whioh is to set forth the theme of true love, and thus to lead our thoughts to the highest ideal of love. "Let him kis11 me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine." We are prepared for the rapture of first love, which is poured out in the first part in exqui.:;ite dialogue and monologue. (1) Shulamith, the beloved, is waiting for the arrival of her lover, and, surrounded by the chorus of ladies, pours out her rapture and longingv which is responded to by her admiring companions ( eh. i. 1-8). (2). The royal lover appears, and the rapturous joy of mutual delight is poured out in the banqueting-house ( eh. i. 9 to ii. 7), closing with the refrain of serene contentment addressed by the beloved woman to the fair companions of her chamber: "I adjure you, 0 daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awaken love until it please." (3) In the bright; pure , atmosphere of this new-found rapture the beloved woman sings the episodes of her love, tells how the loved one: wooed her, how the first love mingled with the loveliness of the opening spring and summer and the delights of a pastoral life, how the heart longed for him until ,he was found, and when· it found him would not let· bi:oi. go, concluding with the same refrain of satisfied yearning as in eh. ii. 7. 'l'his third subdivision of Part I. occupies from oh. ii. 8 to iii 5, and contains some of the loveliest poetry in the whole composition. Pait II. Nuptial rejoicing (eh. iii. 6 to .v. 1). Here we have first a description of the nuptial festival, and then the bride and bridegroom rejoicing in one another. (1) The litter of Solomon is seen surrounded with his body-guard advancing towards Jerusalem. The daughters :of Jerusalem go forth to meet him. He is crowned with the splendid crown made by his mother for the day of his espousal. It is but a glimpse of the festival, but it suggests the whole ( eh. iii. 6-11 ). (2) The greater part of the b6autiful song which follows (oh. iv. 1-16) is the address of the bridegroom to the bride; but the bride respoods with a brief rhapsody of delight, in which she surrenders herself entirely to her husband (eh. iv. 16): "Awake, 0 north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his precious fruits;" to which the bridegroom responds with the words of delight and satisfaction ( oh. v. 1 ). This concludes the first half of the poem. We then pass into another 1;egion. The cloud passes over the face of the sun. The brightness of the bridal bliss is obscured for a while. The bride tells of her forgetful- ness and the recovery of her peace. . This we may call Separation and reunion-Part III. (oh. v. 2 to viii. 14). The subdivisions of this concluding portion may be distinguished as. follows : - (1) Under the figure of a dream the bride describes the temporary 1eparation of her heart from the bridegroom ; her misery ; her longing an<l viii INTRODUOTION TO
aea.rohing for the beloved object ; and her appeal to her fair companions to help her ( eh. v. 2-8). (2) The sympathireing companion., of the bride draw out the fulness of her love by their questions, asking" why she so loves him," and whither he is gone from her ( eh. v. 9 to vi. 3). (3) TM royal 'bridegroom returns to his bride and rejoioes once ID.ore in her (eh. vi. 4-9). ( 4) The companions of the bride, recognizing the effect of the renewed bliss in the appea.ranoe of the bride, burst out into a song of praise of her beauty ( eh. vi. 10). (5) The bride responds with a declaration of her ecstatic delight ( oh. vi. 11, 12). (6) The companions of the bride pour out their praises as they behold ihe bride in her dance of ecstasy ( eh. vi. 13 to vii. 5). (7) The royal bridegroom, approaching the bride, delights •in, her attractions ( eh. vii. 6-9). (8) The bride, full of satisfaction in the love of her husband, invites him to return with her to the scenes of her maiden life, and there his love. would beautify all that was familiar to her. In the thought of such bliss she again. adjures her companions to acknowledge the perfection of he1 peace ( eh. vii. 10 to viii. 4). (9) Bride and bridegroom a.re together in the restful joy of a siniple oountry life, exchanging sweet remembrances and confidences (eh. viii. C--7). (10) In the peace of the old home others are thought of, and the bliss of the bride overflows upon her kindred, to which the royal bridegroom responds and the bride rejoices ( eh. viii. 8-12). (11) The royal bridegroom, delighting in his bride, bids her sing ( eh. viii. 13). (12) The poem ends with the sweet melody of the bride's voice, inviting the bridegroom to hasten to her side, in one of her familiar love-songs : •• Make haste, my beloved, and be thou like to a roe or to a young hart upon the mountains of spices." Thus the voice of the bride, which opens the poem, lingers on the ear in its close, and suggests to us that the whole is as if from her standpoint the aspiration of an ideal love, breathing itself out in desire after the beloved objects,-tha.t the king may delight himself in her beauty.
§ 3. THEOBIEB OF lNTE!.PRETATION. No one can accept the Song of Solomon as a book of Scripture, the canonical authority of which is undoubted, without forming some theory of interpretation which shall justify the position of 11uch a book amongst the aacred writings. It will be evident that our fundamental principles in respect to the nature and authority of inspired books will modify the views THE SONG OF SOLOMON. It