a
there,
under whatever induce-
ment, they were put into the hands of governesses,
whose duty
it
was
to gain their consent to yield to the
lust of the king, either as a wife or concubine.
domestic duties and luxurious living

until
the consent
was obtained
Light
were combined
the king himself
taking no prominent part in these preparatory pro-
ceedings, probably knowing nothing of the novitiate

until her consent
had been obtained
to
become
his
wife.
Our heroine was

not most agreeable.
been detailed
to the
a rustic girl
whose hard
life
was
In her earlier girlhood she had
duty of guarding the family
flock.
This had brought her into the company of neighboring

shepherds,
between
among whom was
whom
handsome young man,
and her there had grown a strong mu-
tual attachment.
She had two half-brothers who were

Nothing
displeased with this love-affair.

effectual, in order to
sister
break
it off,
else proving
they transferred their
from the flocks to the vineyard, subjecting her
to exposure to the hot
dressing the vines.

oppression, she
was
sun and to the harder work of
While
visited
in rebellion against this
by one or more
curers for Solomon's harem.
It
was not
of the pro-
difficult,
un-
der the circumstances, to persuade her that in the

palace of the king she would find better treatment
and more satisfactory remuneration than she was

ceiving as a vine-dresser.
new home when
her
ter
in
it
How
re-
long she had been in
the story begins, need not mat-
had been long enough
for those
who had
her
charge to venture to unfold to her the ultimate
purpose
for
which she had been brought into the
king's family.
The next most important

story, is the
of the
person, the hero of the
Shulammite shepherd, the devoted lover
brave young woman,
who
so persistently re-
fused to abandon him, and to exchange his love for
what was proposed
to her as a wife of the lecherous
king.
The next most important
characters are a trio of
middle-aged women, from among the wives of the

king, the governesses to
committed, who are called
whose charge she had been

in the
poem "Daughters
Jerusalem," or "Daughters of Zion."
This young
shepherdess was from the tribe of Issachar. Her
was
far
The country
away.
and abounded
in
of
was
of her birth
home
fertile,
vineyards and flocks, but her people
were humble, though
thrifty;
hence the splendor
of
the city-life, and especially of the king's palace, could
but have a charm for them, which

the
woman who wore
entitled
to
made them regard
a part of these splendors as
such distinction as
is
implied in those
titles.
We
may
readily suppose that in ordinary cases the
task of these
was so
little
women was not

in the humdrum
There
a difficult one.
of
domestic
life
in the
country to satisfy the laudable aspirations of a spirited
woman and
so
the court that
many
it
attractions in the surroundings of
must have been an easy task
under the loose notions
of that period
usually,
concerning the
sacredness of marriage, to gain the consent of the new-
comer
to the conditions of her
remaining
hence the
stubborn and persistent resistance of this Shulammite

shepherdess was a surprise to them.

This
is all
poem
beautifully set forth in the
as well
the honorable womanly course of the trio towards

when they comprehend her situation.
The progress of inauguration into this new life was
simple one. The new victim, who had been allured
as
is
her
under the impression that she was
to the palace
to
have some honorable and remunerative employment

about the extensive establishment, was clothed in bet-
and fed on better food, and regaled on
ter raiment,
more and
to, until
better wine than she
forever abandon her country

tions
and lover
the palace
its
usually did the
some
home and
the associa-
of her childhood, for the
The
splendors of a queen.
as
had been accustomed
her governesses had gained her consent to
baths,
its
work hence
do, that
pomp and
luxuriant appointments of
tables,
it is
and
its
wardrobes
untenable to assume,
Solomon himself
any time ad-
at
dresses the maiden in words of adulation or entreaty,

or addresses her at
all.
Solomon himself plays but a passive and merely

coincidental part in the poem.
sonally unconscious of what
half in the palace.
He
is
He is made
going on
in his
be per-
to
own
be-
appears in the distance in a
royal pageant, but not in any sense for the purpose of
women
women readily seize upon
supplement their own arguments. He
settling the question
under discussion by the
and the maiden, though the

the event to
was carried
by one
in his splendid car of state,
of his queens,
accompanied
and was greeted with loud plaud-
20
What
its.
effect this
had upon the shepherdess ap-
pears in the poem.
The
half-brothers of the shepherdess play a sorry
part in the
ing,
affair,
both
at the
beginning and
and the neighbors turn out
at the
end-
to congratulate the
lovers on the successful issue of the struggle
when
they return to the scenes of their earlier courtship.
THE SONG OF SONGS.

/
TA HE poem begins abruptly.

-*
ers,
had
The women, her keep-
just feasted her at the family table of
Wine had
the King's household.
spicuous part of the
bill
of fare,
constituted a con-
and the women had
praised the luxuries which the King's family enjoyed,

contrasting
among
was
for
it
with the simple fare of a vine-dresser
the hills of Issachar
assuring her that
which she had been enticed
and from the shepherd youth
now
for the first
all this
The purpose
from her country home
at the service of a wife of the
King.
whom
she loved, was
time broached to her.
It
was not
to
be a domestic in the King's palace, but to become one

of his wives, already
promptly rebelled.
lustful
embraces
of
numbering
sixty.
At
this she
She would never consent

one
whom
to the
she could not love,
though he be a king, and informing the women she
had a lover among the shepherds

out
of
Shulam she breaks
" Let him kiss
me
with the kisses of his mouth."
Then turning to the lover himself who in the

logue is made to be opportunely present she says
dia-
22
'
'
For thy love is
better than wine.
Thine ointments have a goodly fragrance,
Thy name
is
as ointment poured forth,
Therefore do maidens love thee.
Draw me after thee, let us run

