A COMMENTARY 
 
 THE SONG OF SONGS, 
 
 FROM A^ JINT AND MEDIEVAL SOURCES. 
 
 RICHARD FREDERICK LITTLEDALE, 
 
 LL.D., D.C.L. 
 
 LONDON : 
 JOSEPH MASTEES, ALDERSQATE STREET, 
 
 AND NEW BOND STREET. 
 
 NEW YORK : POTT AND AMERY. 
 
 MDCCOLXIX. 
 
LONDON : 
 
 PRINTED BY JOSEPH MASTERS AND SON, 
 
 ALDERSGATE STREET. 
 
IN DEAR MEMORY 
 OF 
 
 JOHN MASON NEALE. 
 
PEE FACE. 
 
 The Song of Songs, though for many centuries a 
 favourite theme of the most eminent Saints and Chris- 
 tian writers, either by way of direct comment or of 
 illustrative quotation, has fallen, during these latter 
 times, into comparative neglect. It is rarely made the 
 basis of sermons, or even of devotional treatises, and 
 thus, as may be reasonably inferred, does not occupy 
 any prominent place in private study of Holy Scripture. 
 
 Two attempts, both most valuable in their way, to 
 reinstate it in its proper position as an element of re- 
 ligious teaching, and as affording ample subject-matter 
 for practical meditation, have been recently made. The 
 first is the well-known translation of Avrillon's devout 
 book, L'Annee Affective ; the second is the series of 
 Sermons in a Religious House, preached by the late 
 Dr. Neale. 
 
 But the plan of each of these works excludes com- 
 pleteness of treatment, and leaves much of the ground 
 still uncovered. Nor do any of the commentaries 
 usually accessible supply the defect. The mystical 
 exegesis, which is of the very essence of any true under- 
 standing of perhaps the most difficult book in Scripture, 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 was either quite foreign to the temperament and method 
 of the expositors ; or when some genuine feeling of 
 sympathy with patristic theology did manifest itself, as, 
 for example, in the writings of Matthew Henry, the in- 
 fluence of eighteenth-century modes of thought, and 
 the fear of being altogether out of harmony with the 
 readers of their time, cramped and enfeebled their 
 utterance. 
 
 It is only seven years since the late Mr. Thrupp en- 
 deavoured to revive intelligent interest in the religious 
 study of the Canticles through the means of the devout 
 and scholarly gloss which he published. But, while 
 he admitted the trutli of the main outlines of the tra- 
 ditional interpretation, he exhibited much timidity in 
 following up the details, a timidity all the more re- 
 markable when contrasted with the boldness with which 
 he proposed conjectural emendations of the Hebrew 
 text. His volume, therefore, though very useful in 
 its degree to students, does not appear to have suc- 
 ceeded in its higher aim, that of promoting reverent 
 perusal of the Canticles amongst the educated laity. 
 
 Nor could this class obtain assistance from foreign 
 sources. Apart from colossal works like those of 
 Ghislerius and Cornelius a Lapide, there is no book 
 which presents in a compendious form the pith of 
 ancient and mediaeval exposition on the Song ; though 
 there are, no doubt, many, like that of Hamon the Port- 
 Eoyalist and the briefer composition of S. Francis de 
 Sales, which may be read with interest and profit. 
 
 The following Commentary is an attempt to fill this 
 void, at least provisionally, until some more competent 
 hand undertakes the task. Its chief claim to atten- 
 tion is that it is almost exclusively a compilation from 
 
PREFACE. Vll 
 
 the writings of the Fathers and Schoolmen, with just 
 so much illustration from ascetic writers, hymnodists, 
 and poets, ancient and modern, as seemed to give point 
 to their comments, and to make the continuous perusal 
 of the volume an easier task. 
 
 An attempt to bring to bear on the Canticles all the 
 appropriate matter which exists, would simply have been 
 to aim at turning into this one channel all the streams 
 of the devotional theology of the Middle Ages, and 
 would have defeated the intention with which the 
 Commentary was undertaken, that of summarizing in 
 brief and portable compass the results of seventeen 
 centuries of loving meditation on the Book of Divine 
 Love. 
 
 This work, therefore, does not aim, like the larger 
 compilations already referred to, at making clerical 
 readers independent of further study on the subject. 
 Rather it is hoped that the extracts from the writings 
 of Origen, S. Bernard, Gilbert of Hoyland, Henry 
 Harphius, and others like-minded, may incite them 
 to fuller perusal. But it does propose to give other 
 students of the Canticles, and especially the inmates 
 of Religious Houses (for whose instruction it was 
 originally projected) a sufficient, though necessarily 
 brief, insight into the treasures which have accumu- 
 lated, in the course of centuries, around this shrine 
 of sacred mysteries. To further this end, a sugges- 
 tion made by a critic of the Commentary on the 
 Psalms, too late so far as the plan of that work w^as 
 concerned, has been here adopted, namely, the addi- 
 tion of English versions to the Greek and Latin 
 quotations which occur in the course of the work. 
 As these have been somewhat hastilv executed, thev 
 
Vlll PREFACE. 
 
 are consequently not a little rugged, and aim merely 
 at giving the sense approximately, without pretending 
 to any literaiy excellence. 
 
 It would have been most desirable if a Commen- 
 tary such as this, not designed for critical pur- 
 poses, but of a purely devotional character, could have 
 been kept absolutely free from polemical matter, yet, 
 as the spiritual character of the Canticles has been 
 freely impeached in our day, it has been necessary to 
 make some protest against the method and arguments 
 of its impugners ; but this has been excluded so far 
 as possible from the text, and relegated to the Intro- 
 duction, in which a few of the literary problems con- 
 nected with the Song of Songs are briefly discussed. 
 
 It remains only to request a lenient judgment on 
 this tentative execution of a most difficult task, and 
 to ask for such assistance at the hands of readers as 
 may make a future edition, should it be required, less 
 defective. 
 
 London, 
 Nativity of Our Lady, 1869. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 I. The exceptional position occupied by the Song of 
 Songs among the books of Holy Writ, standing as it 
 does apart from Law and Prophets, Histories and 
 didactic compositions, and having obviously on the sur- 
 face but very faint relations to the remaining Scriptural 
 Canticles, has naturally concentrated much attention 
 upon it, and given rise to no little variety of comment 
 on all the particulars connected with its external form 
 and history, and its internal signification. One fact 
 alone remains undisputed, that of its inclusion within of'th?song. 
 the Canon, both Jewish and Christian, from the earliest 
 times of which we have any record. Its place in the 
 Septuagint testifies to its recognition as a sacred book 
 by the Jews two centuries before the Christian era, and 
 the language used concerning it by Kabbinical autho- 
 rities puts it on a very different level from that accorded 
 by them to the Deutero-Canonical Books. They classed 
 it as one of the five Megilloth of the Bible, along Rabbinical 
 with Euth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, and Esther, and of^"^**® 
 ranked it first among them, reading it at the Passover, 
 the most solemn festival of the year. Fully in accord- 
 ance with this position is the remark of Eabbi Akiba, 
 a contemporary of the Emperor Hadrian, saying, " The 
 entire history of the world does not present an epoch 
 like the day when the Song of Songs was given to 
 Israel, for though all the Hagiographa are holy, yet 
 the Song of Songs is most holy." The corollary from 
 these premises is that the Canticles have been regarded 
 h 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 refuted. 
 
 all along as the work of an inspired writer, and as 
 instinct with a spiritual meaning; both which views 
 are explicitly asserted by the Targum, which begins its 
 paraphrase with the words : " The songs and praises 
 which Solomon the Prophet, king of Israel, spake by 
 the Holy Ghost, before the Lord the Creator of the 
 universe." 
 First objec- It has been objected in modern times against the 
 ticaiv^ew^^' ^^^^o^d admission by the ancient Jews of a mystical 
 import underlying the letter, that they prohibited the 
 perusal of the Canticles by all persons below thirty 
 years of age, whence it has been argued either that 
 the book was given in vain so far as all who died in 
 youth were concerned, or that the very fact of with- 
 holding it establishes the denial of its spiritual cha- 
 racter. This objection, apart from its failing to settle 
 whether the Jews were right or wrong in their disci- 
 pline on this head, falls to the ground for two reasons ; 
 first, that the Kabbins extended the same prohibition 
 to the beginning of Genesis and the earliest and latest 
 chapters of Ezekiel, without any impeachment of their 
 inspiration; and secondly, that the Eastern Church, 
 like the Church of England, while avowedly upholding 
 the mystical sense, refrains, on grounds of expediency, 
 from public reading of the Canticles in divine worship, 
 though the place of the book in the Old Testament 
 Canon, as received by Christians, has been acknow- 
 ledged ever since the earliest known list Avas drawn up 
 by Melito, Bishop of Sardis, about a.d. 170. 
 
 11. The questions of date and authorship have both 
 been hotly contested. The prevalent opinion amongst 
 Jews and Christians until comparatively recent times, 
 agreed with that of the Targum and Septuagint, and 
 other ancient versions, in ascribing the Song to Solo- 
 mon, son of David. There were, however, some ex- 
 ceptions. Some Talmudists assigned it to Hezekiah, 
 E. Kimchi and a few others to Isaiah. On the other 
 hand, the received tradition is supported by some 
 important arguments. Apart from the title, which 
 may of course have been added by a later hand (as is 
 doubtless the case with several of the Psalms,) and 
 
 Date and 
 authorship 
 
INTRODUCTION. XI 
 
 from direct references to Solomon as a living person, 
 which might be only poetical, there are two items of 
 internal evidence which fix the date with tolerable internal 
 
 GviQcncc 
 
 accuracy. Pirst is the passage in chap. vi. 4, " Thou 
 art beautiful, my love, as Tirzah, comely as Jeru- 
 salem." Tirzah, as the capital of the Northern king- 
 dom under Jeroboam I. and his successors until the 
 building of Samaria, (1 Kings xiv. 17 ; xv. 21 ; xvi. 
 8, 23,) would never have been coupled with Jerusalem, 
 the head of the Davidic and Aaronic polity, by a poet 
 of either Israel or Judah after the revolt of the ten 
 tribes, owing to the political and religious hostility 
 which immediately arose between the two realms, just 
 as no poem before the union of the English and 
 Scottish crowns praises both London and Edinburgh. 
 Thus the furthest possible limit of date is the outbreak 
 of war between Abijah and Jeroboam in B.C. 958. 
 Another passage narrows the period much more. The 
 eighth verse of the same chapter tells us of Solomon's 
 harem, " There are threescore queens and fourscore 
 concubines." But in 1 Kings xi. 3, we read, " And he 
 had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hun- 
 dred concubines." Wherefore we conclude that the 
 Song was not only written in Solomon's life-time, but 
 at a comparatively early period of his reign, before he 
 had fallen into the extravagant excesses of his old age. 
 The plea which would deny the authenticity of the 
 passage of the Book of Kings, treating it as a mere ex- 
 aggeration of later times, to be corrected by the more 
 reasonable estimate of the Canticles, may be dismissed 
 at once, apart from any question of inspu'ation, as 
 neither justified by what we know of the manners of 
 Eastern sovereigns nor by the treatment which two 
 equally compatible statements would receive if found 
 in the pages of a secular historian. So far as style 
 and diction are concerned, tlie chief modern critics are 
 agreed in attributing the Song of Songs to the Solo- 
 monic age, in opposition to a somewhat earlier school, 
 which post-dated it considerably, on grounds now ad- 
 mitted to be insufficient. 
 
 In the absence of direct internal evidence and of 
 62 
 
XU INTRODUCTION. 
 
 historical testimony at all coeval witli the date of the 
 composition, it is impossible to lay down as a cer- 
 tainty that Solomon was author of the Song. But 
 there is, at the very least, quite as much to be said in 
 ProbabiUty favour of the earliest known tradition as can be urged 
 authorship,^ against it. The title goes for something, for it esta- 
 blishes that at the very remote period when it was 
 affixed, — earlier at any rate than the LXX. version — 
 no rival claimant had been effectually set up. Those 
 who deny the Solomonic authorship urge that such 
 an epithet as *' Song of Songs" makes against the 
 claim, because no author would venture on such a 
 panegyric of his own work. The reply to this is two- 
 from the fold. The critics must either accept the inscription as 
 title; synchronous with the poem, or reject it. If they 
 
 accept the genuineness of the name " Song of Songs," 
 they must take the remainder of the title into account 
 also, and admit Solomon's claim. If they reject the 
 whole inscription as a later interpolation, then Solo- 
 mon is not to be charged with having qualified his 
 poem with any epithet at all, and the count fails. 
 And this without taking into account a further con- 
 sideration, that of the inspired character of the book ; 
 since, if Solomon was divinely instructed what to write, 
 there can be no more personal vanity in his using the 
 title "Song of Songs" than there is blasphemy in a 
 Prophet beginning a sentence with " Thus saith the 
 Lord." There would be, at the outset, something 
 from author- Unaccountable in the total loss of the most copious 
 ship of other class of writings of the wisest and most powerful of 
 ' Hebrew kings. Most copious, because the thousand 
 and five songs attributed to him in 1 Kings iv. 32, 
 must have necessarily exceeded in bulk those three 
 thousand proverbs, of which such important remains 
 exist. It is not unreasonable to suppose that the 
 great majority of these poems were of merely passing 
 and secular interest, but it is difficult to conjecture 
 why utter oblivion should have come on them all, as 
 the negation of his authorship in this case requires its 
 supporters to maintain. This difficulty, no light one 
 in face of the preservation of so many songs of David 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 XIU 
 
 and Asaph, is more readily solved by acceptance of 
 the traditional view than by any other means. 
 
 The next plea in Solomon's favour is of small weight 
 independently, but not without importance in a cumu- 
 lative argument. He is praised, in the same passage 
 which mentions the number of his writings, for his ^°"^ ^^^^ of 
 great skill in natural history : " And he spake of trees, history; 
 from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto the 
 hyssop that springeth out of the wall : he spake also 
 of beasts, and of fowl, and of creeping things, and of 
 fishes." (1 Kings iv. 33.) There is no book of Scrip- 
 ture which dwells so much as the Canticles upon 
 natural imagery, or which mentions so many names of 
 animals and plants in terms implying familiarity with 
 their habits. The only reply which has been sug- 
 gested to this plea is that other people may have 
 known these things as well as Solomon. No doubt ; 
 but the real point at issue, that the internal evidence 
 is so far perfectly consistent with the traditional au- 
 thorship, is not in the least weakened by such a 
 demurrer. The like may be said of the analogies of and from 
 idea and diction, admittedly existing between Proverbs w^fi°^o! 
 and Canticles.^ They do not fix with certainty the verbs, 
 parts of the Book of Proverbs which are due to Solo- 
 mon's pen, nor do they give any clue to the priority 
 of date in either case. But allowing, as all do, that 
 Solomon is author of part of the Proverbs, the coin- 
 cidences lend additional weight to the traditional view, 
 and, as must never be forgotten in discussions of the 
 kind, make the burden of disproof heavier for the 
 contesters of the claim in possession. 
 
 Two other pleas are urged against Solomon from Further 
 opposite sides. Those who allow the spiritual inter- objections, 
 pretation of the Song maintain that Solomon was not 
 morally fitted to be the instrument of such teaching, 
 w^hile those who adhere to the newest modern literal 
 
 ' Cant. i.ll=Prov. XXV. 11; 
 Cant. iv. 5 = Prov. v. 1 9 ; Cant, 
 iv. 9 = Prov. i. 9; Cant. iv. 
 11 = Prov. V. 3, xvi. 24 ; Cant. 
 iv. 12 = Prov. V. 15; Cant. v. 
 l = Prov. ix. 6; Cant. v. 2 = 
 
 Prov. XX. 13 ; Cant. v. 6=Prov. 
 i. 28 ; Cant. vii. 1 = Prov. xxv. 
 12; Cant. vii. 9 = Prov. xxiii. 
 31 ; Cant. viii. 7 = Prov. vi. 31 
 —35, &c. 
 
XIV 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 view regard tlie poem as in some degree a satire against 
 him, and therefore certainly not from his pen. The 
 second of these objections will be considered later, 
 while it is enough to say of the first one that it loses 
 sight on the one hand of the admitted discrepancy 
 between the youth and age of Solomon, to the former 
 of which the Song may more probably be ascribed ; and 
 on the other of the frequent instrumentality of sinners 
 in working out the designs of God, of which the pro- 
 phecy of Balaam and the apostolate of Judas are 
 sufficient examples. 
 
 III. The third question, and that which has been 
 most eagerly contested of all, concerns the interpreta- 
 tion of the Song, whether it is to be mystical, alle- 
 gorical, or literal, and in each of these cases what is 
 the method to be followed. As before, there is a 
 traditional view in possession, which has the pleas of 
 remote antiquity, continuous tenure, and perfect con- 
 sistency with itself in its favour. This view, common 
 to the Talmud and Targum and to all Christian writers 
 (with a brief exception to be noticed presently) for 
 sixteen centuries, is that the poem is wholly mystical, 
 with no historical basis whatsoever, and that it denotes 
 the relations between God and His Church, albeit there 
 is much variety of detail in setting forth the particulars 
 of this relation. An intermediate view supposes an 
 historical foundation for the Song, preferably the bridal 
 of Solomon with Pharaoh's daughter, and holds that 
 a superstructure of religious allegory has been raised 
 on this basis, as in that other case of the Exodus, so 
 frequently used as a type of spiritual deliverance from 
 sin. And a third view, almost exclusively modern, 
 denies all inner meaning to the poem, save of the most 
 incidental kind, and maintains a literal exposition. 
 The mystical interpretation, which forms the subject- 
 matter of the commentary in this volume, and which 
 traces the history of the Divine dealings with man 
 under the Law and the Gospel, has in its favour a 
 cumulative mass of evidence of a very cogent nature. 
 In the first place, the relationship of marriage is very 
 frequently used in Scriptui'e to denote the union be- 
 
 
INTRODUCTION. XV 
 
 tween God and the chosen people, the ornaments of a 
 bride and abundant progeny are the promised rewards 
 of devotion and obedience, barrenness and divorce 
 are the threatened punishments of spiritual adultery. 
 There is thus no antecedent improbability, as has been 
 alleged, in the nuptial imagery of the Song having a 
 mystical signification. This comes out most clearly in from the 
 that Book which has most obviously approached, if sJifpture °^ 
 not actually borrowed, the language of the Canticles, 
 namely, the prophecy of Hosea, in which the marriage of 
 God to Israel, and her sins against the nuptial bond, are 
 steadily dwelt upon. A further illustration is afforded 
 by the language of the forty -fifth Psalm, which represents 
 a King, who is styled Lord and God, as the Spouse of 
 a Virgin Bride, and which is directly applied to Christ 
 in the Epistle to the Hebrews. As the structure of 
 this Psalm, like that of the seventy-second, absolutely 
 forbids its literal application to any mere human sov-^^-^-^^^-l'^ 
 ran, save at the hands of those who are resolved to 
 see no Messianic prophecies in the Old Testament, be 
 the evidence wdiat it may, it contributes a most im- 
 portant item of proof to the tenability of the tradi- 
 tional view. This is further borne out by the Gospels, 
 the Pauline Epistles, and the Eevelation. The Baptist 
 speaks of Christ as the Bridegroom, and of himself 
 as the Bridegroom's friend ; while the Saviour, in 
 defending His disciples from the charge of religious 
 laxity, applies the name Bridegroom to Himself, and 
 that of "children of the bridechamber" to His fol- 
 lowers. S. Paul illustrates the metaphor further by 
 declaring that he has "espoused" his converts "as a 
 chaste virgin, to Christ," and that earthly marriage 
 is only a type of a heavenly mystery. The Apocalypse, 
 with its description of the heavenly Jerusalem as the 
 Bride of the Lamb, and of the final triumph of the re- 
 deemed as His marriage feast, completes the chain of 
 Scriptural evidence ; and if the mystical interpretation 
 of the Canticles be set aside, it becomes exceedingly 
 difficult to explain the use of this peculiar imagery, 
 which cannot be traced to any other source. 
 
 The plea that not marriage, but courtship, which 
 
XVI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 leads to marriage, is the scope of the Song, has been 
 urged against the Catholic view, but vainly in the face 
 of the recurrent phrase "the Virgin of Israel" in the 
 Old Testament, and the clear statement of the New 
 that the marriage has not yet come, and only the be- 
 trothal has taken place. The next argument of weight 
 is that which serves to repel the a priori objections 
 taken to the form and diction of the poem as a vehicle 
 for spiritual ideas. If it could be shown that the 
 Song, if mystically explained, is an isolated pheno- 
 from parai- mcnon, having no parallel in any literature, very much 
 
 lelsinArabic , , ' , ° A y. ' . *' . 
 
 and Persian wouicl DC done towards discrediting the ancient view, 
 literature; ]g^|^ g^^^,^ jg ^^^ ^]^g ^^gg^ rj^j^^ j^^,^^ nation, which in 
 
 blood and language is most nearly allied to the He- 
 brews, has preserved to the present day the custom of 
 chanting in public worship songs in which the religious 
 meaning is veiled under the ordinary terms of earthly 
 love. The service at which these are recited is called 
 a Zikr, the poems themselves (usually in honour of 
 Mohammed) tmiweskskak. On this, Mr. Lane, in his 
 Modern Egyptians, chap. xxiv. writes as follows : " He 
 pointed out the following poem as one of those most 
 Songs at common at Zikrs, and as one which was sung at the 
 zikrs. 2ikr which I have begun to describe. I translate it 
 
 verse for verse, and imitate the measure and system 
 of rhyme of the original, with this difference only, 
 that the first, third, and fifth lines of each stanza 
 rhyme with each other in the original, but not in 
 my translation. 
 
 With love my heart is troubled ; 
 
 And mine eye-lid hind'reth sleep : 
 My vitals are dissevered ; 
 
 While with streaming tears I weep. 
 My union seems far distant : 
 
 Will my love ever meet mine eye ? 
 Alas ! did not estrangement 
 
 Draw my tears, I would not sigh. 
 
 By dreary nights I'm wasted : 
 Absence makes my hopes expire : 
 
 My tears, like pearls, are dropping ; 
 And my heart is wrapped in fire. 
 
INTRODUCTION. XVU 
 
 Whose is like my condition ? 
 
 Scarcely know I remedy, 
 Alas ! did not estrangement 
 
 Draw my tears, I would not sigh. 
 
 O turtle-dove ! acquaint me 
 
 Wherefore thus dost thou lament? 
 Art thou so stung by absence ? 
 
 Of thy wings deprived, and pent ? 
 He saith, ' Our griefs are equal ; 
 
 Worn away with love I lie.' 
 Alas ! did not estrangement 
 
 Draw my tears, I would not sigh. 
 
 O First and sole Eternal ! 
 
 Show Thy favour yet to me. 
 Thy slave, Ahmad El-Bekree, 
 
 Hath no Loed excepting Thee. 
 By Ta-H4,'the Great Prophet, 
 
 Do not Thou his wish deny. 
 Alas ! did not estrangement 
 
 Draw my tears, I would not sigh. 
 