The King hath brought me into
We will
We will
his harem,
greatly rejoice in thee,
esteem thy caress more than wine,
Rightly do the maidens love thee."
Addressing the
" I
am
black but
women
am
she continues
comely,
O, ye daughters of Jerusalem
Like the tents of Kedar,

Like the pavilions of Solomon.
me
Despise
not because I
am
swarthy,
Because the sun hath scorched me,
My
half-brothers were incensed against me,
They made me keeper

Mine own vineyard
of the vineyards,
have not kept."
Again addressing the lover, she says

'
'
Tell me, thou
Where
whom my
thou feedest thy
soul loveth,
flock,
where thou makest
it
to rest at
noon,
For why should
be as a
woman
veiled,
Beside the flocks of thy companions
'
The answer
of love
and
of the
women
fidelity is a
"
?
to this frantic outburst
compliment to the woman-
heart that had survived
all
royal household.
once awakened recollections
of earlier
It
at
the blandishments of the
days when the voice and society of some
THE SONG OF SONGS.
was
rustic lover
23
the world to them, but from
all
whom
they had been allured by the displays of ease and lux-
ury in the King's palace, and whose love they had
away
bartered
for the
dubious honors and the unsatis-
and the King's
fying pleasures of the King's court
Moved
chamber.
and
to her lover
to
sympathy by her appeals
and
in their
to
them
woman-hearts wishing
she might escape the fate that had befallen themselves,

they reply
'
thou knowest not,
If
'
Get thee again
And
among women
thou fairest
to the footsteps of thy flock,
feed thy kids beside the shepherd's tent."
The shepherd now addresses
his lover, returning
the personal compliment she had so handsomely paid
him
"
have compared
To
Thy
Thy
a steed in
love
neck with strings of jewels."
to her
"We will
to neutralise the effect of this compli-
beauty interpose, saying

make
With studs
The
my
cheeks are comely with plaits of hair,
The women,
ment
thee, O,
Pharaoh's chariots.
thee plaits of gold,
of silver,
if
thou become a queen."
shepherdess, addressing the women, pays her
lover this beautiful compliment

'
'
While the King
My
But
sat at his table,
spikenard sent forth
my
beloved
is
unto
its
me
fragrance.
as a bundle of myrrh,
24
That
My
lieth
From
The
between
beloved
is
unto
my
breasts
me
as a cluster of campbire,
the vineyards of Engedi."
following playful interchange of compliments
between the two lovers cannot be excelled

story, nor often
Behold thou
'
'
in real life.
He
extravagant.
begins
art fair,
It is
in
any love
both delicate and
my
love,
behold thou art
fair,
Thine eyes are as doves' eyes."
To
'
'
this she replies
Behold thou
art fair,
Also our couch
is
my
beloved, yea, very pleasant,
green."
In answer to this allusion to the place of their out-
door courtships he refers to the cedars and
which they
'
'
The beams
And our
There
"
am
is
of our house are cedars,
a spice of
humor
in her self-praise
a rose of Sharon,
But he
is
the valley."
equal to the occasion and turns her

to
good account by accepting
it
self-
with em-
"As
So
a
is
lily
my
Turning
to
under
rafters are firs."
lily of
compliment
phasis
firs
sat
among
the thorns,
beloved
among
to the
women
the daughters."
the shepherdess continues
compliment her lover and avow her
fidelity to
him
THE SONG OF SONGS.

" As an apple-tree
So
I
my
is
He
the trees of the forest,
beloved among the sons.
under his shadow with great delight,
sat
And
among
25
his fruit
was sweet
me
brought
to
my
taste.
to his wine-house,
banner over me was love.

me with grapes, comfort me with apples,
For I am sick of love.
Only his left hand shall sustain my head,
And only his right hand shall embrace me.
And
his
Stay
adjure you,
By
the roes and
That you
Until
stir
daughters of Jerusalem,
by the hinds
not up nor
of the field,
awaken
love,
please."
it
This appeal to the
women
to not
attempt to force
both pathetic and philosophic.
Love finds
own time and object without the intermeddling
others.
The shepherdess continues abstractedly:
love
is
'
'
The
my
voice of
beloved
behold he cometh,
Leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the
My
beloved
Behold
is like
a roe or a young hart.
he standeth behind our
He cometh in at the
He peepeth through
My
my
the winter
love,
my
For
lo
The
rain
The
flowers appear
The time
And
The
the lattice.
beloved spake and said unto
Rise up
is
wall,
window,
fair one,
me
and come away,
is past,
over and gone
upon the
earth,
of the singing of birds has
the voice of the turtle

fig-tree ripens her figs
is
come
heard in our land.
hills,
its
of
26
And
the vines are in blossom
They
Turning
"Arise,
my
shepherd again, she says
to the
my
my
love,
dove
me
thou art in the clefts of the rocks, in the covert
see thy face, let
For charming
Take us the
'
'
me
hear thy voice,
thy voice and thy features are lovely.
is
foxes, the little foxes that ruin the vineyards,
For our vineyards are
Turning
and come away,
fair one,
of the steep place
Let
give forth their fragrance."
in blossom."
address the women, she continues
to
My
beloved
He
feedeth his flocks
mine and
is
am
among
his,
the
lilies
Until the day be cool and the shadows flee away."
Again addressing the shepherd, she says

"Turn,
Upon
She
"By
1
my
beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart
the mountains of Bether."
relates a
night,
on
dream
my
him whom my
bed, I sought
sought him but
found him
now and go about
I said I will rise
soul loveth,
not,
the city,
In the streets and in the broad ways,

I will seek
him whom my
sought him in
The watchmen
I
said to them,
was but a
When
I
soul loveth
my dream
but
found him
that go about the city found
saw ye him
little
whom my
found him
whom my
Until he had brought
chamber
not.
me
me
to
soul loveth
let
him go
my
mother's house,
of her that
gave
me
soul loveth
passed from them
caught him and would not
Into the
birth."
THE SONG OF SONGS.

Again, turning to the
to
attempt
you,
the roes
That ye
Until
At
It
it
and the hinds
of the field,
not up nor awaken love
stir
please."
this point a royal cortege is
seen in the distance.
had no necessary connexion with the work
of recon-
the proposed
new con-
ciling this
pure country
ditions, but
posed
it
girl to
offered a
new argument,
hence they called attention
to the fact that
the King of
one
all
its
of the
to
it
as they sup-
and especially
queens was a partaker with
magnificence.
of the frequent parades of the
As
it
was only one
King they sought
to ex-
her womanly love of display by the assurance that
cite
a like honor awaited her
come
to
she charges them not
to force love.
"I adjure
By
women
27
by asking
it
'
'
One
a queen also.
Who
is this
of
if
she would consent to be-
of the
women
calls attention
cometh up out of the wilderness
that
smoke ?
Perfumed with myrrh and frankincense,
With
all
second
" Behold
the powders of the merchant
woman
it is
the litter of
Three-score mighty
men
Of the mighty men of
They
all
?"
Solomon
are about
it,
Israel.
handle the sword and are expert in war,
Every man hath

Because of fear
his
sword on his thigh,
in the night."
like pillars
28
The
'
'
third
woman
takes
it
up
King Solomon made himself a car of
Of the wood
He made
of
Lebanon.
the posts thereof of silver,
The bottoms
thereof of gold, the seat thereof of purple.
In the midst thereof
From
sits
a sparkling beauty
the daughters of Jerusalem."
The shepherdess's answer
to all this is
finest
touches in the whole poem.
prose
it is
equivalent to saying
they do not
*
Go
move me
forth,
With
the
The
no
in the
it
Reduced
to plain
such splendors have

to
them
all,
for
daughters of Zion, and behold King Solomon

his
mother crowned him
in the
his espousals
day of the gladness of
his heart."
following rhapsody of the shepherd lover has
rival in
with
if
one of the
crown wherewith
day of
And
you are welcome
attractions for you,
'
state
any language
Compared
for hyperbole.
Shakespeare's most famous,

"But
you,
you,
So perfect and so peerless are created
Of every creature's best,"
seems quite tame.
It
is
such touches
of nature that
preserved this poem through those centuries of war
and captivity and which ultimately gave
it
a place in
the sacred literature of the restored Hebrews, and

later, a
place
among
the sacred books of Christians
and now, after three thousand years
headed
sire will
read
still
it
and
many
a gray-
recall the time in his
own
THE SONG OF SONGS.
2g
experience when, as far as he was able, he indited just
such a sonnet to a pair of dove's eyes and scarlet
lips,
and a pretty neck with teeth and temples to match.

"
Behold thou
my
art fair,
love,
behold thou art
Thine eyes are as dove's eyes behind thy
Thy
hair
That
lie
is
as a flock of goats
along the side of Gilead
Thy teeth are like a flock of sheep newly

Which come up from the washing,
Whereof every one
And
fair,
veil,
of
not one of them
them hath
is
shorn,
twins,
bereaved.
Thy lips are like a thread of scarlet

And thy mouth is comely
Thy cheek is like a side of a pomegranate
;
Behind thy
Thy neck
veil.
is like
the tower of David, builded for an armory,
Wherein there hang a thousand bucklers
And
the shields of mighty men.
all
Thy two
Which
The
breasts are like two twin fawns of a roe
feed
among
the lilies."
shepherdess, pretending with true
affectation to desire
to interrupt
womanly
no more of such adulation, seeks
him by saying
"Until the day be cool and the shadows lengthen,

I will
And
get
me
mountain of myrrh
to the
to the hill of frankincense."
But he was not
to
be silenced.
only intensified his speech.
Beginning
beginning as before he becomes

'
'
Thou
And
art fair
there
is
my
love,
no spot
in thee.
The
interruption
at the
much more
same
violent
"
30
Come
me from Lebanon, my
with
spouse,
With me from Lebanon.

Look upon me from
From
From
From
Thou
Thou
the top of
the top of Senir and
Amena,
Hermon,
the depths of the lion's den,

the mountains of leopards.
hast ravished ray heart,

hast ravished
With one
my
my
sister,
my
spouse,
heart with one glance of thine eyes,
of the ringlets that encircle thy neck.
How pleasant is thy love, my sister, my spouse

How much better is thine embrace than wine
And the odor of thy perfumes than all manner of spices.