 I must translate a few more lines, to show more 
 strongly the similarity of these songs to that of Solo- 
 mon ; and lest it should be thought that I have varied 
 the expressions, I shall not attempt to render them 
 into verse. In the same collection of poems sung at 
 Zikrs is one which begins with these lines : 
 
 gazelle from among the gazelles of El- Yemen ! 
 
 1 am thy slave without cost : 
 
 O thou small of age and fresh of skin ! 
 
 thou who art scarce past the time of drinking milk ! 
 
 In the first of these verses we have a comparison ex- 
 actly agreeing with that in the concluding verse of 
 Solomon's Song ; for the word which, in our Bible, is 
 translated ' a roe,' is used in Arabic as synonymous 
 with 'ghazal' (or a gazelle,) and the mountains of 
 El- Yemen are the ' mountains of spices.' This poem 
 ends with the following lines : 
 
 The phantom of thy form visited me in my slumber : 
 
 1 said, ' O phantom of slumber ! who sent thee ?' 
 He said, ' He sent me whom thou knowest j 
 
 He whose love occupies thee.' 
 
XVIU 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Attempted 
 reply, from 
 absence of 
 sacred 
 names ; 
 
 The beloved of my heart visited me in the darkness of night ; 
 
 I stood, to show him honour, until he sat down. 
 
 I said, ' O thou my petition, and all my desire ! 
 
 Hast thou come at midnight, and not feared the watchmen?' 
 
 He said to me, ' I feared, but, however, love 
 
 Had taken from me my soul and my breath.' 
 
 Compare the above with the second and five following 
 verses of the fifth chapter of Solomon's Song. Find- 
 ing that songs of this description are extremely nu- 
 merous, and almost the only poems sung at Zikrs; 
 that they are composed for this purpose, and intended 
 only to have a spiritual sense (though certainly not 
 understood in such a sense by the generality of the 
 vulgar ;) I cannot entertain any doubt as to the design 
 of Solomon's Song. The specimens which I have just 
 given of the religious love-songs of the Moslems have 
 not been selected in preference to others as most agree- 
 ing with that of Solomon, but as being in frequent 
 use." To this may be added the statement of Major 
 Scott Waring as to a kindred custom in Persia, " The 
 Persians insist that we shall give them the merit of 
 understanding their own language, that all the odes of 
 their celebrated poets are mystical, and breathe a fer- 
 vent spirit of adoration to the Supreme Being. They 
 maintain that the Soofees profess eager desire with no 
 carnal affection, and circulate the cup, but no material 
 goblet, since all things are spiritual in their sect ; all 
 is mystery within mystery." And finally, European 
 literature contributes its quota of parallel in the Vita 
 Nuova of Dante. 
 
 A twofold reply, of but little cogency, has been 
 attempted to this proof that there is no inherent un- 
 likelihood in the mystical interpretation. It is alleged, 
 firstly, that the Song of Solomon contains no hint, 
 no key, no direct reference to holy names and ideas, 
 such as is certainly found in the first quotation from 
 Arabic sources given above, and such as may pos- 
 sibly be found in the full text of the remainder, and 
 that we are therefore not at liberty to interpret it 
 otherwise than literally. This loses sight of a very 
 important and familiar canon of composition, that an 
 
INTRODUCTION. XIX 
 
 allegory, in order to be perfect, ought not to con- untenable 
 tain its own key. So far as it does, or as any ob- g?ouniis.^^* 
 trusive clue is given, it is defective in structure. The 
 beast-fables of Bidpai, ^Esop, and Krilof, supply fa- 
 miliar examples. Any distinct intimation of the pur- 
 port in the body of the fable is simply destructive, and 
 even an application tagged on is more than superfluous, 
 ranking with the too audible stage-explanations in the 
 tragedy of Pyramus and Thisbe. This charge against the 
 Song of Solomon, then, merely proves its high literary 
 excellence, and the skill with which the author avoided 
 the defect into which the Arab poet has fallen. The 
 only reason which would excuse deviation from this 
 rule would be the imperative need of warning persons 
 against being led astray by the literal sense ; but as a 
 fact, in the whole literary history of the Canticles for 
 nearly nineteen hundred years, there is scarcely an 
 example on record of the literal sense having held 
 its ground anywhere for a moment. Surely, if the 
 mystical exposition be so unnatural and far-fetched as 
 some declare, this would not and could not be so, as 
 we may learn from the total failure of the Alexandrine 
 critics to establish their allegorical interpretation of the 
 Iliad. Another objection, that urged by an American objection 
 literalist, Professor Noyes, is more philosophical in m?iTrity of 
 tone, but not more convincing. It is that the funda- race and re- 
 mental difi:erences between the pantheistic system of the frlm"dis" 
 Sufis and the religion of the Jews, and the great in- ^^^^^ of 
 terval of time which lies between Solomon and Hafiz, 
 (even if it be conceded that the odes of the latter are 
 religious poems at all) make it absolutely impossible 
 to institute any parallel between them. This argu- 
 ment loses sight of the original question, w^hich is not 
 whether there is any close likeness between Sufism and 
 Judaism, which might crop up in literary forms, but 
 whether there is the least antecedent improbability in 
 the human mind selecting amatory language to express 
 devotional thoughts. The allegation that it is most 
 unlikely to do so is disposed of by the parallels ad- 
 duced, and the cogency of the argument woidd be un- . 
 affected by the broadest divergency of race and creed, LTdisproof. 
 
XX INTRODUCTION. 
 
 as all students of comparative mythology know fall 
 well. But, not to dwell on the constant intercourse 
 between Canaan and Persia, from the days when Abra- 
 ham met Chedorlaomer till those when John of Per- 
 sepolis came with Macarius of Jerusalem to the Council 
 of Nicsea, which allowed ample opportunity for Iranian 
 ideas to enter Palestine, the proof from the kindred 
 race and religion of Arabia remains unmoved by any 
 exception based on the plea of diversity, weak as even 
 Anthropo- that is. Still less weight can be attached to objec- 
 guage of the ^^^^^ drawn from the anthropomorphic language of the 
 Song. Song, which has been declared inappropriate in the 
 
 highest degree to such august themes as those which 
 the traditional interpretation finds in it. Por this, 
 again, is a mere a priori plea, and therefore of no 
 logical force whatsoever, failing, besides, to take ac- 
 count of the manner in which the shadow of the com- 
 ing Incarnation is cast over the Old Testament, occa- 
 sioning, nay, necessitating such language in order to 
 prepare the minds of the Jewish nation for the recep- 
 tion of the full Messianic idea of a God -Man, w^hich 
 is gradually unfolded with advancing clearness as the 
 prophetic series draws near its close. And as regards 
 the question of the abstract fitness or unfitness of the 
 language, it may be briefly observed that the " verify- 
 ing faculty" of seventeen Christian centuries, exercised 
 amongst others by men of such keen intellect, spiritual 
 insight, and moral purity as Origen, Athanasius, Au- 
 gustine, Gregory the Great, Alcuin, Bernard, Thomas 
 Aquinas, and Gerson, may well be set against the con- 
 flicting opinions of the last hundred years in a matter ■ 
 of the kind. 
 
 Maindiffi- This portion of the controversy leads up directly to; 
 uterlii'sV^^ what is, after all, the main difficulty in the way of| 
 view. literalists, a difficulty which they have not hitherto 
 
 even plausibly seemed to overcome. It is that of ac- 
 counting for the presence of the Song, assuming it to 
 be a mere love-poem, in the Canon of Scripture at all, 
 whether as originally admitted by the Jews or subse- 
 quently adopted by the Christians. It would stand 
 apart from all the rest of Scripture as alone without! 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXI 
 
 a directly religious signification, and be necessarily isolation of 
 degraded into a secondary rank, if not altogether ex- JJo^m the 
 eluded from the list of inspired writings. The only rest of the 
 semblance of answer to this plea is the allegation that ^^^^^' 
 the Song does not stand alone in this respect, because 
 the Book of Esther belongs to the same category, 
 being alike without those sacred names and phrases 
 which mark all other portions of the Bible. 
 
 But this phantom argument vanishes at a touch. The Book of 
 The Book of Esther does stand in a very clear and parauei'^°* * 
 definite relation to all the other historical books, case, 
 because it gives the details of a most important crisis 
 in the national life of the Hebrew people, serving as 
 the chief link between the Captivity and the restora- 
 tion of Israel. And further, though holy words are 
 carefully excluded from the book (possibly through 
 reserve in a writing designed for circulation amongst 
 Gentiles,) yet the fast proclaimed by Esther and Mor- 
 decai points at once to a time of prayer to that Being 
 Whose Name is left unspoken, and the Eeast of Purim, 
 celebrated by Jews everywhere for the twenty -three 
 centuries which have since elapsed, testifies to the 
 national sense of a deliverance scarcely second to that 
 of the Exodus. The Song, however, cannot be so con- 
 nected with other parts of Scripture on a literalist 
 theory, but must remain as a startling and inexplicable 
 anomaly. 
 
 ly. The sense that this is so has prompted, at solutions 
 different eras, various tentative solutions of the diffi- proposed 
 culty. The earliest of these was propounded by Theo- cUfflcuTty. 
 dore of Mopsuestia in the first quarter of the fifth 
 century, and represented the Song as merely an epi- 
 thalamium on the marriage of Solomon with Pharaoh's 
 daughter or with Abishag the Shunammite. This 
 theory, after being condemned in express and forcible 
 terms in the Eifth General Council, disappeared com- 
 pletely for more than eight hundred years, when it 
 was reproduced for a moment by Gregory Abulfaraj. 
 It rested again till revived by Grotius, who allowed it, 
 nevertheless, to include an allegory ; and it was finally 
 developed into a very elaborate form by the celebrated 
 
XXll INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Bossuet, in 1690, whose genius gave it a measure of 
 popularity amongst scholars till the early part of the 
 present century, when the ingenious criticisms of 
 Dr. Mason Good (some of which had been anticipated 
 long before by Natalis Alexander,) established the utter 
 incongruity of the language of the Song with the cir- 
 cumstances of a State alliance and with the national 
 surroundings of an Egyptian princess, to whom the 
 pastoral character of the Bride could in no wise be 
 accommodated. The eloquent words in which Theodoret 
 expresses the mind of the Church in his day against 
 the views ascribed to Theodore of Mopsuestia merit 
 citation. In the preface to his commentary on the 
 Rejoinder of Cauticles, he says : " Since the majority of those who 
 slander the Song of Songs and deny it to be a spiritual 
 book, weave fables unworthy of crazy old women, some 
 of them saying that Solomon the Wise wrote it con- 
 cerning himself and Pharaoh's daughter ; a few authors 
 of the same stamp alleging that Abishag the Shunam- 
 mite is the Bride, and not Pharaoh's daughter ; while 
 others, taking a somewhat more philosophical view, 
 call it the Eoyal Speech, so as to understand the 
 people by the Bride and the King by the Bridegroom ; 
 we think that we shall be well employed in refuting 
 at the outset of our exposition these false and mis- 
 chievous theories, and then will proceed to set forth the 
 true and clear meaning of the author. And yet these 
 men ought to know that the holy Fathers, much their 
 superiors in wisdom and spiritual insight, were they 
 who placed this Book amongst the divine Scriptures, 
 and approving it as full of the Spirit, pronounced it 
 worthy of the Church. Por had they thought other- 
 wise, they would never have included a work whose 
 subject was passion and desire in the number of Holy 
 Writ. . . . Not only Eusebius of Palestine, and Origen 
 the Egyptian, and Cyprian of Carthage, crowned with 
 the diadem of martyrdom, and men earlier than they 
 were and nearer to the Apostles, but also those who 
 were afterwards famous in the Churches, Basil the 
 Great in his exposition of the beginning of Proverbs, 
 and the two Gregories, allied to Basil, one by blood 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXIU 
 
 and the other by friendship, and that valiant champion 
 of religion Diodorus, and John, who to this day waters 
 the whole earth with the streams of his teaching, and 
 they who came still later, all pronounced this Book to 
 be spiritual. Seeing that this is so, let us consider 
 whether it be reasonable for us to follow our own 
 theories, paying no attention to so many eminent men, 
 and despising the Holy Spirit Himself, by not listen- 
 ing to him who says so well : ' The thoughts of mortal 
 men are miserable, and our devices are but uncertain,' 
 (Wisd. ix. 14,) and blessed Paid saying of certain 
 persons, ' They became vain in their imaginations, and 
 their foolish heart was darkened,' (Eom. i. 21.) But 
 let us cry thus with blessed Peter, ' We ought to obey 
 God rather than man,' (Acts v. 29.) Let us also say 
 to them, ' Whether it be right in the sight of God to 
 hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye : for 
 we cannot but speak the things which we have seen 
 and heard by the Holy Ghost.' . . . Coming then 
 from the old to the new Bride, let us in this wise in- 
 terpret the Song of Songs, and rejecting false and mis- 
 chievous theories, let us follow the holy Fathers, and re- 
 cognize one Bride conversing with one Bridegroom; and 
 learn from the holy Apostles who that Bridegroom and 
 Bride may be. Por the inspired Paul teaches us that, 
 writing thus, ' I have espoused you to one husband, that 
 I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ,' (2 Cor. 
 xi. 2.) He calls her a Bride who is made up of many. 
 Por he does not say, ' I have betrothed thee,' but you, 
 that is, holy souls, perfected in virtue. Por Divine 
 Scripture understands the Church by the Bride, and 
 calls Christ the Bridegroom." 
 
 It is needless to heap up testimonies of the same 
 kind from other Patristic writers, since their own com- 
 ments on the Song will speak for them in due time. 
 But it is worth while to dwell for a moment on one 
 point of the citation just given. It has been alleged 
 by some modern critics that the dazzling powers of 
 Origen gave the tone to the traditional interpretation origen not 
 which has held its ground ever since his day, and that o^^the m°s 
 he drew it from Talmudic sources, being the first to ticai view. 
 
XXIV 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 introduce it into tlie Churcli. Considering how em- 
 bittered the opposition to Origen became even in his 
 own life-time, this is not very probable in itself, but it 
 is refuted by the contemporaneous language of S. 
 Cyprian, who was not influenced by Origen's works, 
 and also by Theodoret's incidental mention of an 
 earlier and consentaneous tradition ascending much 
 nearer to primitive times. Of this tradition but one 
 written fragment has come down to us, a solitary note 
 on Cant. iii. 9, by S. Theophilus of Antioch, who died 
 between a.d. 178 and 189, a few years before Origen 
 was bom. But the fragment is decisive as to the 
 method followed in the second centuiy, and materially 
 lessens the probability of Talmudic influence having 
 affected a pre-existing literalism. 
 
 Omitting the various phases through which the 
 literalist theory has passed since its revival in the six- 
 teenth century by Castellio (who went to the length 
 of rejecting the Canticles altogether) it will suffice to 
 state briefly the view now in fashion, but soon to be 
 discredited by its own supporters on the ground of 
 its glaring improbability and self-contradiction, pos- 
 sessing, as it does, no shred of external evidence 
 or internal plausibility. According to this hypothe- 
 hypothesis, g|g^ invented by Jacobi in 1771, and accepted with 
 further developments by the majority of subsequent 
 literalists, the Song represents the adventures of a 
 newly-wedded or betrothed Hebrew shepherdess, who 
 is accidentally seen by Solomon in one of his pro- 
 gresses, is vainly solicited and tempted by him, and 
 even carried off as a prisoner to the royal harem, 
 whence she finally escapes with her beloved shepherd 
 back to the scenes of her former life. The witnesses 
 called in defence of this theory, like the elders who 
 testified against Susannah, are agreed in the main 
 outline of their story, but are so irreconcilably at va- 
 riance with one another on points of detail essential 
 to consistency, as to be destructive of each other's 
 credit. For if anything might be fairly expected to 
 be most unmistakably prominent, were the theory true, 
 it would be the distinction between the languaore of 
 
 Modern 
 
 Disagree- 
 ment of its 
 supporters. 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXV 
 
 the genuine affection of the shepherd-husband, and 
 that of the seductive wiles of the royal tempter. But 
 Ginsburg and Renan, Meier and Hitzig, are utterly at 
 variance on this head, and interchange the speeches in 
 the most bewildering manner. Can any one suppose, 
 were the stage directions in Shakespeare absent, that 
 there could be the least doubt in assigning their several 
 parts with accuracy to Othello and lago, to Postumus 
 and lachimo ? Further, if the poem be intended, as The song 
 has been suggested, as a satire upon Solomon, the "°* ^ ^^^t^"" 
 difficulty is very much increased by the elaborate way mon"! ^°^°' 
 in which the censure is concealed, so that the lapse 
 of about two thousand eight hundred years has been 
 necessary for its discovery. If a poet of the northern 
 kingdom had written it with this intent, there is no 
 conceivable reason why he should not have been more 
 plain-spoken, because the fiercer his invective, the 
 better would the kings of Ephraim have been pleased. 
 And if he was a total stranger to the Aaronic wor- 
 ship, the men of the Great' Synagogue, with whom 
 Mosaic orthodoxy and loyalty to the House of Da- 
 vid were first principles, would never have included 
 his work in their Canon. If, on the other hand, a 
 southern bard (and, by the hypothesis, an inspired 
 one,) were the writer, there is at once a startling dis- 
 similarity between the extreme caution employed ,°(wor- 
 thy of a courtier epigrammatist under Doraitian or Louis 
 XIV.,) and the bold denunciations of royal guilt such 
 as we know to have been the wont of Hebrew prophets, 
 a Nathan, an Elijah, a Micah, or a Jeremiah. 
 
 As this commentary is not designed for critical, but 
 for devotional purposes, it is beside its aim to go into 
 the further disproof of this theory at length ; but two 
 items of the moral argument against it may be given. Moral ar- 
 one from the pen of a favourer of it, and the other from s^^^nt 
 that of an opponent. - Wherever," observes Dr. Da- uteSm. 
 vidson, " the doctrinal interest prevails, scientific ex- 
 egesis declines in proportion, because it is overridden. 
 The genuine spirit of interpretation is always favour- 
 able to the literal sense. For the same reason Hofman 
 and Delitzsch have recourse to the typical. Thouo-h 
 
XXVI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 they do not recognise the validity of the allegorical 
 method, they are too much led by doctrinal preposses- 
 sions to embrace the literal, and are therefore fain to 
 adopt a kindred mode of explanation." If for " doc- 
 trinal interest" we substitute the equivalent terra " re- 
 ligious belief," the meaning of this sentence will be 
 unaltered, but a little clearer, and it is in fact an ad- 
 mission that in exact proportion as men accept the 
 tenets of Christianity, they will recede from " the 
 letter that killeth" and draw near to *' the spirit that 
 giveth life." The other remark is that of Hengsten- 
 berg, who has said with biting truth : " The literal 
 interpretation of this Book gained its honours in the 
 age of Eationalism, when the Church was degraded to 
 its lowest level, and when it was bare and void of 
 sound ecclesiastical judgment, and of holy taste and 
 tact." He might have gone further, had his position 
 allowed it, and have pointed out that the Lutheran 
 body, true to the animal and earthly instincts of its 
 celebrated founder, has always been nearer the ground 
 than any other large Christian community, and less 
 capable of lofty spiritual views. The whole sect, in 
 its three centuries of existence, though prolific in re- 
 spectability, has not given birth to one man in whom the 
 common consent of other men has recognized the 
 marks of a saintly character, such as have not infre- 
 quently illustrated the members of other Communions, 
 nor has it produced any book (with the possible ex- 
 ception of Gerhard's Meditations) which has been per- 
 manently added to the list of those devotional works 
 that have really enriched religious literature. In the 
 field of the outer letter of Biblical study, in textual 
 and grammatical criticism, in historical elucidation, it 
 has laboured in a spirit of diligence and zeal beyond 
 all praise, yet as 
 
 the least erected spirit that fell 
 From heaven ; for even in heaven his looks and thoughts 
 Were always downward bent, admiring more 
 The riches of heaven's pavement, trodden gold, 
 Than aught divine or holy else, enjoyed 
 In vision beatific. 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXVll 
 
 Consequently, from being thus always engaged with 
 the outer shell, the inner sense and the religious aroma 
 have always escaped it. It has expended much care 
 and science on Holy Writ, but its spiritual chemistry 
 has invariably been of the kind which turns the most 
 lustrous diamonds into black and worthless lumps of 
 carbon, never of that higher constructive type which 
 makes the light of jewels flash on our eyes from the 
 dark places of the Bible. 
 
 The necessity, after the gradual manufacture of the 
 reigning literalist theory, for discovering some ground 
 for the retention of the Canticles in the Canon, has 
 led to the assertion that its design is to teach a higher The Song 
 morality with regard to love and marriage than that Sse on^wed- 
 prevalent amongst the Jews of the Solomonic age, and lock, 
 in particular, to be a protest against polygamy and its 
 attendant evils. There is a very sensible rule in Eng- 
 lish law-courts to the effect that whatever may be the 
 apparent grammatical meaning of an old statute, the 
 only rule which can guide a judge is the interpretation 
 put on its wording by his predecessors in their deci- 
 sions. If it can be shown by a series of precedents, 
 that the meaning contended for was never so much as 
 urged, not to say recognized and allowed by the Courts, 
 the plea breaks down at once. So it is in this case. 
 There is not the faintest hint in any writer, Jewish or 
 Christian, before the nineteenth century, that such a 
 lesson is inculcated by the Song of Songs, there is no 
 trace of any influence having been exerted by it in this 
 direction. 
 
 Conversely, the rule holds good that a series of de- 
 cisions in agreement with one another, however little 
 they may seem at first sight to outsiders to be logically 
 deducible from the premises, are declaratory of the 
 true force of a statute. Here, then, is a book which 
 has exerted an exceedingly marked influence in Chris- 
 tendom ever since a Christian literature arose ; which 
 has materially affected the whole range of ascetic theo- 
 logy ; which has powerfully contributed to the forma- 
 tion of that religious ideal which moulded ten centuries 
 of Christian history ; which continues to maintain its 
 c2 
 
XXVlll INTRODUCTION. 
 
 hold upon many thousands of believers, directly or in- 
 directly. For all practical purposes, and for all philo- 
 sophic investigation into the spiritual records of the 
 world, no method is of any value save the mystical 
 one, for no other has ever passed into the stage of 
 energy, or has contributed anything to the religious 
 consciousness of mankind. If the truth of Jacobi's 
 hypothesis could be set beyond a doubt by the dis- 
 covery of coeval documents, there would be at best 
 but the same kind of languid antiquarian interest 
 aroused which greets each fresh alleged Biblical testi- 
 mony found in cuneiform inscriptions, because the theory 
 has always been utterly barren and dead ; and the graver 
 problem would remain unsolved, how a literature so 
 peculiarly limpid and emphatic in its utterance on moral 
 and social questions should have suddenly changed its 
 whole method, and have approached the question of 
 marriage by a path so indirect, obscure, and enigmatic, 
 as to be wholly inaccessible to all for whom the teach- 
 ing was intended, and to owe its first survey to the 
 chance guess of a stray traveller, eighteen centuries after 
 another road had been opened, involving the total disuse 
 of the older one. There have been many rival theories 
 as to the road by which Hannibal's army crossed the 
 Alps, but no one has yet conjectured that it came over 
 the summit of Mont Blanc or the Matterhorn, much 
 less that there was no other path for ordinary traffic till 
 the Simplon was made practicable. And, it may be 
 added, the upholders of this theory have shown by their 
 own conduct how little they value the lesson they pro- 
 fess to have found. The marriage law of Prussia, under 
 which most of them live, is perhaps the very laxest and 
 least moral in the civilized world ; only slightly, if at 
 all, raised above the level of that of Imperial Eome in 
 the days of Juvenal. Yet it does not appear to have 
 elicited any protest based upon the Canticles, or, in- 
 deed, upon anything else, from the critics. 
 Form and Y. With regard to the form and imity of the Can- 
 
 song.° ^ tides, there have also been conflicting theories, but the 
 earliest Christian view has, curiously enough, been re- 
 instated by modern critics in both these respects, for 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXIX 
 
 they admit on the one hand that the poem is essentially 
 one, and not a mere collection of odes loosely strung 
 together, and on the other that its truest designation 
 is that of a dramatic idyll. There is, however, the 
 utmost disagreement amongst them as to the portions 
 into which the Song is to be divided. Magnus, for 
 example, makes twenty strophes of it ; De Wette and 
 Heiligstedt twelve, though disagreeing as to the points 
 of division; Hitzig finds nine, Weissbach six, and 
 several others five. There is a similar, though much 
 slighter, discrepancy between the pauses recognized by 
 the mystical interpreters (for in truth these pauses are, 
 with but one or two exceptions, very indistinctly 
 marked,) but there is a very great difference between 
 the result of these contradictions in the two cases. 
 The mystics, acknowledging the Song to be a drama 
 only in the modified sense of a dialogue carried on 
 between three speakers, — the Bridegroom, the Bride, 
 and the leader of their friends, — during a certain change 
 of action, of entrances and exits, are little disturbed 
 by any difficulty in adjustment of the divisions, because 
 the sense is quite unaffected thereby. But the lite- 
 ralists, who profess to see a regular plot evolved in 
 accordance with the rules and the spirit of modern 
 melodrama, are put out of court if they cannot agree 
 amongst themselves as to the progress of the action, and 
 few things in criticism are more instructive than the ela- 
 borate stage-directions and lavish creation of additional 
 dramatis personm to which Hitzig has been driven in 
 order to harmonize the contradictions of their theory. 
 The accepted Christian view, which acknowledges only ^^ ^^.^^ 
 one masculine speaker in the Song, that Solomon who groom, King 
 is depicted as at once Shepherd and King, finds con- herd^^^^" 
 firmation from the juxtaposition of these two ideas in 
 relation to the same person more than once in the Old 
 Testament, as thus in Ezek. xxxiv. 23, " And I will 
 set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, 
 even My servant David ; he shall feed them, and be 
 their Shepherd. And I the Loed will be their God, 
 and My servant David a prince among them ; I the 
 Lord have spoken it." Again, in Micah v. 2, 4, the 
 
XXX 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 " Killer in Israel" Who is to come out of Bethlehem, 
 is to "feed in the strength of the Lord." Accord- 
 ingly, it is natural enough to find Chuist claiming as 
 His own the titles of Shepherd and King, and the 
 Lamb of the Apocalypse crowned, and yet leading the 
 redeemed to pastures and fountains, so that this por- 
 tion of the imagery is as closely in accord with the 
 teaching of the New Testament as that concerning the 
 bridal relation was shown to be a little while back. 
 The Bride of In the following Commentary the Bride is usually de- 
 tiSe?" picted as the Church, whether Jewish or Gentile, or as 
 threefold, the holy soul which is the microcosm of the Church. 
 The Blessed Virgin, as the holiest of all elect souls, 
 and as thus the most perfect type of the Church of 
 God, is also given frequent prominence, in accordance 
 with the teaching of the great mediaeval divines. But 
 a certain weight must be allowed to the twofold objec- 
 tion urged against absolute identification of her with 
 the Bride throughout ; namely, that the Bridegroom 
 stands to her in the relation of Son, not of Husband ; 
 and further, that it is not till the twelfth century that 
 any very large share is allotted her by the commentators. 
 As a fact, Eupert of Deutz, and Honorius of Autun, 
 who were the first to make her the leading figure in 
 the Canticles, are frequently compelled to desert their 
 path and return to the earlier track, and the four com- 
 mentators, Denys a Eykel, Delrio, Ghislerius, and Cor- 
 nelius a Lapide, who have professed to devote a section 
 on each verse to her, are constantly obliged either to 
 mere repetition of what they had already said concern- 
 ing the holy soul, merely strengthening the epithets, 
 or to pass over the paragraph with a few conventional 
 phrases. Therefore, in the following pages no at- 
 tempt has been made to pursue the formal tripartite 
 division, and the Bride is presented under each aspect 
 solely in proportion to what the text will reasonably bear, 
 and to the really telling expositions of the Schoolmen. 
 Catena of VI. It remains now only to speak briefly of the 
 Authors. authors whose works have been employed in the com- 
 pilation of this volume, and at the outset it should be 
 observed that one very marked difference is noticeable 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXXI 
 
 between the Commentaries on the Psalter and those on 
 the Canticles. On the Psalter, possibly from its greater 
 prominence in the Western Church, the Latin Fathers 
 far surpass the Greek in beauty, depth, and fervour of 
 exposition. In treating the Canticles, the case is re- Greek and 
 versed. No Latin writer on this book, not even S. J^gntatorT" 
 Bernard, approaches Origen ; S, Gregory the Great is 
 inferior to Philo of Carpasia ; Aponius ranks below 
 Theodoret ; Eupert beneath S. Gregory Nyssen. To 
 counterbalance this advantage, the Canticles have suf- 
 fered very heavy losses, positive and negative. Nega- 
 tively, they have never been treated by some of those 
 whose genius was most adapted to such a task. Nei- 
 ther S. Albert the Great nor S. Bonaventura, for ex- 
 ample, have included it in their labours. Positively, 
 the losses have been much more serious. Of the great 
 commentary of Origen but a few scanty fragments re- 
 main, breaking off before the close of the second chapter. 
 S. Gregory Nyssen's work remains imperfect too, and 
 Michael Psellus, who paraphrases him, is compelled to 
 break off in consequence. Death seized S. Bernard 
 while he was engaged in the composition of his won- 
 derful sermons on the Song of Songs, when he was but 
 a fourth of the way through his task, and the like des- 
 tiny took away his continuator, Gilbert of Hoyland, 
 before he had completed the fifth chapter. Some of 
 the ancient commentators, as Eusebius and Polychro- 
 nius, are reduced to the merest fragments; others 
 have perished all but the name. Yet, after all such 
 deductions, the quantity of material existing down to 
 the close of the sixteenth century is very great, of con- 
 siderable interest and value, and singularly homo- 
 geneous, apart from the open borrowing or recasting 
 usual in commentaries of successive generations. Since 
 that time the number of writings on the book has 
 vastly increased in number, but not by any means in 
 spiritual value, and the list subjoined, therefore, makes 
 no pretence to be an exhaustive catalogue, but merely 
 indicates the volumes which have actually been laid 
 under contribution, or examined with that end, even if 
 unsuccessfully. 
 
XXXU INTRODUCTION. 
 
 1. First in order, though perhaps not in actual date 
 of present condition, comes the Targum on Canticles, 
 valuable as exhibiting the current of Jewish tradition, 
 and often illustrating remarkably the views of Chris- 
 tian theology. I cite it usually from Walton's Polyglot. 
 
 2. Origen, (+ 253) whose splendid genius and 
 profound devotional instinct shone so conspicuously 
 in his Biblical writings, left a commentary of great 
 length on the Canticles, of which S. Jerome, a most 
 competent judge, observed that Avhereas he had sur- 
 passed every one else in his other commentaries, he 
 had surpassed himself in this. Only a few brief pas- 
 sages remain, carrying on the exposition to Cant. ii. 15. 
 
 3. Still more unfortunate has been Eusebius of 
 Csesarea (+ 340,) of whose commentary only the 
 merest fragments exist, which w^ere published by Meur- 
 sius at Lyons in 1617. 
 
 4. S. Gregory Nyssen (-f- 370) has left a commen- 
 tary carried on as far as Cant. vi. 9. Its distinguishing 
 peculiarity is that he represents the Bride throughout 
 as the soul of man, and pays but little attention to the 
 more usual theory. His defects of obscurity and invo- 
 lution are by no means absent from the work. 
 
 5 . A Catena, known as that of the Three Fathers, 
 SS. Nilus, Maximus, and Gregory Nyssen, drawn up 
 at an early period, is of considerable value, and is one of 
 the chief authorities for the tropological interpretation. 
 
 6. S. Epiphanius, the famous Bishop of Constantia 
 (+ 403,) wrote a commentary on the Canticles, long sup- 
 posed to be utterly lost, and not therefore cited by any of 
 the chief compilers. It was translated, however, into 
 Latin by his namesake Epiphanius the Scholastic, about 
 a century after his death, and after lying neglected in 
 manuscript for twelve hundred years, was at last pub- 
 lished at Eome by Eoggini in 1750. It is very terse, 
 and not of much importance, because, for the one part, 
 it follows Origen pretty closely ; and for the other, it 
 is followed in turn and happily expanded by the sub- 
 ject of the next notice. The Abbe Migne's edition, 
 though professing to give all the works, genuine and 
 spurious, of each Epiphanius, omits this commentary. 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXXIU 
 
 7. Philo, Bishop of Carpasia in Cyprus (+ 374,) 
 the pupil and friend of S. Epiphanius, to whom he 
 owed his see, has left one of the most valuable of the 
 early commentaries on the Song of Songs. It is of 
 considerable length, and contains many passages of 
 great beauty, probably enshrining for us much of the 
 teaching of Origen, and undoubtedly much of that of 
 S. Epiphanius. It is noteworthy for another reason 
 also, that S. Gregory the Great borrowed freely from 
 it in his commentary, a circumstance which has led 
 Cornelius a Lapide to allege that Philo must have been 
 largely interpolated, rather than admit that the great 
 Western Doctor could stoop to draw materials from 
 the East. 
 
 8. S.Ambrose (+ 397) though not formally a com- 
 mentator on Canticles, has, in fact, gone over nearly 
 the whole ground in one or other of his books, and 
 often with great beauty of illustration. A certain 
 Abbat Guilielmus of S. Thierry at Eheims (+ circ. 
 1160) was at the pains to collect these scattered notices 
 into a single volume. 
 
 9. Polychronius (+ 427,) Bishop of Apamea, has Fifth 
 left a few fragments on the Song, in full agreement ^®"*'*'7' 
 with the traditional interpretation, and noteworthy on 
 
 that account, because he was brother of its first im- 
 pugner, Theodore of Mopsuestia. They were pub- 
 lished, along with those of Eusebius, by Meursius. 
 
 10. Theodoret, Bishop of Cyrus (+ 430,) is one of 
 the most important and able of the early expositors, 
 and the calm judgment of his language adds much 
 weight to his opinion. 
 
 11. S. Justus of Urgel (+ 540,) is the earliest ex- sixth 
 tant Latin commentator, and, while following in the ^^^*^*^^- 
 track of his Eastern predecessors, often adds a pithy 
 remark of his own, which exhibits the germ of that 
 
 kind of mystical exposition wliich culminated in the 
 twelfth century. 
 
 12. Next follows the commentary ascribed to Cas- 
 siodorus (+ 562,) though its authorship is disputed. 
 The truth seems to be that it is his, though interpo- 
 lated to some extent. Whoever the author may be, 
 
Century. 
 
 XXXIV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the work is marked with great good sense and un- 
 questionable piety. 
 Century. ^^- S. Gregory the Great (+ 604,) has not sus- 
 
 tained his usual level in his Commentary on the Can- 
 ticles. That there are devout and beautiful passages 
 in it, besides those drawn from Philo, is unquestionable, 
 but it does not reach the standard of his Morals on the 
 Book of Job. 
 
 14. S. Isidore of Seville (+ 636,) has compiled a 
 very brief gloss on the Canticles, containing no fresh 
 matter, and it may accordingly be passed over by 
 students. 
 
 15. Aponius, an author of somewhat uncertain date, 
 but probably about 680, wrote one of the very best of 
 the early Latin comments. It is unfortunately imper- 
 fect, but an epitome of the missing portion, by Lucas, 
 Abbat of Mount S. Cornelius, is extant, and in a great 
 degree supplies the loss. 
 
 riS.S.v i^- The Venerable Bede (+ 735) follows Cassio- 
 
 dorus almost invariably, but often expands his thought 
 and adds some fresh touches which give additional 
 vigour and fervency. 
 
 17. Alcuin of York (+ 750,) like S. Isidore of 
 Seville, brings nothing new to the exposition of the 
 Song, and may be safely omitted. 
 
 18. Angelomus of Luxeuil (-}- 850,) compiled at 
 the desire of the Emperor Hlothar I. a commentary in 
 which he mainly follows Aponius and S. Gregory the 
 Great, but not infrequently adds a few touches of his 
 own, which have their value. 
 
 19. Haymo, Bishop of Halberstadt (+ 853,) a con- 
 temporary of Angelomus, has also compiled a terse gloss 
 drawn from his predecessors, and selected with much 
 judgment. It contains, however, very little original 
 matter. 
 
 20. To the same period, about the middle of the 
 ninth century, belongs the Ordinary Gloss, first drawn 
 up by Strabo of Fulda, and gradually augmented. It 
 will be found cited a few times in the following com- 
 mentary. 
 
 21. The tenth century is an entire blank, so far as 
 
 Ninth 
 Century 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXXV 
 
 expositions of the Canticles ,q:o, and the first book of 
 
 the kind which meets us in the eleventh century is a Eleventh 
 
 mere epitome of S. Gregory the Great bv S. Radulphiis ^" ^'^^' 
 
 of Fontenelle, first Abbat of S. Vandrille (+ 1047.) 
 
 His learned Augustinian editor, Homraey, retorts the 
 
 charge which Cornelius a Lapide brings against Philo, 
 
 for he claims for him the original autliorship as against 
 
 S. Gregory, but on very insufficient grounds. 
 
 22. Michael Psellus, a Greek physician and senator, 
 (+ 1105,) wrote, about 10.50, a metrical paraphrase of 
 the Canticles in accentual iambic verse, based on the 
 commentary of S. Gregory Nyssen, but occasionally 
 introducing new matter of his own. 
 
 23. S. Anselm of Laon, the " Scholastic Doctor," Jwem 
 (+ 1103,) is supposed to be the true author of a com- "^ ^^' 
 mentary of much interest which was originally printed 
 under the name of his more eminent namesake and 
 contemporary, S. Anselm of Canterbury. It has also 
 
 been attributed to Herve of Dol, and will be found 
 often cited in the succeeding pages. 
 
 24. Marbod of Eennes, who died at a very great 
 age in 1123, has left, like Psellus, a metrical para- 
 phrase of the Song, executed in hexameters. Its close- 
 ness to the Yulgate text, however, and tolerable neat- 
 ness of execution, are its chief merits, for it does not 
 add anything to the exegesis. 
 
 25. S. Bruno of Aste, (+ circ. 1120,) is the author 
 of a compilation on the Canticles, which contains 
 scarcely a trace of new matter, and may therefore be 
 passed over. 
 
 26. The wonderful sermons on the Canticles by S. 
 Bernard, (+ 1130,) all too few, though eighty-six in 
 number, do not quite complete the exposition of the 
 first and second chapters. Their eloquence and fer- 
 vour are far more conspicuous than the actual amount 
 of direct illustration wdiich they yield, though it is by 
 no means scanty, and they not merely deserve, but 
 compel perusal. 
 
 27. Honorius of Autun, the author of the famous 
 Gemma AnimcB, (+ circ. 1130,) has left two indepen- 
 dent commentaries, one of them entitled Sigillum B. 
 
XXXVl INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Mari(S, both of them coutaiiiing many beautiful, though 
 fanciful passages. 
 
 28. Richard of S. Victor, (+ 1130,) has commented 
 on portions only of the Canticles, and is not quite con- 
 tinuous in his work. What he has done is, however 
 worthy of his great reputation as a mystical divine, 
 and he will be found often cited. 
 
 29. Eupert, Abbat of Deutz, (+1135,) one of the 
 very greatest of mediaeval commentators on Scripture, 
 has produced a gloss of considerable length, whose 
 main feature is the presentment of the Blessed Virgin 
 as the Bride, a rule only occasionally departed from 
 throughout his work, and that under great stress. 
 
 30. The same holds of the Gloss by Philip Harveng, 
 Abbat of Bona Spes, in Hainault, (+1150,) a cele- 
 brated mystic, but it is far inferior to that of Rupert in 
 beauty and value, and will be rarely found refen-ed to. 
 
 3l! The sermons of Gilbert of Hoyland, (+ 1175,) 
 on the Canticles, written in avowed continuation of S. 
 Bernard, and approaching more nearly than any others 
 to the beauty and fervour of his style, are well deserv- 
 ing of study, and have supplied many paragraphs to 
 this book. 
 
 32. Irirabert, Abbat of Ambden, and previously of 
 S. Michael at Bamberg, (+ 1177,) commented at 
 some length on detached portions of the Canticles, and 
 sometimes happily enough. His work was first pub- 
 lished by the learned Bernard Pez in his Thesaurus 
 Anecdotorum. 
 Thirteenth 33. AlanusdeInsulis,theUniversal Doctor,(+1203,) 
 Century. -^^^ followed in the steps of Rupert, but not without 
 leaving traces of his own marked individuality on his 
 work. 
 
 34. William Little, of Newbury, or Guilielmus Par- 
 vus, (+1208,) the author of a well-known and sensible 
 Histoiy of England, also wrote a commentary on the 
 Canticles, now lost, but which Delrio, who saw it in 
 MS. at Louvain about 1600, has largely cited. All quo- 
 tations from this source are therefore at second-hand. 
 
 35. Thomas, Canon of S. Victor, and first Abbat of 
 S. Andrew's at Verceil, (+ 1226,) wrote a mystical 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXXVll 
 
 comment on the Canticles, based on the Hierarchies of 
 the Pseudo-Dionysiiis, for the most part difficult of 
 comprehension by the uninitiated reader, but with oc- 
 casional passages which are really suggestive and clear. 
 It was published by Pez in the same volume as Irimbert. 
 
 36. John Hailgrin, Archbishop of Besancon, and 
 Cardinal of S. Sabina, (+ 1237,) is author of a Gloss 
 belonging to the same school as those of Kupert and 
 Alan of Lille, but not, on the whole, of remarkable 
 merit. 
 
 37. A more famous Cardinal, occupying the same 
 title of S. Sabina, Hugo of S. Cher,' (+ 1250,) is 
 next to follow. His great work on the whole Bible 
 includes the Canticles, and though mainly aiming at 
 condensing and systematizing the patristic comments, 
 often adds much of value to the older matter. 
 
 38. A Catena, passing under the famous name of 
 S. Thomas Aquinas, (+ 1274,) but of more than 
 doubtful authenticity, succeeds in order. It adds so 
 very little to what had been done four centuries earlier 
 by Hay mo of Halberstadt, that it may be altogether 
 pretermitted. 
 
 39. Nicolas de Lyra, a converted Jew, of Norman Fourteenth 
 birth, and afterwards an ornament of the Franciscan Century. 
 Order, (+ 1340,) is the author of valuable Postils on 
 
 the Bible, in which his knowledge of Hebrew is made 
 to bear on the exegesis. The distinguishing pecu- 
 liarity of his useful treatise on the Canticles is the re- 
 newed prominence into which he brings the forgotten 
 thought of the spiritual identity between the Jewish 
 and Christian Churches, thus striking at the root of 
 that alleged severance of the Song from all relations to 
 the Old Testament which has been charged by modern 
 literalists against the mystical exposition. 
 
 40. The Emperor Matthew Cantacuzene, (+ circ. 
 1360,) who, after a year's partnership of the Byzantine 
 throne with his father John V., retired to a monastery 
 on Mount Athos, wrote in his monastic state a commen- 
 tary containing many beautiful passages, and noticeable 
 as the only Greek one which depicts the Blessed Virgin 
 as the Bride. 
 
XXXVIU 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 41. John Gerson, the "Most Christian Doctor," 
 (+ 1429,) has directly treated the Song in his 8ym- 
 psalma in Cantlcum, and indirectly in his more cele- 
 brated Treatise on the Magnificat. But his writings, 
 though full of piety and fervour, contribute scarcely 
 anything to the exposition. 
 
 42. Tar different is the case with the beautiful com- 
 ment of the Ecstatic Doctor, Dionysius Leewis a Ey- 
 kel, better known as Dionysius the Carthusian (+1450.) 
 He is the first to divide each chapter under three 
 formal heads, according as he treats of the Church, or 
 Sponsa Universalis, of the holy soul, or Sponsa particu- 
 larism or of the Blessed Virgin, or Sponsa singidaris, a 
 method which found several followers at a later time. 
 I am not sure that this work does not rank above even 
 his lovely exposition of the Psalms. 
 
 43. Contemporary with this is the work of Nicolas 
 Kempf of Strasburg, Prior of the Carthusians at 
 Gaming in Austria, and known as Nicolaus de Argen- 
 tina, (+ 1450,) published by Pez, in the two closing 
 volumes of the Bihliotheca Ascetica. Though mainly 
 drawn from SS. Gregory the Great and Bernard, it is 
 full of beautiful passages due to the compiler himself, 
 and will amply repay examination. 
 
 44. The celebrated mystic, Henry Harphius, (+ 1478,) 
 has left a treatise on the spiritual life, entitled Theologia 
 Mystica, consisting of long expositions or meditations 
 on detached verses of the Song, perfectly crowded with 
 beauties, though not always available for separate cita- 
 tion. No edition after 1580 is trustworthy, as the 
 book was tampered with by its later editors. 
 
 45. Jacob Parez de Valentia, Bishop of Christopolis, 
 (+ 1507,) has treated tlie Canticles in a gloss which, 
 though of little originality or power, contains not a few 
 suggestive passages. 
 
 46. Francis Titelmann, a Franciscan, (+ circ. 1547,) 
 a man of great learning and no mean critical skill, has 
 written usefully on the Song, though not contributing 
 much to the mystical exposition. 
 
 47. S. Thomas of Yillanova, Archbishop of Valencia, 
 (+ 1555,) was cut off by death after having merely 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXXIX 
 
 outlined his intended Commentary on the Song, and 
 when but three chapters had been sketched. The pa- 
 tristic spirit shines, however, in the fragment, and 
 causes regret at the incompleteness of the undertaking. 
 