Thy lips, O my spouse, distil odors as the honey-comb,
Honey and milk are concealed under thy tongue,
And the fragrance of thy garments is like the fragrance
of
Lebanon,
A
A
A
garden enclosed,
is
my
sister,
my
spring shut up, a fountain sealed

paradise,
spouse,
;
where the pomegranate blossoms, together with
precious fruits,
Camphire with spikenard

Spikenard and
plants,
saffron,
Calamus and cinnamon with
all
manner
of sweet-smelling
plants,
Myrrh and
Thou
aloes with all the chief spices.
art a fountain of gardens,
well of living waters,
And
flowing streams from Lebanon.
Awake,
north wind and
Blow upon my garden

out
come thou
south,
that the fragrance thereof
may
flow
THE SONG OF SONGS.
31
The shepherdess answers

"Let my beloved come
And
into his garden,
eat his precious fruits."
The shepherd
'
my garden, my sister, my spouse,

my myrrh and my spices,
eaten my honey-comb with my honey
drunk my wine with my milk.
have come into
have gathered
'
have
have
Eat,
friends,
Drink, yea, drink abundantly."
The shepherdess,
that she
her keepers, the women, that
may
it
the more impress
was cruel
to separate
her from her devoted lover, relates another recent
dream
'
'
was
asleep, but
my heart was awake,

my beloved. As he knocked,
me, my sister, my love, my dove, my
was the voice of
It
He
open
said,
fect
For
my
to
one
head
is
covered with dew,
My
locks with the drops of the night.
To
tease
it
him
I said, I
have put
off
my
coat,
how
shall I put
on?
my feet, why should I soil them ?

my beloved withdrew his hand from the latch,
And my bosom quivered thereat.
I then rose up to open to my beloved,
And my hands dropped with myrrh,
And my fingers with liquid myrrh
I
have washed
At
per-
this
Overflowed upon the handle of the lock.
32
When
opened
Behold
my
(When
my
spake to him
sought him, but
beloved,
was bereft
of reason.)
could not find him
but he gave
I called,
I
to
beloved had withdrawn himself, and was gone.
me no answer
dreamed the watchmen
that go about the city found
me
They smote me, they wounded me,
And
I
the keepers on the wall took
adjure you,
away my
veil
ye daughters of Jerusalem,
if
ye find
my
beloved,
His mouth
That you
is
his person
most sweet, yea,
him
tell
am
is
altogether lovely.
dying of love."
Again the enthusiasm
of the
young shepherdess
who had
aroused the sympathy of the women,

gotten experiences in their
own earlier lives not
not forgreatly
unlike this, hence, instead of longer persisting in at-
tempts
to
persuade their ward to consent to become
such as they were, they

least,
they wish to
she had
left
"What
hence they ask
the young
man
thy beloved more than another beloved,
thou fairest
What
know more about
behind
is
offer assistance to her, or, at
among women
thy beloved more than another beloved,

"
That thou shouldst so adjure us ?
is
This gave the shepherdess occasion to describe him

as she viewed him, and, unless love
worthy her love

4
My
beloved
The
fairest
His head
is
is
white and ruddy,
among
ten thousand,
as the most fine gold,
was
blind,
he was
"
THE SONG OF SONGS.
33
His locks are curling and black as a raven,

His eyes are as doves' eyes, reflecting
Washing
milk and sitting in
in
full
in the water-brooks,
streams,
His cheeks are as a bed of balsam, as towers of perfumes,

His
lips are as lilies,
dropping liquid myrrh,
His hands are as rings of gold
set with beryl,
His reins are as ivory work overlaid with sapphires,
His legs are as
pillars of
His appearance
Such
is
my
is
marble
on pedestals of
set
gold,
as Lebanon, beautiful as the cedars,
beloved, such
is
my
friend,
daughters of Jerusalem."
This enthusiastic description of the absent lover

only increased the interest which the
their ward,
women
felt in
and they wish to hear more about him
hence they ask

'
'
Whither
thy beloved gone,
is
thou fairest
Whither
is
among women
thy beloved turned aside,
That we may seek him with thee
The shepherdess
'
'
My
beloved has gone
down
to his
garden
to the
beds of
balsam,
To
1
feed his flocks in the garden and to gather
am my
My
beloved's and he
beloved
who
The shepherd
is
feedeth his flocks
"
among
much
that he
Thou
art beautiful,
Charming
the lilies."
again praises the beauty of his spouse,
repeating, as would be natural,
before
lilies.
mine,
O my
as Jerusalem,
love, as Tirzah,
had said
34
army
Terrible as an
Turn away
in battle.
thine eyes from me,
For they have overcome me.
Thy
hair
a flock of goats
is like
Lying along the side of Gilead.
Thy
teeth are like a flock of sheep
Which have
been washed,
just
Whereof every one hath
twins,
And none is bereaved among them.

Thy cheek is as a slice of pomegranate
Behind thy
To show
veil."
the great wrong there would be in press-
ing one so dear to
him
into a
harem already crowded,
he says
"
There are
in the
household of Solomon already three-score
queens, and four-score concubines,
And young maidens
My
my
dove,
without number.
perfect one,
but one
is
She
is
the only one of her mother
She
is
the choice one of her that gave her birth.
The young saw her and
The queens and

her saying
Who
is
called her blessed,
the concubines saw her and they praised

:
she that looketh forth like the morning
Fair as the moon,
Clear as the sun,

Terrible as an
army
in battle
The shepherdess here

" In fancy
went down
"
?
narrates a reverie
to the
garden of nuts,
To see the green plants of the valley;

To see whether the vine budded,
And
the pomegranates were in flower.
THE SONG OF SONGS.

was aware, my
Before
Among
the chariots of
The
interest of the
me
desire set
my
35
people."
women
absent lover was
in the
so aroused that they desire to see him, hence they say:

"Return,
Shulammite shepherd,
Return, return, that
we may
see thee."
The shepherdess rebukes
their idle curiosity
by
saying
'
'
Why
wish ye
to look
As upon the dance
upon the Shulammite,
of angels at
The scene of the following

The women, notwithstanding
Mahanaim
is in
"
?
the ladies' toilette.
the sympathy they had
expressed for the unwilling victim of their scheme, de-
termined to make one more

jections.
effort to
This time they resort
her personal beauty.
She had
overcome her ob-
to flattery
just
by praising
come from
the
bath and had put on only her slippers, when they began, hoping to so arouse her vanity that she would at
once discard her country lover

'
'
How
beautiful are thy feet in sandals,
prince's daughter
Thy round thighs are like ornaments,

The work of the hand of a cunning workman.
Thy waist is like a round goblet,
Wherein aromatic wine
Thy body
is like
Encircled with
Thy two
is
abundant.
a heap of wheat,
lilies.
breasts are like two fawns
That are twins
Thy neck
of a roe.
is like
a tower of ivory.
'
36
Thine eyes are
like the pools of
Heshbon by the gate
of
Bathrabbim
Thy
nose
Which
is like
the side of the tower of Lebanon,
Thine head upon thee
And
is
like Carrael,
the locks of thine head are like threads of purple
The King
How
fair
will
be held captive
and how charming
love, for delights
Thy
And
Damascus
looketh towards
stature
is like
in the tresses thereof.
art thou,
a palm-tree,
thy breasts are like to clusters of grapes."
The shepherd
interposes with his claim to
all
these
charms
'
'
I said I will
1 will
climb up into
my
me
Thy
breasts shall be to
And
the odor of thy breath like apples
And
thy
mouth
Causing the
as clusters of grapes,
and she consents
am my
beloved,
the appeal of the
women,
to the proposition of the lover, thus
settling the question

I
my
for
lips of those that are asleep to speak."
The shepherdess answers
And
as the best of wine,
That goeth down sweetly
"
palm-tree,
take hold of the branches thereof
by saying
beloved's,
his desire is towards me.
'
Thereupon the lover proposes that they leave the

palace and go forth
"Come, my
beloved,
Let us lodge
let
us go forth into the
fields,
in the villages,
Let us get up early and go to the vines.

Let us see whether the vine-stalks have budded,
THE SONG OF SONGS.

And
37
the tender grapes appear.
Whether
There
the pomegranate be in flower
will I give thee
The mandrakes
And
Which
have
caress.
give forth fragrance,
our gates are
at
my
laid
The shepherdess,
manner
all
up
for thee,
feeling
tionalities of the times,
of fruits, both
!"
beloved
new and
old
/7fifl
hampered by
the conven-
which did not allow her
to
em-
brace her lover in public, yet tolerated the osculation
and caressing
"
of a brother, replies
O that thou wert as my brother,

Who nursed at the breast of my
So
that
when
mother,
should meet thee without
could embrace
thee,
And none would

I
Where thou
And
Of
Only
And
I
would cause thee
to the
my
into
mother's house,
to drink of spiced wine,
my
pomegranates."
women, she says
hand
his left
adjure you,
stir
The women
her to
therefor!
shall sustain
my
head,
only his right hand shall embrace me.
That ye
ace in
me
mightest instruct me,
the sweet wine of
Turning
"
despise
would lead thee and bring thee
not up nor
at last
awaken
love, until
it
please."
consent to her leaving the pal-
company with her shepherd lover, who escorted

the home of her mother. The neighbors seeing
them returning, ask
"Who
is
this that
cometh up from the wilderness,
Leaning upon her beloved
?"
"
38
moment
Before reaching the house they stop a
un-
der the apple-tree, which had often listened to their
mutual avowals
rustic seat they
'
Under
there, seated
had so often occupied, he

and says
at that sacred spot,
meetings
'
Once
of love.
this apple-tree I first
upon the
recalls other
aroused thy love.
Then, pointing to the house beyond the garden, he

says
"In yonder house thy mother conceived

There she was
Now
set
me
in travail
upon thine
as a seal
thee,
and there she gave thee birth

heart, as a bracelet
upon
thine arm,
For love
is
strong as death
Jealousy
is
cruel as the grave,
Its
flames are flames of
Its
arrows the
fire of
fire,
Jehovah.
Great waters cannot quench love,
And
rivers cannot
overwhelm
it."
Then, delicately alluding to the
late experience of
his faithful lover in resisting the blandishments of the
King's palace, he adds

"If a
He
man would
offer all his
substance for love
would only reap confusion."
The two
none
half-brothers
now
appear.
They had
of their opposition to this love-affair.
they had sought to break
it
off
by taking
At
lost
first
their sister
from the care of the sheep, which afforded too many

opportunities for the lovers to meet each other, and
putting her to the harder work of dressing the family
THE SONG OF SONGS.

vineyard.
This
39
they had connived
failing,
at, if
had not suggested and promoted, the scheme

For
ting her into Solomon's harem.
they
of get-
their sister to
be
was much
a wife of the King, though only one of many,
preferable, in their minds, to her being the wife of a
humble shepherd, even
some personal grudge against

young neighbor had not something to do in the
their
But
case.
in this they
once more
find her
if
were again
than ever to her rustic lover.
ments.
and
Their
last
to postpone,
hope now
if
is
not to en-
marriage, by alleging that she was
tirely prevent, the
too young, and
and they
family home, more devoted
in the
to belittle their sister,
baffled,
by insinuating other and grave impedi-
They derisively ask what
shall
be the wedding
presents in the case of a marriage, as well as insinuate
They
unfitness for wifehood.