 48. Martin Delrio, a learned Jesuit, (+ 1608,) is the Seventeenth 
 first on the list of those commentators of the seven- ^®^*'^^* 
 teenth century who began a twofold treatment of the 
 
 books they discussed, first giving a literal and textual 
 comment, and then a catena of earlier expositions. His 
 own original matter is not striking, but he has collected 
 much valuable material together. 
 
 49. Michael Ghislerius, a Clerk Eegular, (+ circ. 
 1615,) is the most ponderous of writers on the Can- 
 ticles, lie has bequeathed to us an enormous folio of 
 nearly a thousand pages in double columns and small 
 type, wherein he discusses every verse in five difi'erent 
 ways; textually, taking the Church, the holy soul, 
 and the Blessed Virgin, severally as the Bride, and clos- 
 ing with a long catena of ancient expositors, which is 
 by far the most valuable part of his work, though even 
 it is by no means exhaustive. 
 
 50. Henry Ainsworth, an English Independent 
 (-|- 1622,) is deserving of consultation, for the Eab- 
 binical learning and the apt parallelisms from other 
 books of Scripture w^hich he has brought to bear upon 
 the Song. 
 
 51. Luis de la Puente, or De Ponte, (+ 1624,) 
 composed a huge volume of Sermons on the Canticles, 
 intended for the use of Keligious, but heavy and life- 
 less in treatment, and quite below his reputation. 
 
 53. It is unnecessary to do more than name the 
 well-known commentary of Cornelius a Lapide (+1637) 
 since its character is sufficiently well known to make 
 criticism superfluous. 
 
 53. John Cocceius, a German Protestant theologian 
 of enormous learning and diligence, and of great piety, 
 (+ 1669,) of whom it was said, that " Grotius sees 
 Christ nowhere, but Cocceius sees Him everywhere," 
 recalls the spirit of the best mediaevalists by his remark- 
 able gift of mystical appreciation. His Commentary 
 on the Canticles is injured by its exclusive reference to 
 
xl . INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the literal history of the Christian Church, and by oc- 
 casional outbreaks of controversy, but it may be con- 
 sulted with much profit. 
 
 With this author closes the period formally embraced 
 in the following commentary, which does not profess 
 to deal with the exeg-esis of the eighteenth and nine- 
 teenth centuries, properly beginning with Bossuet's 
 commentary in 1690. But as textual criticism often 
 throws new and valuable light on mystical interpreta- 
 tion, later writers have been freely consulted, and it 
 will suffice to enumerate, amongst others, Harmer, 
 Percy, Mason Good, Eosenmiiller, Heiligstedt, Hitzig, 
 Hengstenberg, Weissbach, and Thrupp. It would have 
 been easy to have extended the catalogue largely, but 
 at the sacrifice of unity of plan; and besides, the 
 omitted authors are for the most part readily accessible 
 and familiarly known, whereas the majority of those 
 quoted in the succeeding pages have been hitherto 
 practically confined to a very narrow circle of readers. 
 
A COMMENTARY 
 
 THE SONG OF SONGS. 
 
 CHAPTEU I. 
 
 1 The song of songs^ whicli is Solomon^s. 
 
 Song of songs. "As we have been tauglit by Moses origen. 
 that there are not only holy places, but a Holy of 
 holies, that there are not only other Sabbaths, but Sab- 
 baths of sabbaths ; so now we are taught, by the pen 
 of Solomon, that there are not only songs, but a Song 
 of songs. Blessed, truly, is he who enters into the 
 holy place, but more blessed he who enters the Holy 
 of holies. Blessed is he who keepeth the Sabbath, but 
 more blessed who keepeth the Sabbath of sabbaths. 
 So, too, blessed is he who understands songs, and sings 
 them, for no one does sing save on high festivals, but 
 much more blessed is he who sings the Song of songs. 
 And as he, who enters into the holy place, still needs 
 much ere he is able to proceed into the Holy of holies, 
 and as he who keeps the sabbath enjoined on the people 
 by the Loed, wants many things that he may keep the 
 Sabbath of sabbaths, so too he who traverses all the 
 1 songs of Holy Writ, finds it no easy thing to ascend to 
 ithe Song of songs. Thou must needs go out of Egypt, 
 ] and, issued thence, cross the Red Sea, that thou mayest 
 ising the first song, saying, ' I will sing unto the Loed, ExocI. xv. i. 
 efor He hath triumphed gloriously.' And even though 
 ' thou mayest have sung this first song, thou art still 
 far from the Song of songs. Pass spiritually through 
 
A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [1.1. 
 
 Numb. xxi. 
 
 17. 
 
 Deut. xxxii. 
 1. 
 
 Judg. V. 1. 
 
 2 Sam. xxii. 
 2. 
 
 Isa. V. 1. 
 
 Targum. 
 
 Isa. XXX. 29 
 
 Aponius. 
 
 Ricard. Vic- 
 torin. 
 
 Rupert. 
 
 Theodoret. 
 
 Eph. V. 19. 
 
 Nicol. 
 
 Argent. 
 
 Honor. Aug. 
 
 S. Greg. 
 
 Magn. 
 
 S. Bernard. 
 
 the wilderness, till thou comest to the well, which the 
 princes dug, that thou mayest there sing the second 
 song. Afterwards approach the borders of the Holy- 
 Land, and, standing on Jordan's banks, sing the song 
 of Moses, ' Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak ; 
 and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.' Yet 
 again, thou needest soldiers, and the inheritance of the 
 Holy Land, and that a bee should prophesy to thee 
 and judge thee — for Deborah is, by interpretation, a 
 bee — that thou mayest utter that hymn also, which is 
 contained in the Book of Judges. Ascending to the 
 record of the Kings, come to the song when David 
 escaped from the hands of all his enemies, and from 
 the hand of Saul, and said, ' The Lord is my rock, and 
 my fortress, and my deliverer.' Thence thou must 
 reach Isaiah, that thou mayest say with him, ' I will 
 sing to my Beloved a song of my Beloved touching His 
 vineyard.' And when thou hast traversed all these, go 
 up yet higher, that thou mayest with pure soul cry unto 
 the Bridegroom this song of songs." TheTargum counts 
 up ten songs, adding to Origen's list those of Adam, sung 
 alter his fall and pardon ; Joshua's at Ajalon ; and a 
 tenth, never yet uttered, to be sung by the people of God 
 at the end of their long captivity, to which applies that 
 prophecy, " Ye shall have a song, as in the night when 
 a holy solemnity is kept." This one, however, is the 
 8o7ig of songs, because as Christ our Lord, as Man, 
 surpassing all Apostles, Patriarchs, Prophets, and hea- 
 venly powers, is King of kings, and Lord of lords, 
 so this song, since entirely concerning Him and His 
 Bride, excels, and includes in itself, all the hymns of 
 victory, of thanksgiving, of instruction, and of lamen- 
 tation in Holy Writ, just as the bridal feast surpasses 
 all others, and since no blessing which other songs 
 commemorate can be compared with the Incarnation. 
 And as the Apostle tells his hearers to speak to them- 
 selves " in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs," 
 we understand that psalms, accompanied by an instru- 
 ment, denote the active life of charity, and hymns the 
 contemplative life, and songs, embracing these two, are 
 the life of the righteous, who give soul and body to 
 God ; while the Song of songs, that holy secret which 
 only God's unction can teach, only spiritual experience 
 can make clear, is the life of the perfect. The Song 
 is Solomon's, the third in order of his books, following 
 Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, to teach us that after the 
 
I. 2.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 3 
 
 have passed the purgative way, by following the moral 
 precepts of the first of these ; and the illuminative M^ay, s. Grep. m. 
 by learning in the second that all earthly things are 
 vanity, and God alone to be desired ; we attain in the 
 third place to the unitive way, and by it make our en- Origen. 
 trance into the Holy of holies, where the High Priest, 
 our Bridegroom, stands, that we may there learn and Nic. Argent, 
 sing the song of perfect love, — there only, for " how Ps. cxxxvii. 
 shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land ?" It ^• 
 is Solomon s, for Solomon means Peaceful, and Cheist, ?,.• ^'*®^- 
 to Whom it in truth appertains, is " our Peace," having ^^ 'jj j^ 
 been " made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and c • q 
 sanctification, and redemption." 
 
 2 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his 
 mouth : for thy love is better than wine. 
 
 First, say the Fathers in general, it is the cry of the omn. Patr. 
 Synagogue, God's ancient Church, yearning for the 
 Incarnation of Christ, and desiring that God would 
 no more speak to her only by the voices of angels and 
 
 Erophets, but face to face. I care not, she says, to s. Bernard, 
 ear Moses, who is slow of speech to me, the lips of 
 Isaiah are unclean, Jeremiah cannot speak, for he is a 
 child, and all the Prophets are tongueless. Let Him 
 of Whom they speak, Himself speak, let Him kiss me Dion, earth. 
 tvith the kisses of Sis mouth. And His answer is set 
 down for us by the Apostle : " God, Who at sundry Heb. i, i. 
 times and in divers manners spake in time past unto 
 the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days 
 spoken unto us by His Son." She asks for His kiss, 
 because as two separate bodies unite in the act of kiss- 
 ing, so Christ, by His becoming flesh, united God and The Gloss, 
 man together, two natures in One Person. And as 
 a kiss denotes peace and reconciliation, it is the fit 
 greeting of Him, our peaceful Solomon, Who came to s. Justus 
 us as God and Saviour. It is also the cry of the o^gei. 
 Gentile world, yearning for the teaching of the Holy u „ 
 Spirit, for as the breath of one that kisses is felt by ^"' ^^ ^" 
 the one that is kissed, so by the kiss of Christ, we s. Ambros. 
 understand the inspiration of the Holy Ghost Whom 
 He hath sent. Next, the words belong to every faith- s. Greg. m. 
 ful soul which desires the presence of its Lord. See, ^- Bernard, 
 exclaims a Saint, how sudden is the opening of her cant.^"' ^'^ 
 address. Asking a great thing from a mighty Person, 
 she uses no customary flattery, she takes no indirect 
 B 2 
 
4 A COMMENTARY ON [I. 2. 
 
 way to that whicli she longs for. She makes no pre- 
 face, she seeks not to conciliate good- will, but breaking 
 out from the abundance of her heart, says, in plainest 
 and boldest words, Let Sim hiss me ivitli the kisses of 
 
 serm, viiL ' Sis mouth. His mouth. Yes, but it is not every one 
 who dares ask this, but only such as have already re- 
 ceived the pledge of love, and desire it again. For us 
 sinners it is fitter to fall down trembling at the feet of 
 our righteous Loed, like the publican, not daring to 
 look up, but like the sinful woman, content to kiss His 
 feet, and to bathe them with our tears. Then, when 
 
 s. John V. -^^ hath said, " Thou art made whole, sin no more, lest 
 
 14. a worse thing happen to thee," we may dare to rise a 
 
 little, and kiss the Hand which has cleansed and lifted 
 us, giving Him the homage and glory which are His 
 due. At last, after many tears and prayers, we may, 
 in fear and trembling, lift our heads to His glorious 
 mouth, not merely to gaze upon it, but to kiss it. To 
 Thee, O Loed Jesu, to Thee has my heart fitly said, 
 Thy Face, Loed, will I seek. For Thou madest me 
 to hear of Thy mercy betimes in the morning, when, 
 as I lay in the dust, kissing Thy sacred footsteps. 
 Thou forgavest me the sins of my life. Then, as the 
 day grew on. Thou madest glad the soul of Thy ser- 
 vant, bestowing on me the grace of holy living in the 
 kiss of Thy Hand. And now what remains, O gracious 
 Loed, save that in the fulness of light, in the fervour 
 of the Spirit, Thou, mercifully admitting me to the 
 kiss of Thy mouth also, wouldst fill me with joy with 
 Thy countenance ? Note, too, how it is said Let Him 
 
 Hugo Card. ^^-^^ ^^^ with no name particularized, no context to ex- 
 plain who is meant. And that because to the Bride 
 there can be but One to think of, because her word 
 ever is, " Whom have I in heaven but Thee ? and there 
 
 Ps. ixxiii.24. is none on earth I desire in comparison of Thee." She 
 asks, too, not for a single kiss, but for hisses, for those 
 seven great gifts of the Spieit which Cheist bestows, 
 
 De Ponte. ^^^ f^r other graces besides. And He gives them in 
 four ways, by His Incarnation, by His conversation 
 amongst men as their Teacher, by mystical incorpora- i 
 tion with us for our redemption, and by the final glory 
 
 Parez, which He promises. Peace with God in Cheist, is 
 
 then the scope of the Bride's longings, as she prays for 
 
 s. Greg. illumination, for love, for perfect union with Him of 
 
 Nyss. Whom she says, " Full of grace are Thy lips, wherefore 
 
 Ps. xiv. 3. God hath blessed Thee for ever." His lips, which give 
 
I. 2.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 5 
 
 the kiss, are His truth and sweetness, hers, which re- Henr. 
 ceive it, are her understanding and aflfection. And He Harph. 
 has heard the cry of His Bride, and answered it, giving 
 her more than she asked, giving her Himself again 
 and again in the Holy Sacrament of the Altar. " The pseudo- 
 soul," observes an ancient writer, " sees herself cleansed Ambros. 
 from all her sins, and fitted to approach the Altar of '^^ ^^^^' ^' 
 Cheist. She sees the wondrous Sacrament and saith, 
 Let Sim kiss me toith the kisses of Sis mouth, let 
 Christ Himself impress His kiss on me." And Simeon 
 Metaphrastes, in that hymn which the Eastern Church 
 puts in the mouth of her children before Communion, 
 speaks of the kiss which the penitent soul offers in turn 
 to her LoED in that sacred rite : 
 
 More than the harlot I have erred, who, learning Thine abode, tdvoin^. 
 Made purchase of the precious nard, and boldly took her road 
 To seek and to anoint Thy feet, Christ, my" God and Lord, 
 And, as she came with love to greet, was not by Thee abhorred. 
 So, Word of God, calm Thou my fears, and give me, not de- 
 
 Thyfeet to clasp, and kiss, and wash with tears, that nard un- 
 priced. 
 
 The soul may kiss her Loed also by acts of love and ^ic. Argent, 
 compassion towards His poor, and will be rewarded by 
 Him therefor with that last kiss which He will give 
 at the Doom, saying, " Come, ye blessed." But they 
 who have not so kissed Him here, shall see His face no 
 more, for He will turn His back upon them. And that 
 which is true of the Church, and true of every believ- 
 ing soul, is especially true of her who is the Church's 
 fairest ornament, the purest and fhost blessed of Saints, 
 the Virgin Mother of God. The words are her prayer ^yy^^^^ 
 to God the Fathee, that by the breath of His mouth, 
 which is the Holy Ghost, He may give her that in- 
 effable kiss. His Only-begotten Son. When the Angel 
 brought her the marvellous tidings of her true be- 
 trothal, then by her answer, " Behold the handmaid of s. Luke i. 
 the Loed, be it unto me according to thy word," she ^^' 
 did in truth say, Let Sim kiss me with the kisses of 
 Sis mouth. And after His nativity, the prayer was 
 yet more literally answered, when the tender Mother ^°"^- ^ ^^p- 
 hung over her infant Loed, and clasped Him to her 
 breast. And His love so endured that even at the last 
 moment of life He bent to offer His kiss. " He bowed xauier, de 
 His head to His Mother," says a holy writer, " and to Pass. Dom. 
 all mankind, as though bidding His last farewell, and 
 
6 A COMMENTARY ON [I. 2. 
 
 offering the kiss of peace. See here, O faithful soul, 
 the unspeakable lore of tby God, that He loved us unto 
 the end." And we learn hereby the pain as well as 
 the sweetness of His kiss. 
 
 Keble, Lyra Three Saints of old their lips upon the Incarnate Saviour 
 
 Innocent. laid ; 
 
 And each with death or agon}^ for the high rapture paid. 
 His Mother's holy kisses of the coming sword gave sign, 
 And Simeon's hymn full closely did with his last breath en- 
 twine. 
 And Magdalen's first tearful touch prepared her but to greet 
 "With homage of a broken heart His pierced and lifeless feet. 
 
 Theodoret. -^^^^ ^^V ^^^'^ ^* better than tvine. The change from 
 s. Greg. M. the third person to the second, from speaking of the 
 Bridegroom to speaking to Him, denotes, some Fathers 
 say, His swift appearing in fulfilment of His Bride's 
 desire, coming even before He is actually called ; show- 
 ing how more than ready God ever is to answer our 
 isa. ixv. 24. P^^y^^' according to that saying of the Prophet, " Be- 
 fore they call, I will answer : and while they are yet 
 . speaking, I will hear." The LXX. and Vulgate have 
 
 ngen. ^y^_^ breasts. And some tell us that the gentle teach- 
 Nyss"!^^ ing of Christ, drawn from the secret treasures of His 
 Haymo. wisdom and knowledge, is meant thereby, milk fitted 
 for babes, better than the wine of human wisdom or 
 PhUo Carp, ^'^^n of the old Law. Philo of Carpasia and several 
 Cassiodorus. others see in the breasts the two Testaments, both 
 Beda. given by Christ, whence the sincere milk of the Word, 
 
 s. Just. Org. refreshing, and not hurtful like wine, is granted to 
 s. Greg. M. mankind. And a kindred explanation is found in those 
 s. Greg. writers who will have' the Apostles and Doctors of the 
 ^>ss. Church to be meant here. The ancient exposition of 
 
 s. Niius. ^]^g Three Fathers interprets the words of the hidden 
 s.Maximus. ^^^^^ ^^ ^^^ -g-^j^ Eucharist, with which agrees well 
 Mat^'ss" *^^* passage of S. Chrysostom : " See ye not with what 
 eagerness infants seize the breast, with what pressure 
 they fix their lips upon the teats ? Let us approach 
 with no less desire to this Table, and to the spiritual 
 breast of this Chalice, nay, with yet greater longing, let 
 us, as sucking children, drink in the grace of the 
 Spirit ; let it be our one sorrow, our one grief, if we 
 be stinted of this spiritual food." Some of the inter- 
 pretations, however, bring us back to the true mean- 
 ing of the literal Hebrew, Thy loves. Thus S. Bernard 
 arm. IX. \y{^^ ^jg ^qq here the long-suffering of Christ in bear- 
 ing with sinners, and His loving-kindness in receiving ; 
 
I. 2.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 7 
 
 tbem wlien they return to Him. S. Gregory speaks of s. Greg. m. 
 tbe love of God and of our neighbour as supplying 
 that stream of charity which is the necessary food of 
 the soul. And we may take it also of that sweetness 
 of Cheist, which is the Holt Spirit Himself, given 
 in twofold manner, for the remission of sin and for the 
 increase of grace. However it be explained, we come R"pert. 
 back to the one thought of union with Him Whose 
 loving kiss is beyond all earthly blessedness. 
 
 Ne/cTcp e7}u ih (piArjua' rh yap arS/na ueKrapos ^iruei, Anthol, 
 
 Hvp fxeOvco rh (piKriixa, ttoXvv rhy epcora ireTruKdos. Graecv. 305, 
 
 Nectar to me was the kiss, for the mouth was breathing of nectar, 
 Now am I drunk with the kiss, having quaffed off love in abun- 
 dance. 
 
 They inquire at much length, too, (unnecessarily so 
 
 far as the Hebrew is concerned,) why the Bridegroom's 
 
 breasts are commended, while we should expect such 
 
 praise to be given only to the Bride. And the happiest 
 
 answers are, first, that Cheist, Himself the source of 
 
 all true and pure love, unites in His own Person a Corn, a Lap. 
 
 mother's affection for us with a father's, whence the 
 
 Book of Sirach, speaking of the Eternal Wisdom, says, 
 
 " I am the mother of fair love ;" and secondly, that as eccIus. 
 
 mothers feed their babes from their own bodies, so ^'^•^'- ^^• 
 
 Cheist feeds His children, and poured forth, like the 
 
 fabled pelican, His very Blood for our refreshment as ^ r^u 
 
 He hung upon the Cross. Chrysost. 
 
 Et nunquam sine lacte charitas, 
 Lac nou uberat, uberat cruorem. 
 
 And never without milk is charity, 
 
 It is not milk it yields for us, but blood. 
 
 The Bride sums up the fruits of that kiss in a four- 
 fold manner. She has obtained from it the sweetness of 
 milk, the warmth of wine, the fragrance of odour, and 
 the gladness of unction. She is refreshed by the first, 
 which is light to her understanding ; she is inflamed 
 by the second, which is heat to her affection ; she is s Thomas 
 excited to appetite by the third, which is the foretaste aViUanova. 
 of glory to her longing ; she is consecrated by the last, 
 which is joy of spirit in the Passion. 
 
 3 Because of the savour of thy good oint- 
 
8 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [1.3. 
 
 ments thy name is as ointment poured forth, 
 therefore do the virgins love thee. 
 
 Tile first clause here does not exactly represent the 
 existing Hebrew text, nor yet any of the chief versions. 
 The true rendering is, Pleasant for odour are Thine 
 ointments. The LXX. reads, Tlie perfume of Thine 
 ointments is above all spices. And the Vulgate, con- 
 necting the words with the previous verse, has \_Thy 
 breasts are'] fragrant with the best ointments. The 
 
 Origen. Bride, observes Origen, had already some acquaint- 
 ance with spices, to wit, the words of the Law and the 
 Prophets, wherewith, before the Bridegroom's coming, 
 she was partially instructed and trained for the service 
 of God, as still in her early youth, and under tutors 
 
 Gal. iii.24. and governors, for " the Law was our schoolmaster, to 
 bring us unto Christ." All these were spices, where- 
 with she seems to have been nourished and made ready 
 for her Bridegroom. But when the fulness of time 
 was come, and she came of age, and when the Father 
 sent His Only-begotten into the world, anointed by 
 the Holy Ghost, the Bride, smelling the fragrance of 
 the divine unction, and perceiving that all those spices 
 which she had been hitherto using were far inferior 
 compared with the sweetness of this new and heavenly 
 ointment, saith. The perfume of Thine ointments is 
 above all spices. Of this anointing the. costly unguent 
 wherewith Aaron was consecrated is but an earthly 
 type, as inferior as the earthly High Priest is to the 
 heavenly one, yet having a mystical reference to it. 
 And note, tbat the Bride speaks of ointments, in the 
 plural, as confessing the many gifts and graces which 
 come from Christ as their one source. And thus is 
 said in another place touching this same unction : 
 " Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity, 
 wherefore, O God, Thy God hath anointed Thee with 
 the oil of gladness above Thy fellows. All Thy gar- 
 ments smell of myrrh, aloes, and cassia." The Latin 
 Fathers, following the Vulgate, explain the passage 
 somewhat differently. As they often speak of the 
 Apostles and Doctors of the Church as the breasts of 
 s Just Org CJhrist, so they call them heve fragrant, because emi- 
 ■ nent for miracles and holiness, so that the perfume of 
 their righteousness came abroad, giving delight and 
 refreshment to their hearers. And in this sense we 
 may take the words of S. Paul : " Now thanks be unto 
 
 Theodoret. 
 