'
'
say:
We have a little sister,

And she hath no breasts
What shall we do for our
In the day
If
will inclose
Her answer
what she
bride of one
:
be spoken for
build upon her a turret of silver
nising that she
says
sister
?
she be a door,
We
for
shall
she be a wall,
We will
If
when she
is
her with boards of cedar."
both womanly and defiant.
is in
is,
who
no sense under obligations
and what she hopes

will
to
Recogto
them
be soon, the
be to her a wall of defence, she
40
"
have been a
wall,
And my
breasts have been towers,
Hence
was
in ray lover's eyes as a
Solomon had a vineyard
He
Every one
to bring, as rent, a
vineyard
Thou,
And
Baal-hamon
that finds peace-
out the vineyard to keepers,
let
My
at
woman
is
in front of
thousand of
silver.
me.
may have the thousand,

may have two hundred."
Solomon,
thy keepers
The shepherd
'
'
Thou that dwellest in the gardens,

The companions are listening to thy
Cause me to hear it."
The shepherdess
"
Make
haste,
my
And be thou
Upon
voice,
beloved,
like to a roe or a
young hart
the mountain of spices."
Ordinary love stories end in the marriage of the

chief characters.
This does not, but
it
is
easy to see
that such constancy on the part of each, under such

,
inducements
after
to unfaithfulness,
can end no otherwise
reaching the point where the
Though when read as an allegory,

meaningless yet when read as a
;
no pure man or woman can

out having been benefited.
rise
It
immortality.
love story in verse,
from
its
reading with-
touches at
the experience of true lovers in

its
poem leaves them.

this poem is utterly
all
many
points
the ages, and hence
THE SONG OF SONGS.

Inevitably, a
in
poem
41
of so great antiquity,
must contain many
Orientalisms,
graphic, and social allusions, which
abounding
historic,
not impossible, to understand to-day.
geo-
difficult,
is
it
if
All parts of
Hebrew Scriptures are in the same category.

What if we cannot understand what was meant in its
time by "the dance of angels at Mahanaim," or why
the old
it
was
interesting to be looked
den or the mountains
of leopards
upon from the

It is
lion's
sheer folly to
seek a meaning for these in allegory or parable.
But,
given the instinctive drawings of a virtuous youth and

a virtuous maiden of congenial tastes,
to this inimitable
we have
the key
Though therefore we may

when we read it as a
poem.
not understand
all its allusions,
poem intended
to set forth a victory of faithful love in
the form of a dialogue, which
amateurs,
we
may
easily be acted
are compelled to concede
its
by
right to a
place in our sacred collection of the books which constitute
to all
our Bible.
pure minds.
It
can never cease to be of interest
No
better lesson
is
taught in any
Bible story, nor ever can be, while the
human happiness
true love reigns
teaches
is
is
found only
supreme
in
maximum
and not the
least lesson
the unchanging elements of love
three thousand years ago as now.
of
households where
it
the same
THE OPEN COURT

A WEEKLY MAGAZINE
DEVOTED TO THE RELIGION OF SCIENCE

THE OPEN COURT does
not understand by religion any creed or dogbut man's world-conception in so far as it regulates his conduct.
The old dogmatic conception of religion is based upon the science of past
ages; to base religion upon the maturest and truest thought of the present
time is the object of The Open Court. Thus, the religion of The Open Court is
the Religion of Science, that is, the religion of verified and verifiable truth.
matic
belief,
Although opposed to irrational orthodoxy and narrow bigotry, The Open

Court does not attack the properly religious element of the various religions.
It criticises their errors unflinchingly but without animosity, and endeavors
to preserve of them all that is true and good.
The current numbers of The Open Court contain valuable original articles
from the pens of distinguished thinkers. Accurate and authorised translations are made in Philosophy, Science, and Criticism from the periodical
literature of Continental Europe, and reviews of noteworthy recent investigations are presented.
Terms One dollar a year throughout the Postal Union. Single Copies
:
cents.
THE MONIST
A QUARTERLY MAGAZINE OF
PHILOSOPHY AND SCIENCE.

THE MONIST discusses the fundamental problems of
Philosophy in their
and sociological questions of the

its columns
practical relations to the religious, ethical,
day.
The
following have contributed to
Prof. Joseph Le Conte,

Dr. W. T. Harris,
M. D. Conway,
Charles S. Peirce,
Prof. F. Max MOller,
Prof. E. D. Cope,
Prof. C. Lombroso,
Prof. G. J. Romanes,
Prof. C. Lloyd Morgan, Prof. E. Haeckel,
Prof. H. HOffding,
James Sully,
B. Bosanquet,
Dr. F. Oswald,
Dr. A. Binet,
Prof. J. Delbojuf,
Prof. Ernst Mach,
Prof. F. Jodl,
Carus Sterne,
Rabbi Emil Hirsch,
Prof. H. M. Stanley,
G. Ferrero,
Mrs. C. Ladd Franklin, Lester F. Ward.
Prof. Max Verworn,
Prof. H. Schubert,
J. Venn,
Prof. Felix Klein,
Dr. Edm. Montgomery, Prof. H. von Holst.
Per Copy, 50 cents; Yearly,

per Copy, 2s 6d Yearly, 9s 6d.
$2.00.
In
England and
all
countries in U.P.U
CHICAGO:
THE OPEN COURT PUBLISHING