 Ps. xlv. 8. 
 
1. 3.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 9 
 
 God, which always causeth us to triumph in Cheist, 2Cor. ii.i4. 
 and maketh manifest the savour of His knowledge by 
 us in every place, for we are unto God a sweet savour 
 of Cheist." S. Bernard, who supposes the breasts to 
 be of the Bride as well as of the Bridegroom, tells us 
 that she is fragrant with the triple unction of contri- Serm. x. 
 tion, devotion, and of piety ; the first pungent, caus- 
 ing pain, the second lenitive, soothing pain, the third 
 healing, and even expelling disease. The first is made 
 by the soul breaking and grinding her sins in the mor- 
 tar of conscience, and then distilling them within the 
 crucible of a glowing heart with the fire of penitence 
 and grief, that she may say, " My heart was hot within Ps. xxxix. 4. 
 me, and while I was thus musing, the fire kindled." 
 That is the ointment wherewith the sinner anointed 
 the feet of Cheist. The second ointment is not to be 
 found on earth, but has to be sought afar. " Every g james i 
 good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and 17. 
 Cometh down from the Father of lights," and the un- 
 guent of devotion is formed of the blessings which 
 the Divine bounty has bestowed on man, pondered in 
 the vessel of the heart, heated with the fire of longing, 
 and blended with the oil of gladness. With this we 
 anoint not the feet of Cheist, but His head. The Serm. xii. 
 third ointment, of piety, or lovingkindness, is made 
 from the sufferings of others, from the wants of the 
 poor, the burdens of the oppressed, the troubles of the 
 sad, the errors of the sinful, blended with the oil of 
 mercy, heated with the fire of love. This is the oint- 
 ment which we must buy, as Mary Magdalene, and 
 Mary the mother of James, and Salome did, and 
 anoint therewith the whole Body of Jesus, by helping 
 every suffering member of It. Beturning to the truer Ghisierius. 
 sense of the passage, we see how true of the holy soul 
 which desires Cheist is that saying of the Wise Man, 
 *' Ointment and perfume delight the heart." And this Prov. xxvii. 
 twofold gladdening is set forth by S. Peter, saying, 9- 
 *' God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Acts x. 33. 
 Ghost and with power," and He in turn gives us these 
 same blessings, " doing good, and healing all that were 
 oppressed of the devil," giving that consolation which 
 earthly wisdom cannot bestow, and that healing which 
 human physicians know not. And Bupert, dwelling ^^pg^^ 
 in his wonted manner on the graces of the Mother of 
 God, does not fail to point out the correspondence of 
 the Angel's words to her with those of S. Peter spoken 
 
10 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [1.3. 
 
 S. Luke 
 36. 
 
 S. John xii. 
 
 Corn, a Lap. 
 
 Ecclus. 
 xxiv. 15. 
 
 Didymus. 
 
 Ps. 
 
 Ixxvi. 1 
 
 Ps. 
 
 vui. 1. 
 
 Lib. de 
 Virgin. 3. 
 
 Isa 
 
 xlii. 6. 
 
 Isa. L 4. 
 
 Origen. 
 Phil. ii. 7. 
 
 Orat. de 
 Nativ. 
 
 Eusebius. 
 S. Just. Org 
 
 Theodoret. 
 Beda. 
 Joel ii. 28. 
 
 S. John iii. 
 34. 
 
 of her Son : " The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, 
 and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee," 
 so that she was truly the house filled with the odour 
 of the ointment, and, rejoicing in the fragrance of that 
 perfume granted to her, might say, " I yield a pleasant 
 odour like the best myrrh, as galbanum, and onyx, and 
 sweet storax, and as the fume of frankincense in the 
 tabernacle." 
 
 Thy Name is as ointment 'poured forth. Before the 
 coming of Cheist the Name of God was inclosed, as 
 in a vial, amongst the Hebrew people alone, as it is 
 written, " In Jewry is God known, His Name is great 
 in Israel." But now we can more fitly say, " O Loed 
 our Governor, how excellent is Thy Name in all the 
 world." " That ointment," says S. Ambrose, " existed 
 eternally, but it was with the JFathee, in the Fathee. 
 Its perfume was known to Angels and Archangels 
 above, as inclosed within the vase of heaven. The 
 Pathee said, ' I will give Thee for a covenant of the 
 people, for a light of the Gentiles.' The Son came 
 down, and all things were filled with the new fragrance. 
 .... The Son of God kept that fragrance at first in 
 His Body, as though in a vase, biding His time, as He 
 saith Himself, ' The Loed God hath given Me the 
 tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak 
 a word in season.' The time came, He opened His 
 mouth, and the ointment was poured forth when power 
 went out of Him. This ointment was poured forth upon 
 the Jews, and gathered up by the Gentiles, was poured 
 forth in Judsea and perfumed all lands." Origen, 
 pressing the exact meaning of the LXX. version, emjp- 
 tied out, reminds us how " Cheist Jesus emptied 
 (iKevoccre) Himself, and took upon Him the form of a 
 servant." *' He Who is full," exclaims S. Gregory 
 Nazianzen, "is emptied, drained of His glory for a 
 short time, that I might be partaker of His fulness." 
 
 But it is not merely the knowledge of God which is 
 so poured forth, but His Name. What name ? And 
 first they answer that it is the Name of Cheist, itself 
 denoting " anointed," which is poured forth, not only 
 by being widely preached, but because it is poured on 
 all the faithful in the waters df Baptism, wherein they 
 are given the title of Christians. And this is what the 
 Prophet foretold, saying, *' I will pour out My Spieit 
 upon all flesh." Pour out, not drop out, for " God 
 giveth not the Spieit by measure." Poured forth, 
 
 ( 
 
1.3.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 11 
 
 adds S. Gregory tlie Great, because whoso are Chris- s.Greg.M. 
 tians in truth as well as in name, abound with the 
 streams of holy charity, which soften them, and make 
 them fit for kindling, so that they break forth in the 
 flames of good example ; and, as another expositor re- 
 marks, also with that love for the Creator kindled in 
 the creature when Cheist died for us. He was known phuo carp. 
 but little before His Passion, says one more Greek 
 Father, but when His life was poured forth upon the Theodoret. 
 Cross, when the alabaster shrine of His most sacred xauier. 
 Body was broken, the Apostles, filled with the perfume 
 of that sweet ointment, traversed sea and land, filling 
 the whole world with its fragrance. S. Augustine 
 calls Jerusalem the vase wherein that ointment, which ?. August, 
 he takes to be God's mercy, was first shut up, but "^ 
 when the rebellious city was broken and destroyed, 
 then the unguent pervaded all nations. And, as when 
 the precious oil which has been in a vase is poured 
 forth, we can only guess at its nature by the few re- 
 maining drops and the perfume, so the Name of God 
 is mysterious, and no title which divines can invent 
 discloses His nature and excellence. We conjecture g Q^eg. 
 Him only by the effects of His working, by the fra- Nyss. 
 grance which He diffuses, and therefore He is like 
 ointment poured forth. But the Name of Cheist, 
 royal, priestly, holy though it be, is yet only a title of 
 office, by which all His servants may address their 
 King. His Bride must have some dearer, closer, more 
 personal name by which to call Him. " If you write," g^^^^ ^^ 
 says she in the words of S. Bernard, " it has no savour 
 for me unless I read Jesus there. If you argue or 
 discuss, it has no savour for me, unless the sound of 
 Jesus be there. Jesus is honey in the mouth, melody 
 in the ear, gladness in the heart. And it is medicine 
 too. Is any of you sad ? Let Jesus come into his 
 heart, and thence leap into his mouth, and lo, as the 
 Name of Light issues forth, every cloud disperses, and 
 the clear sky returns. Does any fall into sin, and 
 hasten thence in despair to the snare of death ? If he 
 invoke the Name of Life, will he not breathe again 
 to life ? Who ever found hardness of heart, torpor 
 of sloth, rancour of soul, languor of indifference, able 
 to stand before the face of that saving Name ? Who 
 is there, whose fountain of tears has chanced to dry up, 
 that does not burst forth more plentifully and flow more 
 gently into weeping, when he invokes Jesus ? Who 
 
12 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [1.3. 
 
 Ps. 1. 15. 
 Nic. Argent, 
 
 Phil. ii.9. 
 
 The Hymn, 
 Gloriosi Sal- 
 vatoris. 
 
 Targum. 
 
 S. Greg. M. 
 S. Ambros. 
 Ps. ciii. 5. 
 Cassio- 
 dorus. 
 
 Aponius. 
 S. Anselm. 
 Laud on. 
 
 is there, quivering and trembling in peril, to whom that 
 Name of Might invoked has not straightway given 
 confidence and banished fear. P Who, I ask, swaying 
 and wavering in doubt, has not at once seen certainty 
 shine forth at the invocation of that Name of Henown? 
 Who, fearing in adversity and already fainting, has 
 ever lacked strength if the Name of Help has sounded ? 
 These are all diseases and weaknesses of the soul, and 
 that is their medicine. And you may prove it. ' Call 
 upon Me in the time of trouble, so will I hear thee, 
 and thou shalt praise Me.' " That Name is truly oil 
 poured forth, for it refreshes the weary, heals the sick, 
 lightens the blind, and floats high above all other 
 names, for " God hath given Him a Name which is 
 above every name, that at the Name of Jesus every 
 knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in 
 earth, and things under the earth." 
 
 Name of gladness, Name of pleasure, 
 
 By the tongue ineffable, 
 Name of sweetness passing measure, 
 
 To the ear delectable ; 
 'Tis our safeguard and our treasure, 
 
 'Tis our help 'gainst sin and hell. 
 
 'Tis the Name for adoration, 
 
 'Tis the Name of victory, 
 'Tis the Name for meditation 
 
 In the vale of misery : 
 'Tis the Name for veneration 
 
 By the citizens on high. 
 
 Therefore do the virgins love Thee. The earliest of 
 all comments on this Song, the Chaldee paraphrase, ex- 
 plains these words in full accordance with the spirit of 
 Christian writers, as denoting the righteous who follow 
 after the goodness of God. And first it is to be noted 
 that the Hebrew word Ty^u?]^^ alamoth implies not only 
 virginity, but youth, and accordingly the LXX. gives 
 veaj/tSes, and the Vulgate adolescentulce. What then 
 are these young damsels who love the Bridegroom? 
 They answer, in the first place, that they are souls 
 newly born in Baptism, having put oflf the old man and 
 the wrinkles of sin, and renewed their youth as an 
 eagle. And they are well called damsels, because the 
 Saints, conscious of their own weakness, love all the 
 more for that reason Cheist their strength. Others, 
 dwelling yet more on the admission of fragility, see 
 here souls yet imperfectly taught, and only beginning 
 
XX. 
 
 I. 3.] THE SONG OP SONGS. 13 
 
 to run tlieir course, being still weak in tKe faith. 
 "WTiereupon Eupert aptly remarks, " Had not the oint- Rupert, 
 ment been poured forth, had not the Woed been made 
 flesh, imperfect souls never would have dared to love 
 God, nor even to hear Him, as they said, when it had 
 not yet been poured forth, * Let not God speak with ^^od. 
 us, lest we die.' " And S. Thomas of Villanova bids ^^' 
 us remark further, that the Bride saith that the virgins 
 love Him because His Name is as oil poured out, be- 
 cause their fire of devotion is but newly kindled, and 
 needs this fuel. She does not say this of herself, be- ^'ym^'^va 
 cause her fire has long since been kindled to a clear 
 flame, and she loves Him for Himself alone, and even 
 when He gives no oil. They want Thine, she cries to 
 Him, I want Thee. And some extend the meaning s. Just. Orp. 
 yet further, to newly planted Churches, not as yet 
 fully established, but zealous in their first love. Others 
 again, looking rather to the idea of purity than of 
 weakness, prefer to see here the holiest and most per- 
 fect Churches and souls. Martyrs who have attained 
 their crown, says one Father. All healthy and vigo- Phiio Carp, 
 rous souls, says another, neither in their infancy, too 
 young to understand love, nor in their dotage, too old 
 to retain it, but in the mid flower of their spiritual life 
 and beauty, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such Nyssen. 
 thing. And thus the words tell us of the early zeal of 
 the Christian Church, when the memory of the Apostles 
 was still fresh in the minds of the faithful, and the crown 
 of martyrdom was often sought and won. Wherefore com. a Lap. 
 the Apostle saith, " I have espoused you to one hus- 2 cor. xi.2. 
 band, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to 
 Cheist." " Literally, too," notes the Ecstatic Doctor, 
 " it means the consecrated virgins, those elect maidens, Dion, earth, 
 those virtuous damsels, many of whom, for Thy sake, 
 despised not only the riches of the whole world, its 
 delights, its honours, and all its outward pomp, its 
 vanity and lightness : but most manfully endured the 
 crudest deaths, and happily triumphed ; as the holy 
 Katharine, the famous Ursula, and countless others 
 like them, who served Thee most constantly in vir- 
 ginity of soul and body, and to the present day un- 
 numbered others, abandoning in their youth this 
 evil world with all its deceit, enter convents and 
 holy retirements, wherein abiding always inclosed, 
 they give themselves up to Thy pure embraces in the 
 spirit." And of such we may cite the words of a great 
 
14 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [1.4. 
 
 S. Cyprian. 
 De Hab. 
 Virg. 1 . 
 
 Cassio- 
 dorus. 
 Beda. 
 Haymo. 
 
 Lyranus. 
 
 John vi 
 
 S. John xii. 
 
 32. 
 
 S. Bruno 
 
 Ast. 
 
 Santolius 
 Victorinus, 
 The Hymn, 
 Nobis, 
 Olt/mpo. 
 
 S. Bernard. 
 Serm. in 
 Cant. 21. 
 
 Saint and Martyr in the early Church : " The flower 
 of the Church's bud, the glory and ornament of spiritual 
 grace, the joyous disposition, the perfect and untar- 
 nished work of honour and praise, the image of God 
 answering to the holiness of the Loed, the more illus- 
 trious portion of the flock of Christ. The glorious 
 fruitfulness of our Mother the Church exults through 
 them, and abundantly blossoms in them, and by how 
 much the more the great band of virgins adds to its 
 own number, so much does it increase its Mother's joy." 
 
 4 Draw me, we will run after thee : the king 
 hath brought me into his chambers; we will 
 be glad and rejoice in thee, we will remember 
 thy love more than wine : the upright love thee. 
 
 Draw me. They say, some of them, that the speaker 
 is now changed, that whereas the Synagogue expressed 
 in the former verses her longing for Cheist's Advent, 
 now we have the Gentile Church eager to come to 
 Him. But it is far better to hold here by the view 
 which recognizes the substantial identity of the Jewish 
 and Christian Churches, and sees but the one Bride 
 throughout, at first expecting, and then receiving, her 
 Spouse. She says draw me, because she knows herself to 
 be too weak to reach Him of herself, for He hath said, 
 " No man can come to Me, except the Fathee Which 
 hath sent Me draw him." Draw me to Thy Cross, 
 whereof Thou hast said, " And I, if I be lifted up from 
 the earth, will draw all men unto Me." Draw me yet 
 further, after Thee in Thine Ascension, that I may 
 not be left desolate here on earth, but rest and be with 
 Thee evermore. And so the hymn : 
 
 Christ, Who hast prepared a place 
 For us beside Thy throne of grace, 
 Draw us, we pray, with cords of love, 
 From exile to our home above. 
 
 But why draw 1 Does the Bride need to be drawn after 
 the Bridegroom, as though she followed Him unwill- 
 ingly ? Nay, it denotes no reluctance, any more than 
 an invalid feels in being drawn to his bath or to his food, 
 though a criminal may well need being drawn to judg- 
 ment or to execution. She longs to be drawn, and there- 
 fore prays for it, which she would not do were she able to 
 follow her Beloved at her will. But why can she not .^ 
 
I. 4.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 15 
 
 Are we to call her at once weak and the Bride ? If one 
 of the virgins complained of weakness and asked to be 
 drawn, we should not marvel, but does it not seem 
 strange that the Bride, who ought to seem able to draw 
 others, as being strong and perfect, should herself need, 
 as weak and feeble, to be drawn ? But it is that she 
 may follow the steps of His conversation, imitating 
 His example, learning His discipline. And to do all 
 this she needs His aid, that she may renounce herself, 
 take up her Cross, and follow Cheist. What marvel 
 if she need to be drawn, who runs behind a Giant, who 
 seeks to overtake Him Who " cometh leaping upon the ^^^^^ jj g 
 mountains, skipping upon the hills ?" For, she saith, pg cxivU. 
 " His WoKD runneth very swiftly." She cannot run 15. 
 at an equal pace, nor rival His swiftness " Who re- pg. xix. 6. 
 joiceth as a giant to run His race :" her strength is 
 insufficient, and she prays to be drawn. I am weary, 
 she saith, I faint, leave me not, but dratv me after 
 Thee, lest I should wander after other lovers, lest I 
 should run uncertainly. Draw me, for it is better for 
 me that Thou shouldst use any force against me, awing 
 me with threats, chastening with scourges, than, spar- 
 ing me, leave me perilously secure in my sloth. 
 Draw me, even if I be unwilling, to make me fain, 
 draw me when slothful, to make me run. " Behold, O 
 Heavenly Bridegroom, O sweetest Jesu," exclaims a 
 true servant of His, " my spirit strives to cling faith- ^i^"- earth, 
 fully unto Thee, to rest in Thee, to give itself up to 
 Thee alone in loving contemplation, but a thousand 
 hindrances draw me back, delay me, stop my way. 
 My understanding is wavering, my reason weak, my 
 will inclined to vain and evil things, sensuality drags 
 me down, the needs of daily life keep me busy with 
 earthly and tangible cares, the temptations of the 
 senses beset me, the world and the hosts of evil spirits 
 attack us on every side, and I walk in the midst of 
 snares, in the thick of grievous perils, and, besides, 
 the weight of my sinful flesh depresses me. What 
 then am I to do save fly to Thy most gracious help, 
 and with the deepest longing of my heart pray. Draw 
 me after Thee, evermore hold, bedew, enlighten, aid, 
 and comfort my heart. For Thou hast said in Hosea hos. xi. 4. 
 the Prophet, ' I drew thee with cords of a man, with 
 bands of love ;' and in Jeremiah, ' I have loved thee jer_ xxxi. 3. 
 with an everlasting love, therefore with loving-kind- 
 ness have I drawn thee.' " And in this drawing, which 
 
16 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [1.4. 
 
 Henr, 
 Harphius. 
 
 Eccl. iv. 12. 
 y. Aug. in 
 S. Johan. 
 xxxvi. 4. 
 Ps.xxxvii.4 
 
 Virg. Eclog. 
 
 Theocloret. 
 Pseuclo- 
 Dionys. de 
 Div. Nom. 3, 
 
 Serm. xxi. 
 
 Corn, a Lap, 
 
 consists in leading the human will into union with the 
 Divine will, as the magnet draws the iron to itself, the 
 Three Persons of the Holy Trinity co-operate, the Fa- 
 ther drawing by His power, the Son by His wisdom, 
 the Holy Ghost by His goodness, a threefold cord 
 which is not quickly broken. " And even to be drawn 
 by your will is but little," says the Doctor of Grace, 
 " you are drawn by pleasure also. What is to be 
 drawn by pleasure ? ' Delight thou in the Loed, and 
 He will give thee thy heart's desire.' There is a plea- 
 sure of the heart to which that heavenly Bread is 
 sweet. And if the poet could say, 
 
 — Trahit sua quemque voluptas, 
 
 not necessity, but pleasure ; not compulsion, but de- 
 light ; how much more forcibly may we say that a man 
 is drawn to Cheist, when he delights in truth, delights 
 in blessedness, delights in righteousness, delights in 
 everlasting life, all which is Cheist .P" The LXX. 
 reading, Thei/ have draion Thee, referring to the virgins 
 who love Cheist, comes in fact to the same thing, for 
 they do not draw till they have first been drawn. And 
 an ancient writer compares this drawing of God towards 
 us to men in a ship pulling at a rope which is attached 
 to a rock. They seem to draw the rock to them, but 
 they are in fact drawing themselves to it. 
 
 We will run nfter Thee. And first it is to be noted 
 how the address changes. Draw me, and ice will run. 
 Why does the Bride thus speak ? It is, answers S. 
 Bernard, because draiving tells of weakness, of trial, 
 of suffering, all which the Bride ]3refers to bear alone, 
 as better able to endure them than the tender virgins. 
 She is willing that they should partake of the conso- 
 lations which are implied in running, that they should 
 share her joy, but not her sorrow. But this is forced 
 and poor compared with the simpler explanation of an 
 older writer, who says that the Church uses the sin- 
 gular form at first, as denoting her unity, and then the 
 plural, because she is made up of many faithful, nay, 
 of many ranks and degrees of the faithful. Draio me, 
 then, she says, in my corporate character, draw my 
 prelates and pastors, that they may in their turn draw 
 on the virgins, the tender flock committed to their 
 charge. Secondly, whereas the Bride's weakness made 
 it needful for her to be drawn, her confidence in the 
 strength to be given her is such that she does not say. 
 
I. 4.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 17 
 
 "We will follow," nor "We will walk," but " We origen. 
 will run," and therein she is like the Apostle, who s. Greg. m. 
 said to his children, " So run, that ye may obtain." i cor. ix.24. 
 
 The LXX. and Vulgate here add some words not in 
 the Hebrew, and read the whole sentence thus : Draw 
 me after Thee, tve will run for the odour of Thine oint- 
 ments. When we think on those gifts of grace, faith, 
 hope, and charity, which all come from Cheist, and 
 strive to imitate the examples of His Saints and Mar- phiio Carp, 
 tyrs, who displayed them in their lives, we are run- 
 ning, says an ancient Father, after the odour of Sis 
 ointments. When those same gifts are vouchsafed to 
 ourselves, notes another, we do not thereby cease to Angeiomus 
 run, rather we are kindled with longing for the Beatific luxov. 
 Vision, and haste eagerly towards the source of the 
 fragrance which delights us. And in this sense S. Au- 
 gustine takes it : " Let us love and copy Him. Let in Ps. xc. 
 us run after His ointments ; for He came and gave 
 forth perfume, and His fragrance filled the whole 
 world. Whence was that fragrance ? From heaven. 
 Follow Him then to heaven, if thou givest no false 
 answer to those words, ' Lift up your hearts,' lift up 
 your thoughts, lift up your love, lift up your hope." 
 " If His Name alone can do all this," exclaims Origen, origen. 
 " if its perfume so cause and strengthen the virgins to 
 run, what will be the virtue and height they shall at- 
 tain when they reach His very self, incomprehensible, 
 ineffable P I think if they do so attain, they will walk 
 no more, nor run, but cling closely to Him, bound 
 with the cords of love, that no more removal shall be 
 possible, but they may be one with Him." And they 
 inquire further what are these various ointments of Hugo Card. 
 His which draw eager souls, like gallant hounds, upon 
 His track. S. Bernard replies by quoting the Apostle, ||^; ^^ ^" 
 " Cheist Jesus, Who of God is made unto us wisdom, 1 cor. i. 30. 
 and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption ;" 
 and shows how different Saints ran for each of these, 
 as Nicodemus, seeking to learn the deep things of God, 
 desired wisdom ; Mary Magdalene and S. Peter in 
 their penitence, seeking righteousness ; S. Paul and 
 those who like him had left all, that they might be like 
 unto Cheist, sought for sanctification; and the Martyrs, 
 eager to share in the Passion of Cheist, yearned for 
 that redemption which was paid upon the Cross. Akin 
 to this is another interpretation, which names the oint- 
 ments as three. First, Cheist's preaching, giving Nic. Argent. 
 
18 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [1.4. 
 
 Parez. 
 
 Com. h Lap 
 
 Ep, 175, ad 
 Julittam. 
 
 Philipp. 
 Harveng. 
 
 Origen. 
 
 Targum. 
 
 S. HJeron. 
 Theodoret. 
 S. Greg. M. 
 S. Just. Org. 
 Hugo Card. 
 
 light and healing error, after which Saints run wisely. 
 Secondly, Cheist's conversation, kindling affection, and 
 healing our moral nature, for which one needs to run 
 sweetly. Thirdly, Cheist's miraculous working, which 
 strengthens, and keeps in the course of good works, 
 and this makes us to run mightily. And as God led 
 the Hebrews in the wilderness after the Ark of the 
 Covenant, fragrant with incense, so Cheist, the True 
 Ark of the Loed, goes before us in the desert of this 
 world, perfumed with holiness and power, and we can 
 do no less than follow Him. Or you may take the 
 words in a more literal sense, referring them to the 
 various anointings used in the Church, as in Baptism, 
 whereby we are made Cheist's soldiers, and begin to 
 run our race ; in Confirmation, when we receive addi- 
 tional strength, that we faint not in our course ; in 
 Ordination, when priests and prelates are given es- 
 pecial charge to follow close upon Cheist, and to draw 
 the people after them in the same way by setting them 
 a holy and fragrant example. Thus, quaintly observes 
 S. Basil, pigeon-fanciers catch doves, by sending out 
 a dove smeared with perfume, which attracts others to 
 it by the fragrance, and allures them into the dove-cot. 
 The King hath brought me into His chambers. Here 
 is the first explanation of who that^e is Whose kisses 
 the Bride desires. The Bride does not yet call Him 
 her Bridegroom, nor her Beloved, but her King, that 
 she may glory in His power and riches. He, like 
 David, is Shepherd and King, and appears in both 
 characters in the Song. Into His chambers. Doubt- 
 less royal ones, as befits a king, and heaped with riches. 
 The words used by the LXX. and Vulgate {Tafxi^lov, 
 cellaria,) denote a store-room, or place where treasures 
 or provisions are kept. And much of the traditional 
 interpretation is in accordance with this view. The 
 Targum, which sees throughout the Song a history of 
 God's dealings with Israel, explains this passage of the 
 people being brought to the foot of Sinai, there to be 
 given the Law out of the Treasury of the Most High. 
 And most of the Christian Fathers see here the reve- 
 lation of God's mysteries to the Church, or to the 
 faithful soul, differing, however, as to the exact mean- 
 ing of the chambers. Some take them of Holy Writ, the 
 storehouse of God's oracles. S. Bernard and Cardinal 
 Hugo, accepting this view, amplify it by dwelling on 
 the four senses of Scripture, as separate chambers 
 
I. 4.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 19 
 
 witli yarions stores. The first chamber is the Historical 
 sense, containing the coarser food intended for the 
 slaves and cattle. Secondly, comes the Tropological, 
 with its three compartments, severally containing oil 
 and wine for refreshment, balms and spices for delight, 
 and ointments for healing. The third chamber is Al- 
 legory, wherein are the arms of the warriors, the golden 
 shields, and the spears of Solomon, to wit, the mys- 
 teries of Cheist and the Church Militant. Fourth is 
 Anagoge, wherein is nought but pure gold and precious 
 stones, that is, whatever belongeth to everlasting life. 
 Others will have it that the foretaste of the joys of cassio- 
 heaven, granted to certain Saints by faith or by direct dorus. 
 revelation, is intended. S. Ambrose takes it of the Aponius. 
 mystery of the Atonement, revealed to the Bride after s.Ans.Laud. 
 the Passion and Eesurrection of Cheist, by the preach- s. Ambros. 
 ing of the Apostles ; and in another place, of the visions Sb! je^^'^' 
 and joys granted in contemplation or trance, as to S. Isaac. 
 Paul, when he was caught up to the third heaven ; and ^ Cor. xii. 
 in yet a third passage, of the Sacrament of the Holy 
 Eucharist. Philo stands alone in understanding the 
 chamber to be that human Body of Cheist wherein the P^iio CJarp. 
 Eternal Woed tabernacled. And note, that whereas 
 it is said, " We will run after thee," here we read, origen. 
 " The King hath brought 7ne in," implying that He s. Greg, 
 withdrew her for a time from the virgins which be her g^leVnard 
 fellows, and that she now returns to tell them what 
 great things He had done for her, wherein they rejoice. 
 All run, but only one is perfect, who so runs as to . 
 obtain, and alone receives the palm, and becomes a "^®"* 
 Queen. Here they tell us not only, as before, of the 
 jUnityof the Church, and of the rarity of perfect souls, 
 but point out how there is one in especial of whom the 
 words are most true, even her to whom the King gave 
 Himself as a Son, and who, entering into the house "^^'" ' 
 of Elizabeth, was greeted by her cousin and the unborn Phiiipp. 
 babe, saying, in effect. We will rejoice and be glad in thee. ^^'^'^^^' 
 Whether these latter words be addressed by the Bride cassio. 
 to Cheist, or by the virgins to Him or her, they are dorus. 
 alike thanksgivings and not boastings. If they be ad- ^- ^^^^ ^' 
 dressed to the Bridegroom, the;y are the joint voices origen. " 
 )f the Spouse and her companions, she for what she s. Greg, 
 las already obtained, they because of that promise, s.^Bemard. 
 ' The virgins which be her fellows .... with joy and Ps. xiv. 15, 
 ladness shall they be brought, and enter into the *^' 
 Swing's palace." If they be congratulations to the 
 c2 
 
20 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [1.4. 
 
 S.Ans.Laud. 
 
 Origen. 
 
 Cassiodor. 
 S. Greg. M. 
 
 Theodoret. 
 
 S. Ambros. 
 S. Greg. 
 Nyssen. 
 
 S. Greg. M. 
 
 S. Thomas 
 Aquinas. 
 Prov. xxiv. 
 16. 
 
 Nic. Argent. 
 
 Serm. xxiv. 
 
 Bride, they are, observes S. Anselm of Laon, a promise 
 on their part to make themselves ready in body and 
 spirit for her fellowship, that they may enter in also. 
 
 We will remember thy love more than toine. Here 
 again they differ as to whether these words are spoken 
 to the Bridegroom or to the Bride. Taking the former 
 view, we note first that it is said, " We loill remember." 
 It is a promise for the future, on the part of those who 
 have not yet attained so high a spiritual level as to care 
 little for earthly wine. Here too, as in the second 
 verse, the A. Y. reading love, appears in the LXX. and 
 Vulgate as breasts. As before, too, it is explained of 
 the lowly and gentle teaching of Cheist, contrasted 
 with the austerity of the Law, and S. Gregory the Great 
 dwells here on the tender love which Cheist showed 
 the Church when He hung dying on the Cross. If the 
 words be addressed to the Bride, then it is the voice 
 of her children, saying. Because thou hast loved the 
 breasts of Cheist above the wine of pleasure and of 
 worldly wisdom, we too will love thy teaching, because 
 the Righteous loveth thee. Two of the Fathers allego- 
 rize the passage of S. John the Divine, who leant on 
 the breast of Jesus at the Last Supper. The upright 
 love thee. Here they all dwell on the intimate and 
 necessary connection between true holiness of life and 
 the love of Cheist, showing that the latter never can 
 be in any great measure in the soul which does not 
 aim at the former. The upright, not those who al- 
 ways stand, for "the just man falleth seven times," 
 but those whose intention is right, even when their 
 performance is imperfect. Upright, because they 
 stand looking up to their Creator, not bowed down to 
 the creature. S. Bernard dwells at some length on 
 the form of the human body as enforcing this thought, 
 but does not in effect say more than a heathen poet 
 had said before him : 
 
 Ovid. 
 Metaph. 
 i. 84. 
 
 Pronaque quum spectent animalia csetera terrain, 
 Os homini sublime dedit : coelumque videre 
 Jussit, et erectos ad sidera tollere vultus. 
 
 "WTiile other creatures downward look on earth, 
 He gave to man a towering face, and bade 
 Him lift his upward gaze to sky and stars. 
 
 Alanus. 
 
 Right, also, because they keep to the middle of the 
 King's highway, never swerving aside, but journeying 
 
1.5.] 
 
 THE SONG OF SONGS. 21 
 
 straight on towards heaven, and seeking God for His 
 own dear sake. 
 
 5 I am black, but comely, O ye daughters 
 of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the cur- 
 tains of Solomon. 
 
 The Targum takes this of the fall and rising again Targum. 
 of Israel, when the golden calf was made, whereby the 
 chosen people became as hlach as the Ethiopians in 
 idolatry, but afterwards, repenting, became comely 
 once more, and returned to the service of GrOD, making 
 cur^tains for His tabernacle. And similarly many Chris- ^"^p- 
 tian writers see in it the Church, or the penitent soul, ad Eustoch. 
 speaking of her past sins and present conversion to 22. 
 God. S. Gregory the Great recognizes here the con- ^- Bernard, 
 flict of the higher and lower wills in the soul. She is s. Greg. M. 
 hlack, not only by reason of past sins, but of present 
 ones, and yet comely, because she is striving after that 
 righteousness of which she is conscious within. It is 
 the soul of a catechumen, says Origen, already comely Origen. 
 through repentance, but not yet white, because not 
 admitted to the cleansing of Baptism. Or again, s. August, 
 black by nature, comely by grace. Yet once more, p^^^^'j 
 the Church is black with suffering and persecution, cassiodor. 
 and nevertheless comely in holiness and in reward, nay, ^Ans.Laud. 
 adds S. Bernard, even more comely because of that ^onast.^'^ ' 
 blackness. The address to the daughters of Jerusalem instit. 84. 
 has led more than one Father to see here the Gen- Tiitodoret ' 
 tile Church, confessing her lowly and heathen origin, 
 and yet asserting the truth of her calling in Christ, 
 and therefore claiming acknowledgment from the Sy- 
 nagogue, or even from the Jewish Christians, just as 
 the J^thiopian wife of Moses made good her claim Numb. xii. 
 against Aaron and Miriam. Not very dissimilar is the 
 view of those Greek Fathers who, taking the words of ph^g ^arp. 
 the whole Church, see in the blackness the Gentile Theodoret. 
 element, and in the comeliness the Hebrew. Akin to 
 this in spirit is the interpretation that the mixed cha- s. August. 
 racter of the Church, as made up of saints and sinners, Doct. Christ. 
 is implied. And finally, Rupert reminds us how Our s!'Eu"cher. 
 Lady's purity was doubted, when she was found to be Beda. 
 with child, so that she was blackened by injurious 
 thoughts, while comely indeed, as full of grace, the taber- Rupert, 
 nacle of our true Solomon. Black, too, as the Mother cuiieim. 
 of Sorrows, when she stood by the Cross, despised Parv. 
 
22 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [1.5. 
 
 Honorius. 
 Origen. 
 
 Hugo Card. 
 
 Origen. 
 Philo Carp. 
 
 Beda. 
 
 Origen. 
 
 Hugo Card. 
 Ps. cxx. 4. 
 
 S. Greg. M. 
 S. Bernard. 
 Rev. iii. 12. 
 
 Aponius. 
 
 Gloss. 
 
 Cassiodor. 
 
 Gal. V. 24. 
 
 with, her Son, comely in the joy of His Resurrection. 
 Daughters of Jerusalem. Which Jerusalem, that 
 which now is, and is in bondage with her children, or 
 that which is above, and free, the mother of us all ? 
 Origen takes the former view, and makes it a call to 
 the Jewish nation. Cardinal Hugo and others refer 
 it to the Angels and spirits made perfect, the appeal 
 of the Church Militant to the Church Triumphant. 
 As the tents of Kedar. The tents of the Ishmaelites, 
 formed of coarse goats' hair, and black, or dark, as 
 Kedar means, are taken as the types of sin, of suffer- 
 ing, or of Gentilism, and contrasted with the costly 
 hangings, or curtains of Solomon, made for the adorn- 
 ment of the temple, or, following the Arabic Version, 
 the monarch's own pavilions of state. And so the 
 Church is despised outwardly by her persecutors, yet is 
 glorious and adorned within. Even Kedar, as descend- 
 ing from Abraham, was not altogether without a share 
 in the Divine blessing, and Solomon inherited the sure 
 mercies of David, therefore, O daughters of Jerusalem, 
 despise not me, says the Gentile Church, who am that 
 Ethiopian woman whom Moses took as his wife. 
 Others, remembering that it is written, "Woe is me 
 that I am constrained to dwell with Mesech, and to 
 Iiave my habitation among the tents of Kedar," take 
 these te7its to be the sojourn of the soul in the pilgrim- 
 age and wars of the body, while the curtains speak to 
 us of that temple of which it is written that he which 
 entereth in shall go no more out. The Church, says 
 another, most deeply, is like the tents of Kedar, for 
 she shelters under her wings penitents stained with 
 their sins. She is like the curtains of Solomon, as sur- 
 rounding wise, and peaceful, and holy Saints. C^ir- 
 tains of Solomon. The Body of Christ, touchingly 
 notes the Gloss, is truly called a curtain, because it 
 was stretched out upon the Cross to shelter us. For 
 curtai^is the LXX. and Vulgate have skins. And that, 
 says Cassiodorus, because as tabernacles are made 
 from the skins of dead animals, so the Church, which, 
 is God's tabernacle, is framed of those who have mor- 
 tified themselves with the affections and lusts. Yet 
 again, the verse tells us of the hardships and repulsive- 
 ness of the higher Christian life, as it appears to the 
 world, rough, sombre, and uncomely, whereas those 
 who are within see round them, not the black goats' 
 hair of the tent of warfare, but the purple, gemmed. 
 
I. 6.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 23 
 
 and golden tapestry of the Prince of Peace, into Whose Honorius. 
 chambers of the celestial life they have entered. 
 
 6 Look not upon me, because I am black, 
 because the sun hath looked upon me : my 
 mother^s children were angry with me ; they 
 made me keeper of the vineyards, but mine 
 own vineyard have I not kept. 
 
 They take the first clauses in various senses, accord- 
 ing as they explain the sun to be the heat of temp- s. Greg, 
 tation and of suffering, or the warmth of Cheist. ^y^^^'^- 
 Wonder not that I am black, though not created so, Aponius. 
 because the fire of evil temptation hath scorched me, 
 and dried up that once green germ in me which lacked Beda. 
 root. Marvel not at the persecutions which I have to 
 endure, and " faint not at my tribulations, which is your Eph. m. i3. 
 glory," for those very trials have given me patience 
 and constancy. And just as bodies which habitually 
 rest in the shade wither up in the broad glare of day, 
 whereas those which move about and labour in the light 
 scarcely feel the effects of heat, so those toilsome ones .^^ Amos^m 
 who prepare themselves for struggles and temptations, 
 overcome the world, and win that blessing, " The sun ps. cxxi. 6. 
 shall not burn thee by day, neither the moon by night." 
 If the sun be Christ, then the words may denote that s.Ans.Laud. 
 the sufferings which the Church endures at the hand 
 of her enemies are for His sake. Who is the Sun of 
 Righteousness; or again, that burning zeal for His S.Bernard, 
 house hath eaten her up, or longing for Himself hath 
 consumed her. Or you may take it with S. Gregory, s. Greg. m. 
 that Saints, whatever progress they may seem to make 
 in holiness, and however they may be looked on by 
 men as burning and shining lights, yet feel themselves Angeiomus 
 to be utter blackness when compared with the perfect "^°^- 
 righteousness of Christ, for the nearer we draw to- 
 wards grace, the more we learn our sin. And there 
 are not wanting those who apply the words to Christ irimbert. 
 Himself, despised and rejected in His Passion, so that 
 He was " as a root out of a dry ground ; He hath no isa. im. 2. 
 form nor comeliness." 
 
 My another's children were angry with me. They Origen. 
 take'it first of the trials of the Primitive Church, op- g.^Bei-nard. 
 pressed by Jewish persecutors, once headed by S. Paul, gioss. 
 and children of the Church's mother, the Synagogue, 
 
24 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [1.6. 
 
 2'^^?!^^' ^^* ^^^ ^^^ brethren. And next, of the Judaizing 
 c'xix. ' pai'ty within the Church herself, who endeavoured to 
 s. Just. Org. impose the ceremonial Law on the Gentile converts. 
 And they dwell on the forcible wording of the LXX. 
 and Vulgate, which translate thus : They fought against 
 me. It was true also of those heretics and evil Chris- 
 Dion. Carth. tians who arose in later days in the bosom of the 
 Church, the Arians and schismatics, and evil rulers, 
 especially unworthy Bishops, who rend instead of 
 Aponius. guarding the flock. And, taking the words of the 
 soul, instead of the Church, we may see here either the 
 strife carried on against it by its own passions and de- 
 sires, akin as these are to its higher and better aspira- 
 tions ; or, more generally, the resistance of lax and 
 worldly Christians to those who strive to serve God 
 Com. a Lap. more perfectly, and that especially in the Religious life ; 
 for those who are without resist the vocation of such 
 Nic. Argent, as feel themselves called thereto, and those within but 
 too often war against such as would recall them to the 
 full strictness of their rule, as many a reformer, like 
 S. Gregory VII. or S. Teresa, has proved. And there- 
 Ps. ixix. 8. fore it is written in another place, " I am become a 
 stranger unto my brethren, even an alien unto my 
 Origen. mother's children." We may, however, take the words 
 s.'^Bernard! ^^ ^ good sense also, of those wise teachers. Apostles 
 and others, who seek to war against the sins of Chris- 
 tians, and who give them a charge to keep. 
 Cassiodor, They made me the keeper of the vi7ieyards. In their 
 
 Lyranus ^^^^ attempt to crush the infant Church, the Jews 
 were the involuntary cause of its rapid spread beyond 
 the limits of Palestine into every part of the Gentile 
 world ; hut, adds the Church, mine own vineyard have I 
 Cassiodor. not kept, because I have been forced to abandon the 
 Jews to their own devices. And so the Apostles, "It 
 Acts xiu. 46. was necessary that the Word of God should first have 
 been spoken to you : but seeing ye put it from you, 
 and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, 
 we turn to the Gentiles." 
 
 There are some who see here the story of Adam's 
 
 s. Greg. fall. Made by God the keeper of the garden of Eden, 
 
 Nyssen. J^e was fought against by the serpent and by Eve, and 
 
 kept not his vineyard. Others explain it of the great 
 
 peril of high oifice in the Church, lest, when men are 
 
 set, not merely to labour in this vineyard, but to over- 
 
 GhfsieiSS' ^^® other labourers, and to prevent the incursions of 
 
 robbers, they neglect the care of their own souls, and, 
 
I. 7.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 25 
 
 after preaching to others, become castaways. There is 
 another sense, however, in which the words may be 
 taken, of that Good Shepherd Who laid down His 
 life for the sheep, and was not careful of Himself, so 
 long as His peril might be the salvation of others, and iJ^^^ert. 
 Who, because He thus gave up His own vineyard, was 
 made keeper of all others. And so speaks the aged 
 Apostle, in the very strongest sense : " I could wish i^on^- i^. 3. 
 that myself were accursed from Christ for my bre- 
 thren, my kinsmen according to the flesh." S. Am- Exhort, ad 
 brose, referring the vineyard to the state of consecrated ^^"^^^ 
 virginity, warns the brides of C heist lest they should 
 suffer any Ahab or Jezebel to turn their vineyard from 
 a place wherein sweet fruits grow, into a mere garden 
 of pot-herbs, into a secular form of life, good in its 
 degree, but not comparable to the better way. And 
 if so, much more does it befit Religious to beware lest 
 when their Loed comes. He should say, " I went by 30. ' ' 
 the vineyard of the man void of understanding ; and, 
 lo, it was all overgrown with thorns, and nettles had 
 covered the face thereof." 
 
 7 Tell me, O thou whom ray soul loveth, 
 where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock 
 to rest at noon : for why should I be as one that 
 turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions ? 
 
 Tliou %vliom my soul loveth. " So I call Thee, for s. Greg. 
 Thy Name surpasseth all thought and understanding, Sg^^^i 
 nor could all creation reach so high as to express or 
 comprehend it. Thy Name, then, that by which Thy 
 goodness is known, is the affection of my soul to Thee, 
 for how should I not love Thee, Who so lovedst me, 
 even when I was so black, as to lay down Thy life for 
 Thy sheep, which Thou feedest. For greater love than 
 this cannot enter into thought, that Thou boughtest 
 my salvation with Thine own life." Where Thou feed- 
 est. Not Thyself, but Thy sheep. And where is it 
 save in that Sacrament of the Altar, in which Thou ^*^^°^* 
 givest the nourishment of Thy Passion and the foun- 
 tain streaming from Thy side to all devout souls? 
 To rest at noon. They take it in many ways. And 
 first, let us see here, with the old Cypriote Bishop, that 
 mysterious time when Jesus, wearied with His long Phiio Carp, 
 journey of thirty-three years, and its last blood-printed 
 
26 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [1.7. 
 
 The Hymn, 
 
 Patris 
 
 Sapientia. 
 
 Cassiodor. 
 Beda. 
 
 S. Greg. M, 
 
 Origen. 
 Horn. 1. 
 
 Theodoret. 
 
 S. Ambros. 
 in Ps. cxis. 
 
 Apoiiius. 
 
 footsteps along the Way of Sorrows, sat thus on the 
 "Well of our salvation, and it was about the sixth hour, 
 and there was darkness until the ninth hour. 
 
 He upon that Cross at Sext for our sake was mounted ; 
 By tlie passers-by reviled, with transgressors counted : 
 Vinegar and gall they give to His thirst to slake it, 
 Which, when He had tasted of, He refused to take it. 
 