Monon
London
Building, 324 Dearborn Street.
WATTS
Si
CO., 17 Johnson's Court, Fleet
St.,
E. C.
CO.,
CATALOGUE OF PUBLICATIONS
OF THE
OPEN COURT PUBLISHING
CO.
MULLER,
F. MAX.
THREE INTRODUCTORY LECTURES ON THE SCIENCE OF
THOUGHT.
With
Max
a correspondence on "Thought Without Words," between F.

Muller and Francis Galton, the Duke of Argyll, George J, Ro-
manes and
others.
128 pages.
Cloth, 75 cents.
Paper, 25 cents.
THREE LECTURES ON THE SCIENCE OF LANGUAGE.
University Extension Lectures, with a Supplement, " My

Predecessors," an essay on the genesis of "The Science of Thought.'
112 pages. Second Edition. Cloth, 75 cents. Paper, 25 cents.
The Oxford
ROMANES, GEORGE JOHN.

DARWIN AND AFTER DARWIN.
An
Exposition of the Darwinian Theory and a Discussion of PostDarwinian Questions.

1. The Darwinian Theory.
460 pages.
2.
125 illustrations.
Cloth,
$2. 00.
Post-Darwinian Questions.
Edited by Prof. C. Lloyd Morgan. Pages,
volumes, on one order, for $3.00 net.
338.
Cloth, $1.50.
Both
AN EXAMINATION OF WEISMANNISM.
236 pages.
Cloth, $1.00.
THOUGHTS ON
RELIGION.
Second Edi-
Edited by Charles Gore, M. A., Canon of Westminster.

Pages, 184. Cloth, gilt top, $1.25.
tion.
COPE, E. D.
THE PRIMARY FACTORS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION.
121 cuts.
Circa 550 pages.
Cloth, $2.00.
RIBOT, TH.
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ATTENTION.
Authorised translation,
121 pages.
Cloth, 75 cents.
Paper, 25 cents.
THE DISEASES OF PERSONALITY.

Authorised translation, 157 pages.
Cloth, 75 cents.
Paper, 25 cents.
Cloth, 75 cents.
Paper, 25 cents.
THE DISEASES OF THE WILL.

Authorised translation, 134 pages.
Full set, cloth, net, $I.TS.
N.B.
MACH, ERNST.
THE SCIENCE OF MECHANICS.
A Critical and Historical Exposition of its Principles. Translated

from the second German edition by Thomas J. McCormack, with 250
cuts and illustrations, marginal analysis, and a complete index. 518
pages. Half morocco, gilt top. Price, $2.50.
POPULAR SCIENTIFIC LECTURES.

313 pages.
Cloth, gilt top.
Net, $1.00.
THE ANALYSIS OF THE SENSATIONS.

(In preparation.)
FREYTAG, GUSTAV.
THE LOST MANUSCRIPT.
A Novel. Authorised translation from the Sixteenth German Edition

Two volumes. 953 pages. Extra cloth, gilt top, $4.00 the same in
;
one volume,
cloth, $1.00
paper, 75 cents.
CORNILL, CARL HEINRICH.

THE PROPHETS OF ISRAEL.
Popular Sketches from Old Testament History. Frontispiece, Michael
Angelo's Moses. Pages, 210. Cloth, $1.00.
THE
RISE OF
THE PEOPLE OF
See Epitomes of Three
ISRAEL.
Sciences, below.
BINET, ALFRED.
THE PSYCHIC LIFE OF MICRO-ORGANISMS.
Authorised translation.
135 pages.
Cloth, 75 cents
Paper, 25 cents.
ON DOUBLE CONSCIOUSNESS.
New
Studies in Experimental Psychology.
TRUMBULL,
Paper, 15 cents
93 pages.
M. M.
THE FREE TRADE STRUGGLE
IN ENGLAND.
Second Edition, revised and enlarged. 296 pages.
Cloth, 75 cents;
paper, 25 cents.
WHEELBARROW
With
Articles and Discussions on the Labor Question
portrait of the author.
303 pages.
Cloth, $1.00
paper, 35 cents.
EARL GREY ON RECIPROCITY AND CIVIL SERVICE REFORM.

With Comments by Gen. M. M. Trumbull.
Price, 10 cents.
CARUS, PAUL.
THE ETHICAL PROBLEM.
90 pages.
Cloth, 50 cents
Paper, 30 cents.
FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEMS.
The Method
edge.
of Philosophy as a Systematic
edition, enlarged and revised.
Second
Arrangement
372 pages.
of KnowlCloth, 91.50.
HOMILIES OF SCIENCE.
310 pages.
Cloth, Gilt Top, $1.50.
THE IDEA OF GOD.

32 pages.
Paper, 15 cents.
THE SOUL OF MAN.

An
Investigation of the Facts of Physiological and Experimental Psychology. With 152 cuts and diagrams. 458 pages. Cloth, $3.00.
TRUTH
IN FICTION. Twelve Tales with a Moral.

Printed on fine laid paper, white and gold binding, gilt edges, 128
pages. Price, Si. 00.
THE RELIGION OF SCIENCE.

Extra edition.
Price, 50 cents.
PRIMER OF PHILOSOPHY.
A popular exposition of the
pages.
Cloth,
fundamental notions of philosophy.
240
Si. 00.
THE GOSPEL OF BUDDHA.

Third Revised Edition.
According
275 pages.
to
Old Records.
Cloth, Gilt Top, $1.00.
Paper
35 cents.
GARBE, RICHARD.
THE REDEMPTION OF THE BRAHMAN. A Tale of
Laid paper. Veg. parch, binding. Gilt
top.
Hindu Life.
96 pages. Price, 75 cents.
EPITOMES OF THREE SCIENCES.

1.
COMPARATIVE PHILOLOGY; The Study of
Sanskrit. By Prof.
H.
Oldenberg,
2.
3.
EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY. By Prof Joseph

OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY or, The Rise of
;
Israel.
140 pages.
By
Prof. C. H. Cornill.
Cloth, 75 cents.
Jastrow.
the People of
The Religion of
A collection
Science Library.
which are reby The Open Court Publishing Company.
of bi-monthly publications, most of
prints of books published
Yearly, $1.50.
Separate copies according to prices quoted.
books are printed upon good paper, from large type.
The
Religion of Science Library, by
able price, will bring a large
reach of
all
The
No.
number
its
The
extraordinarily reason-
of valuable books within the
readers.
following have already appeared in the series
By Paul Carus.
The Religion of
Three Introductory Lectures on the Science of Thought.
By
F.
Science.
Max Muller.
25c.
Three Lectures on the Science of Language.
Muller.
25c.
By
F.
Max
25c.
The Diseases of Personality. By Th. Ribot. 25c.

The Psychology of Attention. By Th. Ribot. 25c.
The Psychic Life of Micro- Organisms. By Alfred Binet.
25c.
The Nature of the State. By Paul Carus. 15c.

On Double Consciousness. By Alfred Binet. 15c.
Fundamental Problems. By Paul Carus. 50c.
The Diseases of the Will. By Th. Ribot. 25c.
The Origin of Language. By Ludwig Noire. 15c.
The Free Trade Struggle in England. By M. M. Trumbull.
25c.
Wheelbarrow on the Labor Question.

bull.
35c.
The Gospel of Buddha.
By M. M. Trum-
By Paul Carus. 35c.

By Paul Carus. 25c.
The Primer of Philosophy.
The
following are in preparation
By Prof. Richard Garbe.

Buddhism and Christianity. By Paul Carus.
The Lost Manuscript. A Novel. By Gustav Freytag.
The Study of Sanskrit. By Prof. H. Oldenberg.
Old Testament History. By Prof. C. H. Cornill.
The Philosophy of Ancient India.
Memory
cific
as a General Function of Organised Matter, and The SpeEnergies of the Nervous System, etc. By Prof. Ewald
Hering.
THE OPEN COURT PUBLISHING

324 Dearborn Street, Chicago,
III.
CO.,

Goodwin - Lovers Three Thousand Years Ago As Indicated by The Song of Solomon (1895)

Загружено:

Сведения о документе

Оригинальное название

Авторское право

Доступные форматы

Поделиться этим документом

Поделиться или встроить документ

Параметры публикации

Этот документ был вам полезен?

Это неприемлемый материал?

Авторское право:

Доступные форматы

Goodwin - Lovers Three Thousand Years Ago As Indicated by The Song of Solomon (1895)

Загружено:

Авторское право:

Доступные форматы

Three Thousand

LOVERS THREE THOUSAND

THREE THOUSAND YEARS AGO

THE SONG OF SOLOMON

The Open Court Publishing

book does not claim

covered that the Song of Solomon

That was suggested by Bible-scholars many years

been very generally accepted by the scholarship of to-day.

graphs, or of articles in magazines, or reviews, or encyclopaedias,

not found a single presentation of

in its real character.

form which would

These discussions are

the form of critical expositions of the text, so that in most of

appears only in fragments.

to eliminate all textual criticism

plan of this book

to restore the text to the

as dear to every true lover to-

read and recited three thousand years ago.

Historical Import of the

THE HISTORICAL IMPORT OF THE

O THE common reader of the Bible,

to the careful Bible student, the

and little less

ing to meet any of the supposed purposes for which

many good men,

the Bible was written,

few hold that

to teach Bible truth,

as they read other Scriptures,

opinion of what the Bible

incorporation into the sacred canon

mind the once prevailing

that collection of histories and prophecies

and songs, which by the way of pre-eminence we

learned Christians and

held sacred by devout and

either doctrinal or didactic, Bible students as well as

Bible reader have been put to their wits'

to find a place for

LOVERS THREE THOUSAND YEARS AGO.

During the Middle Ages the dogma

was promulgated with

such pertinacity, that long after the Bible became the

place in their thoughts.

people this figment held a

as late as the days of

the case to such an extent that the

ised version so rendered Paul's language to

as to read, "All Scripture

This practically settled the question with the

reader, so that the

Ruth were placed on

Solomon and the

a level with the proph-

and Daniel and the writings

and of David, as being designed

administer reproof, or to instruct in right living.

the ages following, individual scholars

protested against this rendering, but their protests

went unheeded, as unworthy