 A-gain, noon, as the time of greatest warmth, fitly de- 
 notes especial seasons of trial and persecution in the 
 Church, urging her to call on her Loed to be a shadow 
 from the heat, lest she faint therein. S. Gregory ap- 
 plies it rather to the fiery assaults of sin, when the 
 Bride seeks the coolness of sanctifying grace. Once 
 more, the Bride would fain see the full glory of her 
 Beloved, would see Him in the clear light of faith and 
 love, undimmed by any darkness. " I ask not," she 
 says, "as to other times, where Thou feedest at even- 
 ing, or morning, or at sunset. I ask of that time when, 
 in the flower of the day, Thou art in the fullest light 
 clothed in the splendour of Thy Majesty." Others 
 will have it that the Church, in her clear brightness as 
 the light of the world, is intended by the noon-day. 
 For as she preaches the doctrine of Christ everywhere 
 throughout the world, and is therefore fitly styled 
 Catholic, contrasting with the dark heretical sects which 
 lurk in the corners of single nations, she is like the 
 noon spread over the heavens. And, because it is 
 noon when the sun is in mid-sky, so as Christ, the 
 Sun of Eighteousness, is the Head of the Church, 
 directly over her, giving her light and warmth, the 
 epithet suits her well. And if it be objected that she 
 is not yet all clear and bright, that dark spots of sin 
 mar the beauty of her face, yet the words hold good 
 of her Saints. " They," says the Father last cited, 
 " who have received Thee as the Author of salvation, 
 are in the noon-day. Thou shinest on them, Thy grace, 
 as the noon, warms them. Thou hast become the noon 
 of them who feed on Thy riches, and trust in Thee," 
 Andanother tells us that these especial sheep of Christ, 
 whom He keeps with Himself in the noon-day warmth 
 of His love, whom He does not merely guide with His 
 staff", but cherishes in His bosom, are those virginal 
 souls which have given themselves to Him alone, forsak- 
 ing earthly ties for Him. Yet again, you may take the 
 passage, with two great mystical writers, to denote the 
 
I. 7.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 27 
 
 two chief divisions of spiritual life, the active being Hugo Vic- 
 typified by the feeding of the Bridegroom, and the HgJJJ.' 
 contemplative by His rest. At noon, too, because Harphius. 
 there are three hours of contemplation. The first is 
 thought, like the early morning, having but little ra- 
 diance or heat. Of this is written, " Early in the Ps. v. 3. 
 morning I will direct my prayer unto Thee, and will 
 look up." The second period is meditation, like the 
 third hour, when the sun begins to get high, and to 
 glow. Whence the Psalm, "While I was thus mus- Ps.xxxix.4. 
 ing the fire kindled." The third time is foretaste, like 
 the noon-day, " when it parcheth the country." This, EccIus. 
 the true fervour of contemplation, is the place where ^"^- ^• 
 the Beloved resteth at noon-day. " O place of true 
 repose, not unfitting the name of bed, where God is ^^^^ 
 seen, not in His wrath, nor as though wrapped in His 
 providential love, but as a Will altogether merciful, 
 loving, and perfect. This vision affrights not, but 
 soothes ; calms all anxious restlessness ; arouses not, 
 wearies not, but tranquillizes. The tranquillity of 
 God makes all things tranquil, and to look upon His 
 rest, is rest itself." Another most striking interpre- 
 tation is that of Irimbert, who sees in the rest, the irimbert. 
 descent of Christ into the grave, when He made the 
 place of darkness bright with the glorious rays of His 
 Divinity, and fed the hungering flock of Patriarchs 
 which iiad waited so long in Hades for the coming of 
 its Shepherd, till — 
 
 Lumen clarum tenebrarum S. Pet. Ven. 
 
 Sedibus resplenduit. S,r "/"""' 
 
 Splendour lighted the benighted portis. 
 
 Seats of darkness with its ray. 
 
 And Cardinal Hugo, with scarcely less beauty, applies Hugo Card, 
 the words to that noonday of the Church, when the 
 Pentecostal fires descended on the Apostles, enlight- 
 ening them with all the radiance of the Holy Ghost, 
 after the night of the Passion, the dawn of the Eesur- 
 rection, and the first warmth of the Ascension had all 
 passed over the young Bride of Cheist. Lastly, we 
 may take the question to be that of the Church Mili- 
 tant, feeling that her portion here, though sweet, is in- 
 sufficient for her cravings, and desiring the full fruition 
 of Cheist in that Land 
 
 Where no cloud nor passing vapour j^^mS"' 
 
 Dims the brightness of the air, luminosa. 
 
Gen. xxxii. 
 30 
 
 28 A COMMENTARY ON [I. 7. 
 
 Endless noonday, glorious noonday, 
 From the Sun of suns is there, 
 
 There no night brings rest from labour, 
 All unknown are toil and care. 
 
 Serm. 33. And on this let us hear S. Bernard: "O true noon- 
 day, fulness of glow and light, abiding of the sun, dis- 
 peller of shades, drier up of marshes, ejector of evil 
 odours ! O perennial solstice, when the day shall no 
 more go down ! O noontide glory ! O vernal mild- 
 ness ! O summer beauty ! O autumnal plenty, and 
 lest aught should be lacking to my tale, O rest and 
 festival of winter ! Or, if thou wouldst rather have it 
 so, winter alone is over and gone. Show me, says the 
 Bride, the place of such love and peace, and fulness, 
 that as Jacob, yet abiding in the flesh, saw God face 
 to face, and his life was spared, so I too may look on 
 Thee in Thy light and glory, by contemplation in trance 
 of soul, as Thou feedest more abundantly, and restest 
 more securely. For here too Thou feedest, but not in 
 security, nor canst Thou rest, but Thou must needs 
 stand and watch, because of the terrors of the night. 
 Alas ! here is no clear light, nor full refreshment, nor 
 safe dwelling, and therefore tell me where Thou feed- 
 est, where Thou restest at noon. Thou callest me 
 blessed when I hunger and thirst after righteousness. 
 What is that to their happiness who are filled with the 
 good things of Thy house, who feast and rejoice before 
 God, and are merry and joyful ? When wilt Thou fill 
 me with joy with Thy countenance ? Thy Face, Loed, 
 will I seek. Thy Face is the noon. Tell me where 
 Thou feedest, where Thou restest at noon. I know 
 well where Thou feedest, but restest not, tell me where 
 Thou dost both rest and feed." There will be, even 
 in the noonday radiance of Heaven, cool waters and 
 
 Ps. xxiii. 2. green pastures for the flock of the Good Shepherd, and 
 so the type of heathen poetry shall be fulfilled : 
 
 Virgil. Et jam compellente vagaj pastore capellae 
 
 Culex, 103. Ima susurrantis repetebant ad vada lymphse. 
 
 Quae subter viridem residebant cterula museum. 
 Jam medias operum partes evectus erat sol, 
 Quum densas pastor pecudes cogebat in umbras. 
 
 The roaming she-goats, at their herdsman's will, 
 Eesought the low fords of the whispering stream. 
 Which rested blue beneath the verdant moss. 
 And now the sun had reached his midmost toils, 
 "When to the thick shade drove the swain his flock. 
 
I. 7.] 
 
 THE SONG OF SONGS. 
 
 29 
 
 For ivhy should I he as one that turneth aside hy the 
 flocks of Thy companions ? This is the reason, say they 
 all, assigned by the Bride for her question. It is not 
 merely for herself, that she may find her Beloved, that 
 she asks Him to tell her His abiding-place, but for 
 His sake to6, lest He should lose her. And they agree 
 in the main, also, to interpret the second clause of 
 bodies other than the One Church, but bearing a spe- 
 cious resemblance to it. Turneth aside. The Vulgate 
 reads. Lest I begin to wander. Tlie LXX., agreeing 
 with the margin of A.V., and with most modern critics, 
 has As one that is ivrajpjped tip, or veiled.'^ Of this 
 there are various expositions. First and most pro- 
 bably, we may take it of the customary veiling of har- Gen.xxxviu. 
 lots. Why should I, the Virgin Bride, by wandering vatabius. 
 near other shepherds than Thee, appear as though a 
 shameless courtezan ? Again, it may be. Why should 
 I, who look on Thee face to face, and have felt Thy oriffen. 
 kiss, be compelled to veil myself in modest bashful- s. Hieron, 
 ness, lest any eyes save Thine should see me? ifadEustoch. 
 Thou tell me where Thou restest, I can come at once 
 to Thee, unveiled, but if Thou tell me not, I must 
 needs cover my face while I am seeking Thee among 
 strangers. Or, why should I, missing Thee, be forced Com. a Lap. 
 to put on the garments of mourning, and appear as a 
 widow instead of a bride ? Origen, who gives various origen. 
 explanations of the passage, remarks that several of the 
 philosophical schools and sects assumed the title of 
 Veiled, implying thereby their possession of hidden 
 truth, and that the Church here beseeches that she 
 may know and teach the truth openly, so as not to 
 appear like one of them ; nor, adds S. Augustine in 
 the same sense, like the obscure and localized com- Ip'^adVhi- 
 munities of heretics. And last, we may take veiled as cent. 48. 
 practically coming to the same thing as the wandering ^- ^^^z- 
 of the Vulgate, understanding it to mean putting on cass^od. 
 the walking-dress of the East over the attire worn s. Bernard, 
 within doors. Thy companions. Origen says that the origen. 
 companions of Cheist are the Angels placed in charge 
 of the various Gentile nations of the earth, those 
 
 1 The root rrp^, texit.^ whence 
 7TTC5?, the word in the original, 
 is derived, includes the idea of 
 circular motion, as a garment 
 is wrapped about the person, 
 
 and thence may be transferred 
 to the notion of wandering 
 round and round a place. 
 Hence Symmachus translates, 
 in this sense, ws pe/A)3o^tVr/. 
 
30 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [1.8. 
 
 S. John X. 
 16. 
 
 Theodoret. 
 S. Just. Org 
 Cassiod. 
 
 S. August, 
 de Verb. 
 Dom. 50. 
 Aponius. 
 
 2 Tim.iii.5, 
 S. Greg. M, 
 
 Rupert. 
 
 Irimbert. 
 
 " other sheep" which are not yet of Christ's fold. 
 But the great majority of commentators see in the 
 flocks of the companions the sects of heretical Chris- 
 tians. They are called Christ's companions, though 
 ■ they are not His friends, because they assume the 
 Christian name, and profess to teach the same truths 
 as the Church, and promise the like blessings. And 
 as compariions is the special Eastern title for those who 
 feast at the same table, so these profess to feed their 
 disciples with the same banquet of Sacraments and 
 Holy Writ, though they poison it by perverting its 
 sense, " having a form of godliness, but denying the 
 power thereof." S. Gregory extends the application 
 of the words to all false brethren, all evil Christians, 
 who are in a sense Christ's companions, as having a 
 place in His Church and a share in His Sacraments, i 
 but are not truly His elect. Eupert stands alone in I 
 seeing here a reference to the Scribes and Pharisees, 
 and therefore a petition of the Church to be guarded 
 from Judaizing. Another, not very dissimilarly, applies 
 the passage to the Patriarchs and Prophets of the Old 
 Testament, companions indeed of Christ, as loving and 
 following Him as far as they knew, but still wander- 
 ing uncertainly, and with no clear noontide revelation. 
 S. Bernard takes the words, very singularly, of the 
 evil spirits, transforming themselves into angels of 
 light, and pretending to be Christ's servants and 
 friends in order to deceive the soul which seeks Him. 
 
 8 If thou know not^ O thou fairest among 
 women, go thy way forth by the footsteps of 
 the flock, and feed thy kids beside the shep- 
 herds' tents. 
 
 If thoit know not. The simple meaning of these 
 words has been obscured by the LXX. and Vulgate, 
 which endeavour to reproduce the pleonastic Hebrew 
 idiom, and read If thou knoioest not thyself, and nearly 
 all the ancient commentators have interpreted this of 
 self-ignorance. And thus S. Justus of Urgel, taking 
 the words in close connection with those that follow, 
 observes, that Christ thus addresses the Church, If 
 ^^' thou know not that thou axi fairest amongst all Chris- 
 tian bodies, since all except thee have lost their purity, 
 then go forth to seek Me ; but if thou truly knowest 
 what thou art, and with what grace I have dowered 
 
 S. Athanas. 
 Philo Carp. 
 
I. 8.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 31 
 
 \^hee, then look within thyself, and thou wilt find Me 
 
 ^^.'there. S. Bernard, also taking the words as those of s. Bernard. 
 
 ,^ gie Bridegroom, interprets them in a far sterner sense, serm.38. 
 
 kb-, . rebuke to the Bride who, ignorant that she is yet 
 •but in the body, and merely fairest amonff women, (that 
 's, amongst secular and carnal souls, having no true 
 ■ vigour or constancy,) yet dares to ask God to show her 
 the place of His glory. She is therefore recalled to 
 herself, and convinced of her ignorance, and chastised 
 for her boldness, and to teach her humility, she is com- 
 manded to go forth out of the sanctuary of her heart, 
 away from holy contemplation, and to busy herself 
 again in the lower service of external cares. And not s. Hieron. 
 dissimilarly S. Jerome, addressing the Abbess S. Eus- ^p^^*^' ^^' 
 tochium, explains the passage, " Though thou be fair, 
 and thy beauty be loved by Me thy Bridegroom more 
 than that of all other women, yet, unless thou know 
 thyself, and keep thy heart with all watchfulness, un- 
 less thou fly from the glances of youth, thou shalt go 
 forth from My chamber to feed the goats, which are 
 to stand on My left." Yes, adds S. Augustine, carry- 
 ing on the same argument, to feed them not as Peter ^^^' ^om^ 
 feeds My sheep, not to be in My fold. Who am the cf.Origen. 
 One Shepherd, but by the tents of other shepherds, 
 not of unity but of division. A second view puts the 
 words into the mouths of the Bride's virgin friends, as 
 though of encouragement to her, lest she should be too 
 
 I much cast down with thoughts of her marred beauty, s. Greg. 
 
 I and not knowing herself to be fairest, doubt of re- Nyss. 
 taining her Spouse's love. Si/ the footsteps of the 
 flocTc. That is, observes one, follow up all the traces Theodoret. 
 of those Saints of the Old Covenant who belonged 
 m faith to the New, lead on, and feed thy kids, thy 
 weak and sinful members, by the te7its of the shep- 
 herds, the Churches of the Apostles, that there they 
 may be healed. And this is, in fact, the Christian 
 view of the old Jewish gloss, which says here, " The Targum. 
 Holy and Blessed One spake to Moses the Prophet : 
 Thou askest that their exile may be ended. Let the 
 synagogue, which is compared to a most beautiful 
 •virgin, and whom My soul loveth, walk in the paths of 
 the just, and direct its prayer in the mouths of its 
 rulers, and lead its generations and lead its sons, (who 
 are compared to kids of the goats,) to walk in the 
 house of the congregation, and in the house of doctrine, 
 and because of that good deed they shall be supported 
 
32 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [1.9 
 
 Aponius. 
 
 Parez. 
 
 Beda. 
 
 S.Brun.Ast. 
 
 Cassiod. 
 
 S. John xxi. 
 16. 
 
 Dion. Carth, 
 
 S. Ambros. 
 de Isaac et 
 Anim. 4. 
 
 Numb, xxiv, 
 5. 
 
 1 Kings X. 
 28. 
 
 2 Chron. ix. 
 
 28. 
 
 Theodoret. 
 S. Ambros. 
 Serm. 2, in 
 Ps. cxix. 
 Id. de 
 Isaac. 4. 
 
 Tres Patr. 
 Philo Carp. 
 
 in their captivity, till I send them Messiah the Kin^'Pig 
 Who shall lead them into rest to their own tabernac' j. 
 which is that House of Sanctuary which David ^^j^^ 
 Solomon, Shepherds of Israel, shall build for ^ 
 Aponius, too, takes the words as spoken by Cheist ^^ 
 the Synagogue, urging her to come to the knowled^ - f\ 
 of the truth. The common view sees in the Jlock ' ■> 
 kids, and shej^lierds, the heretical, sinful, and schis 
 matic companionship into which a Church or a soul 
 which does not strive after self-knowledge is certain to 
 fall. There is not wanting, however, a nobler and 
 more cheering interpretation, which is, in fact, the 
 truest meaning of the passage. When the Loed asked 
 Peter, "Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou Me?" and 
 was answered, "Loed, Thou knowest that I love 
 Thee;" His further speech was, " Feed My sheep." 
 So, the way for the Church or the soul to find Cheist 
 is to go forth from herself, to follow the traces of the 
 straying flocks, to feed more especially the kids, weak 
 and sinful servants of His, and so to reach the tents of 
 the shepherds, the wise and holy teachers to whom 
 He intrusts His sheep. And again, the kids may well 
 denote the petulant and unrestrained desires of the 
 heart, which need to be checked, ruled, and fed, not in 
 the tabernacles of the body, but in those of the spirit, 
 whereof is written, " How goodly are thy tents, O 
 Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel." 
 
 9 I have compared thee, O my love, to a 
 company of horses in Pharaoh's chariots. 
 
 The obvious reference here is to the Egyptian breed 
 of horses, chiefly esteemed in Solomon's time, as we 
 read in Scripture ; and the Church, or the faithful 
 soul, is compared to a gallant steed, first, because of 
 the swiftness of her running after Cheist ; next, be- 
 cause of her ready obedience and submission to His , 
 yoke ; thirdly, because of her bearing the Gospel chariot 
 into all lands ; and lastly, because of her fruitfulness , 
 bringing forth young abundantly by preaching. Anc I 
 much in this same sense the Greek Fathers understand 
 it, explaining, as they do, that Cheist compares the 
 Gentile Church, in its zeal and holiness, to His great 
 steeds the Apostles, who drew Him in Pharaoh's 
 chariots, that is, amongst all the nations of the earth. 
 And so a Saint has said, " Those swift-limbed steeds, 
 
9-] 
 
 THE SONG OF SONGS. 33 
 
 b.He Apostles, from Sion as from tlieir starting-point, j?- J'^'^sos. 
 
 ■ ^t forth into the whole world." 
 "■a 
 
 '^ Guider of Thy chariot fleet, mount, Lord, these steeds of fire, The Se- 
 V "^nd make a pathway for their feet through our hearts' deepest quence.iZeg-- 
 
 ' •rv,;,.^ . num tuum. 
 
 mire; 
 
 iThat we, borne safely in this car from out the troubled sea, Hab. iii. I5. 
 
 May reach our country's haven far, and ever dwell with Thee. 
 
 Origen, dwelling on the word PharaoJi as the Scrip- Origen. 
 tural type of evil, comments thus : " As in Egypt, when 
 Pharaoh, pursuing after the children of Israel, went 
 forth with horses and chariots. My (LXX. and Vulg.) 
 chivalry far surpassed and excelled Pharaoh's chariots, 
 in that it overcame them and drowned them in the 
 sea, so thou. My Love and Bride, excellest all women, 
 and art made like to My chivalry, which, compared 
 with the chariots of Pharaoh, proved stronger and 
 more glorious." He further proceeds to remind us 
 what that chivalry of God is, by citing the vision at 
 Dothan, when Elisha's servant saw the " mountain 2 Kings vi. 
 full of horses and chariots of fire round about." And ^''• 
 thus the sense would be, I have matched thee against ^* ^^''"^'^d- 
 the horses and chariots of Pharaoh. I have set thee, Aponius. 
 My Church, to war against the chief priests and scribes 
 who denied Me. I have set thee to fight against all 
 the darkness and idolatry of the spiritual Egypt. 
 Others would turn it, I have likened thee, who wast 
 once in Pharaoh's chariots, in bondage and misery, to 
 My own chivalry, for I have brought thee through the Beda. 
 Sed Sea of Baptism, and made thee clean and free. A Haymo. 
 yet deeper mystical sense, seeing in the white horse of 
 the Apocalypse, on which He Who is Faithful and J^^ Yn ^^^g- 
 True rides, the Manhood of Cheist bearing His God- xix, ^ 
 head as Its Ruler, — finds here the manner in which 
 Cheist makes His Bride like Himself, in that He Theodoret. 
 "will change our vile Body that it maybe like unto Phiiip.iii.21. 
 His glorious Body." And this He will do, when He irimbert. 
 makes us go up, as He did, " with a merry noise, and ps. xivii.5. 
 the sound of the trump;" when we are "caught up 1 Thess. iv. 
 to meet our Loed in the air;" caught up, as Elijah ^7-. 
 was, by the fiery " chariot of Israel and the horsemen 12. '"^^ "" 
 thereof;" which are those cherubim on which He rides, Ps. xviii. lo. 
 " ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them Heb. i. 14. 
 also, who shall be heirs of salvation ;" horses terrible to 
 Pharaoh's chariots in the battles of the soul, going on jq^ xxxix. 
 to meet the armed men, mocking at fear, and turning 21. 
 
 D 
 
34 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [I. 10. 
 
 S. Thom. k 
 Villanov. 
 
 S. Bernard. 
 Serm. 39. 
 
 Exod. xiv. 
 25. 
 
 Ps. cxi. 10. 
 Zech. X. 3. 
 
 Prov. i. ' 
 
 not back from the sword. Yet another view is that 
 God makes His Saints like His chivalry the Angels, 
 even while He suffers them to be driven by Pharaoh 
 in his chariot ; that is to say, that He gives them 
 grace whereby they lead a life of angelic purity and 
 holiness even while in the prison of the flesh, and 
 sorely tried by temptations of the evil one. " And 
 you will not marvel," adds S. Bernard, "that one soul 
 is here compared not to one horse only, but to a 
 company/ of horses, if you remark how many armies of 
 virtues there are in a single soul which is holy, what 
 orderly array in affections, what discipline in habits, 
 what equipment in prayer, what vigour in action, 
 what dreadfulness in resolution, what steadiness in 
 fight, what aggregate of triumphs." That matching 
 against Pharaoh is no light struggle, as the Saint goes 
 on to say : " There Israel is brought out of Egypt, 
 here man out of the world, there Pharaoh is routed, 
 here the evil one ; there Pharaoh's chariots are over- 
 whelmed, here the carnal and secular desires which 
 war against the soul ; those went down in waves, these 
 in weepings. And I believe that now the demons, if 
 they encounter such a soul, cry out, ' Let us flee from 
 the face of Israel, for the Loed fighteth for him.' " 
 
 10 Thy cheeks are comely with rows of 
 jewels, thy neck with chains of gold. 
 
 This rendering is sufficiently close to the Hebrew 
 text, save that the word " pearls " might perhaps be 
 well substituted for " gold." The simile of the horse 
 continues, and now the costly trappings with which the 
 swift and docile steed is decked are described. First 
 comes the headstall, to which the bit and bridle are at- 
 tached, and this is said to be made with roivs 0^*1111 
 torim, a word akin to Torah, the Law, and denoting 
 orderly arrangement. Thus, the first adornments of 
 the Church of God are the precepts and statutes by 
 which He guides lier, because "the fear of the Loed 
 is the beginning of wisdom," and when " the Loed of 
 Hosts hath visited His flock, and hath made them as 
 His goodly horse in the battle," He adorns the neck 
 which bears His yoke with those additional instruc- 
 tions of which is written in another place, " They shall 
 be an ornament of grace unto thine head, and chains 
 about thy neck." So too the Targum explains it; 
 
I. 10.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 35 
 
 and we liare in Ezekiel a fuller enumeration of this 
 adorning : " I decked thee with ornaments, and I put Ezek. xvi. 
 bracelets upon thine hands, and a chain on thy neck: ^^^ 
 and I put a jewel on thy forehead, and earrings in 
 thine ears, and a beautiful crown upon thine head : 
 thus wast thou decked with gold and silver." But the 
 LXX., Arabic, and Vulgate, taking the word torim in 
 its frequent sense of turtle-doves, translate here. Thy 
 cheeTcs are comely as those of a turtle. The words are 
 spoken by the Bridegroom, says Origen, to comfort Origen. 
 the Bride, deeply blushing at the rebuke she has just Theodoret 
 received. And he explains the cheeks, as the seat of 
 modesty, to be those members of the Church who |; Bernard.' 
 are eminent for purity and shamefastness. They are Rupert, &c. 
 cheeks of a dove, because of the faithfulness of those 
 birds to one another when they have paired ; and so 
 the Church keeps herself faithful to her one Beloved, 
 and mourns for Him when He is absent from her. Of 
 a dove, says another, because Cheist is Himself that 
 Dove, and those Doctors of the Church who are emi- Aponius. 
 nent for holiness, are her cheeTcs, and are like Him. 
 Again, they lay stress on the well known habit of the 
 turtle-dove of dwelling in retired and shady places, to 
 point out the need of solitary retirement for the holy 
 soul. And thus S. Bernard : " It is far above one's serm. 40. 
 own power to be plighted to the Loed of Angels. Is 
 it not beyond thee to cling to God, and to be one spirit 
 with Him "^ Sit then solitary like the turtle, have 
 nothing to do with crowds and multitudes, forget also 
 thine own people and thy father's house, so shall 
 the King have pleasure in thy beauty. . . . With- 
 draw, then, but in soul, in resolve, in devotion, in 
 spirit, not in body." The unvarying note of the 
 turtle suggests to the Greek Fathers the grave and Tres Patr. 
 steadfast discourse of true Christians, as distinguished 
 from the frivolous loquacity of the heathen world. 
 And others dwell on its mournful sound, as typifying Nic. Argent, 
 the tears of pity and intercession flowing down from 
 the contemplative Saints, called the cheeks of the 
 \-.hurch, because close to the eyes, which are the en- 
 lightening gifts of the Holy Spieit. Thy neck as 
 collars. If of " pearl," as suggested above, then the 
 points of likeness will be three, roundness, whiteness, 
 and orderly arrangement, typifying the Heligious Life, 
 round, in the vow of poverty, because as a sphere 
 touches other bodies at one point only, so the profes- 
 D 2 
 
36 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [I. 11. 
 
 Theodoret. 
 S. Hieron.in 
 Esaiam. 
 Tres Patr. 
 
 S. Ambros. 
 in Ps. cxix . 
 
 Cassiod. 
 
 Beda 
 
 S.Ans.Laud. 
 
 S. Greg. M. 
 
 Tres Patr. 
 
 S. Clem. 
 Alex. 
 Paedag.iii. 1. 
 
 Juv. Sat. 
 xvi. 59. 
 
 Targum. 
 Gen. i. 26. 
 Irimbert. 
 
 sion of poverty detaches Eeligious almost completely 
 from earthly things ; white, in the profession of chas- 
 tity ; and regular, in the pledge of obedience to rule. 
 The flexibility of the neck too, as also denoting obe- 
 dience, has been dwelt on by several expositors, and, 
 as some add, it is therefore said, " as a necklace," be- 
 cause of the pliancy of that ornament. And, S. Am- 
 brose observes, the law of God is not a bond or a 
 yoke upon the obedient neck, but a collar, which even 
 dumb animals take pride in wearing. Most early 
 commentators, however, explain the necTc to mean the 
 chief Doctors and preachers of the Church, because, as 
 the throat is the passage for food from the head to 
 the stomach, and is also the channel of speech, so they 
 communicate the doctrine of Cheist to the people, and 
 utter it in their discourse. S. Anselm of Laon adds an- 
 other reason, that they are the link of union between 
 Cheist the Head, and the faithful laity of His Body. 
 And as a necklace goes all round the neck, so true 
 obedience embraces all the actions of the Christian 
 life, especially amongst Eeligious. Again, as necklaces 
 are made of jewels set in gold, so the true adornments 
 of Saints are good works undertaken in wisdom. Once 
 more, as jewelled collars are made of many separate 
 parts, all united in one flexible band, so the decoration 
 of the Bride of Cheist is made up of many virtues, 
 twined with humility. And it is not to be forgotten 
 that in ancient da^^s the jewelled necklace was not 
 merely the ornament of virgins (wherefore a Saint 
 says, addressing women, "Let your collar and chains 
 be modesty and shamefastness,") but also the especial 
 prize of conspicuous valour, 
 
 lit qui fortis erit sit felicissimus idem, 
 
 Ut laeti phaleris omnes et torquibus omnes. 
 
 That whoso valiant is in fight, the same may richest be, 
 And all be glad with costly gauds and collars fair to see. 
 
 11 We will make thee borders of gold with 
 studs of silver. 
 
 We icill maJce. First they ask. Who are these that 
 speak ? And the answer of the Targum is the best, 
 that it is the same Who said in the beginning, " Let us 
 make man in our image ;" to wit, the Most Holy Trinity, 
 Fathee, Son, and Holt Ghost. The Chaldee para- 
 phrast thus continues, " Then was it said unto Moses, 
 
I. 11.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 37 
 
 Get thee up into the mount, and I will give thee two 
 tables of stone, cut from the sapphire throne of My 
 glory, shining as the finest gold, ruled with lines 
 traced by My finger, wherein are written ten sayings, 
 purified more than silver which has been purified 
 seven times, and I will give them by thy hand to the 
 people of the house of Israel." But this sense, beau- 
 tiful as it is, refers to the past, long before the time of 
 the Canticles. It is not We have made, but We will 
 make, and is therefore a promise to the Bride of some 
 good things she has not yet obtained. So then we 
 may compare the similar promise in another place : 
 " Though ye have lien among the pots, yet shall ye be Ps.lxviii. 13 
 as the wings of a dove, that is covered with silver 
 wings, and her feathers like gold," and are led on 
 from the harsh, stern dictates of the Law to the grace 
 and truth of the Gospel, according to that saying of Ainsworth. 
 the Prophet, " For brass I will bring gold, and for isa. ix. 17. 
 iron I will bring silver." We may see here in the 
 word border, a reference to Him Who standeth " round pg. cxxv. 2. 
 about His people for evermore," and then, as it is 
 written, " A word fitly spoken is as apples of gold in 
 pictures of silver," the gold may denote the Godhead 
 of the WoED, the pictures or studs of silver the pure 
 Manhood of Chkist. Several of the Fathers agree s. August, 
 with the general spirit of the Chaldee interpretation, ^' ^J^^' 
 and take the golden borders to denote the knowledge Theodoret. 
 of Holy Scripture, intertwined with silver threads of Aponius. 
 types, prophecies, counsels, and the like, or even with 
 the human eloquence of devout preachers ; silver, as 
 pure and holy, but not golden with direct inspiration. 
 They vary, however, in attributing the words to the 
 Bridegroom or to His friends. Origen, taking the q^. ^^ 
 latter view, and following the LXX. rendering, which "^®"' 
 is similitudes of gold with spots of silver, }ioidi& ^^^^^q^^^^'q 
 the speakers are the Angels, who ordained the Law in oai. m. 19. 
 the hand of a Mediator, and the Prophets who ex- 
 pound that Law. While the King is in Sis lying 
 down, and has not yet come to deck His Bride Him- 
 self, they desire to do something for her adornment. 
 They have no gold, because of "the Law having aHeb. x. i. 
 shadow of good things to come, and not the very 
 image of the things," and therefore they can give only 
 similitudes of gold, the Ark of the Covenant, the 
 altar of incense, the shew-bread, and the like, mere 
 types of future mysteries. They have silver, the 
 
38 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [1.11. 
 
 2 Chron. i. 
 
 15. 
 
 S. Ambros. 
 
 Psellus. 
 
 Philo Carp. 
 Gal. vi. 17. 
 
 S. Greg. M. 
 
 Cassiodor. 
 S. Bruno 
 Ast. 
 
 Dion. Carth 
 
 Parez, 
 
 moral precepts and counsels to guide man's life, but 
 only in very small quantity, so that they can bestow 
 merely spots of it, unlike the true Solomon, of whom it 
 is written, " And the king made silver and gold at Jeru- 
 salem as plenteous as stones." Others, agreeing with 
 Origen in taking the clause While the King is in His 
 lying doton with the present sentence, explain it of 
 the current dispensation, to end when He arises to 
 judgment, and they interpret the similitudes of gold 
 and the spots of silver to be the imperfect foretaste of 
 eternal joys granted to the Church Militant on earth. 
 Again, they take the golden ornaments to signify the 
 cleansing of the Church by fiery persecutions, and in 
 this sense one commentator declares that the Martyrs 
 are the golden jewels of the Church, marked with 
 silver spots denoting the torments and sufferings they 
 endured, as the Apostle writes, " I bear about in my 
 body the marks of the Lord Jesus." 
 
 The Vulgate rendering, nechlets {murenulas, literally, 
 little eels, named from their flexibility and cylindrical 
 form) damascened {vermiculatas) with silver, has given 
 rise to much comment from the Latin Fathers. Thus 
 S. Gregory observes, "The eel is a fish which, when 
 taken, twists itself into a circle, in resemblance of which 
 an ear-ring is made, called muremda, by which is de- 
 noted preaching, which hangs to the ears, and enters 
 them. Collars {monilia) are fastened to the neck with 
 muremilcB, just as wisdom and religion are united by 
 preachers with Holy Writ. For by these necklets we 
 understand Holy Writ to be meant. It is well said 
 to be damascened with gold and silver, because it 
 shines with wisdom, and is heard, by clear preaching, 
 throughout the world." Another Saint, looking to the 
 twinings of the eel, says that the golden necklets de- 
 note the more involved and difficult sayings and doc- 
 trines of Scriptures, and the silver threadings the ex- 
 positions of the Saints thereon. Not very dissimilarly, 
 another holy writer sees in the gold the contemplation 
 of Divine mysteries, and in the silver the created chan- 
 nels through which we are here obliged to make that 
 contemplation. Or, as yet another puts it, the gold is 
 Christ's benefits of love : the silver, the good works 
 and wisdom with which we carry them out. After 
 these explanations, that of Parez seems poor, who 
 takes the golden necklaces to be the spiritual graces of 
 the Church, the silver threadings her temporal endow- 
 
I. 12.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 39 
 
 ments. Lastly, S. Jerome says that gold denotes tlie 
 Virgin life. Before Cheist came, the Church had the 
 silver of chaste marriage and widowhood, but the S. Hieron, 
 more precious metal of virginity was His gift. And j°°*' -^o^"^- 
 the words therefore point to that especial aureole re- 
 served for maiden brows. 
 
 They say, who know the life divine, Keble 
 
 And upward gaze with eagle eyne, Christian 
 
 That by each golden crown on high, Year. 
 
 Rich with celestial jewelry, 
 
 Which for our Lord's redeemed is set. 
 
 There hangs a radiant coronet, 
 
 All gemmed with pure and living light. 
 
 Too dazzling for a sinner's sight, 
 
 Prepared for virgin souls, and them 
 
 "Who seek the Martyr's diadem. 
 
 12 While the king sitteth at his table^ my 
 spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof. 
 
 They assign four principal meanings to this sitting s. Aug. de 
 of the King, or rather, following the original idiom, J^^^- ^- ^• 
 and that of the ancient versions. His lying down. ' ^^^' ' 
 First ; it is taken of the repose of Christ's Godhead 
 in heaven. " The lying-down of the King is the s. Bernard. 
 Bosom of the Father, for the Son is ever in the Fa- ^^^^- '^^^ 
 THER. And thou canst not doubt Him to be a merciful 
 King, whose everlasting down-lying is the dwelling of 
 the Father's lovingkindness. Fitly does the cry of 
 the lowly ascend to Him, Who is the fount and habi- 
 tation of gentleness." And this is the sense in which 
 Origen and those other Fathers who attach the words Ori&en. 
 to the previous verse understand them, taking, as they 
 do, the Incarnation of Christ to be His standing zip to 
 help mankind in the battle. But others will have it Cassiodor. 
 that the Incarnation itself is here meant, called lying ^^^^: 
 down because of the humility with which the Lord p°^"®' 
 emptied Himself of His glory. Thirdly ; the Passion s. Just. Org. 
 and Death of Christ, His lying down on the Cross and ^iitodo^ret."^' 
 in the grave, is the view of more than one Saint and s. Greg. 
 Father. And lastly ; there is the indwelling of Christ ^^^^p ^ 
 in the holy soul. They vary also as to the meaning of 
 the spikenard. The older interpretation explains it of 
 Christ Himself, " It is no marvel," says Origen, " if Origen. 
 Christ, as He is the Fountain, and streams of living 
 water proceed out of Him ; and as He is the Bread, and Theodoret. 
 gives life; so He is the Spikenard also, and gives odour, 
 
40 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [I. 12. 
 
 Heb. V. 14. 
 
 Serm. 42. 
 
 Rupert. 
 
 Parez. 
 
 Dion. Carth 
 
 Philipp. 
 Harveng. 
 
 and is the ointment wherewith those who are anointed 
 become Christs, as He saith in the Psalm, 'Touch 
 not My Christs.' And it maybe that as the Apostle 
 saith, unto ' those who by reason of use have their 
 senses exercised to discern both good and evil,' Cheist 
 adapts Himself for each of the soul's senses. There- 
 fore He is called the True Light, that the soul's eyes 
 may have illumination ; therefore He is the Woed, 
 that the ears may hearken ; therefore He is the Bread 
 of Life, that the soul's taste may perceive savour. 
 Therefore also He is called spikenard or ointment, that 
 the soul's sense of smell may receive the fragrance of 
 the WoED. Therefore, too. He can be touched and 
 handled with the hand, and the Woed was made flesh, 
 that the hands of the inner soul might handle the 
 Word of Life." Next ; the spikenard will denote the 
 lowliness of the Church, or of the soul which draws 
 near God. " Good," exclaims S. Bernard, " is that 
 odour of humility which, ascending from the vale of 
 tears, and impregnating all the regions round about, 
 perfumes with grateful sweetness the royal chamber 
 itself. The spikenard is a lowly plant, which they who 
 have carefully studied the properties of herbs state to 
 be of a warm nature, and thus I hold it not unsuitable 
 to understand here that virtue of humility which is hot 
 with the exhalations of holy love." And if it be true 
 of all humble saints, whether of the Old or New Cove- 
 nant, as they allege, much more is it so of her, the 
 holiest and most exalted of all, in whose hallowed womb 
 the King vouchsafed to lie down. " The King Him- 
 self," says a saintly writer, venturing, with holy bold- 
 ness, to put words into the pure mouth of the Mother 
 of God, " Son of the Most Highest King, Himself of 
 no lesser dignity, from His equal throne with the Fa- 
 THEE, from His royal seat, from the secret dwelling of 
 His unapproachable Majesty, where the Angels see 
 and desire His Face evermore, vouchsafed to come 
 hither to earth for the salvation of perishing souls, 
 and rested in my chamber. In my womb, I say, that 
 King gladly laid Himself down, and found nought in 
 me to make His dwelling displeasing to Him. And 
 there lying, He filled me marvellously with His grace : 
 While preserving my virginity. He took away my 
 maiden barrenness, and His forceful fire consumed me 
 as a whole burnt-offering, and filled the entire house 
 with the most fragrant perfume of ointment." 
 
I. 12.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 41 
 
 Only her spacious soul, the blessed Sea, j, Beau- 
 
 Where all those floods of precious things did meet, mont, 
 
 Knew what it comprehended ; Glorious, she Psyche, vii. 
 
 Did taste the relish of each mystic sweet 98. 
 In one miraculous instant, and did try 
 The various dainties of Divinity. 
 
 And so, too, it was not till He came in the flesh, that 
 the sweet odour of the Church went up to God, filling 
 His house, the earth, and no longer shut up in the 
 narrow casket of Judea. Thirdly ; they explain the 
 spikenard of repentance, and here, most naturally, that origen, 
 other Mary, who anointed the feet of Jesus with oint- Beda. 
 ment of spikenard, very precious, when her King sat ■'^P"^^"^- 
 at table, is taken as the type of all true penitent souls. 
 
 In praedulci unctione, The Hymn, 
 
 Nardum ferens pisticum, Pange, 
 
 Et unguenti fusione lingua, 
 
 Typum gessit mysticum, Magdalena. 
 Ut sanetur unctione, 
 Unxit aegra Modicum. 
 
 She, in that anointing sweetest, 
 Bearing spikenard rich and pure. 
 In its pouring-out completest, 
 Showed us mystic types and sure, 
 Sick, she gave that Healer meetest 
 What she sought herself for cure. 
 
 l^ext ; it is taken to denote the faith of the Church s. Ambros. 
 in her Incarnate, suffering, and risen Lord, and her J" ps. cxix. 
 preaching of that faith till its perfume filled the world. ^" ^^^^' ^^^' 
 Fifthly ; it is explained of all good works, especially 
 of prayer. And following this view in connection with cassiodor 
 that which sees in the lying doivn, the Passion and Beda. 
 Burial of Cheist, we may remember not only the 
 spices with which the Sacred Body was interred, but 
 also those which the holy women brought to the sepul- 
 chre, deeming Him to be still there, and may take upon 
 our lips those words of the Holy Eastern Church : 
 
 Let us rise in early morning, S. Johann. 
 
 And instead of ointments, bring Damasc. 
 
 Hymns of praise unto our Master, ^^^ Golden 
 
 And His Resurrection sing, Canon. 
 We shall see the Sun of Justice 
 Risen with healing in His wing. 
 
 And this especially when we approach the sacred 
 Banquet wherein the King indeed sitteth at His table, 
 to feed His guests with His own most precious Body 
 
42 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [I. 13. 
 
 S. Greg. M. 
 
 Theodoret. 
 Honor. Aug. 
 
 Origen. 
 
 S. Ambros. 
 inPs. cxix. 
 
 S. Greg. 
 
 Nyss. 
 
 Origen. 
 
 2 S. Pet. i. 
 20. 
 
 Aponius. 
 Cassiodor. 
 S. Greg. M. 
 
 Prudent. 
 Cathera. x. 
 51. 
 
 S. Johnxix. 
 
 and Blood. We greet Him, however, not only in His 
 glorious Eesurrection, but in His wonderful Ascension, 
 so that the odour of our petitions and holy deeds may 
 be wafted upwards to His feet as He sits on the great 
 white throne. When the fires of Pentecost came down 
 after Chkist went up and entered His chamber once 
 more, then the words of salvation and the holy ex- 
 amples of the Saints of God sent their fragrance over 
 all the earth, because the incense was kindled by the 
 flame of the Spieit. 
 
 13 A bundle of myrrh is my wellbeloved unto 
 me ; he shall lie all night betwixt my breasts. 
 
 As we had in the spilcenard the Incarnation of 
 Cheist, so here we have His Passion set before us in 
 the myrrh. And observe, this myrrh is not loose, but 
 in a bundle, tied up. First then, Cheist is a bundle 
 for us, because He was not content to be with us in the 
 Omnipresence of His Godhead, but came to us also 
 bound in human form, and with like passions to ours. 
 He is a bundle, again, because He ties Himself to our 
 souls with the cords of His most tender and unfailing 
 love. And thirdly ; because each group of Cheist's 
 sayings, and each doctrine or miracle of His, is bound 
 up with others, with the cord of truth, and cannot be 
 taken separately. And this is what the Apostle means 
 when he says that " no prophecy of the Scripture is of 
 any private interpretation." Next ; the bundle is of 
 myrrh, because that bitter herb typifies the suffering 
 and death of Cheist, and also the share in that suf- 
 fering which must be the lot of all who follow Him. 
 Myrrh, they remind us, was used in the burial of the 
 dead, to preserve the body from corruption. 
 
 Aspersaque myrrha Sabseo 
 Corpus medicamine servat. 
 
 And myrrh which is sprinkled preserveth 
 With unguent of Saba the body. 
 
 And therefore the Church, mindful not only of the 
 mixture of myrrh and aloes which Nicodemus brought 
 for the burial of the Loed, but of her own preservation 
 from the rottenness of sin by His dying, dwells in 
 thankful love on the story of His Passion. He shall 
 lie all night. The words all night are not necessarily 
 implied in the Hebrew, nor are they expressed in the 
 
I. 13.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 43 
 
 old versions, but tlie verb Vy^ lun here used, so often 
 has this sense/ that we need not hesitate to apply their 
 mystical import. All night, then, in all time of our 
 tribulation, in every sorrow, and throughout the dark- 
 ness of this world, till the day break, Christ shall be 
 with us, closest and dearest. Betwixt my breasts. And 
 that because He is 3Iy Well-beloved. "Just now," 
 says S. Bernard, "He was King, now He is Well- s. Bernard, 
 beloved. Just now, He was in His lying down, now ^^^^- *^- 
 betwixt the breasts of His spouse. Great is the might 
 of humility, to which the majesty of Godhead so 
 readily bows itself. The name of reverence is quickly 
 changed into that of love, and He Who was far off, 
 speedily is near. A bundle of myrrh is my Well-beloved 
 unto me. Myrrh is a bitter thing, harsh and rough ; 
 it denotes tribulation. She, knowing that it awaits 
 her for her Beloved's sake, utters that saying thank- 
 fully, trusting that she can valiantly bear it all. ' The Acts v. 4i. 
 disciples departed,' she says, ' from the presence of 
 the Council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy 
 to suffer shame for His Name.' " Betioixt my breasts. 
 The metaphor is taken from the Eastern custom of 
 carrying a small posy or bag of myrrh in the bosom, 
 to scent the clothes, and also as a safeguard against Cassiodor. 
 infection, and thence it is fitly transferred to them who 
 keep in their heart the memory of Cheist's death. 
 My breasts. Of the Church, the Old and New Testa- 
 ments, one with its prophecies and types of the Passion, 
 the other with the history and the results of it, between Phiio Carp, 
 which lies the scarred form of the Man of Sorrows. 
 My breasts, of the holy soul, which carries Christ be- 
 tween the two great commandments, the love of God g gt&s. m. 
 and the love of one's neighbour. A bundle of myrrh 
 betwixt the breasts of His most dear Mother, in His 
 Incarnation, because He preserved her then pure from Parez. 
 all taint of her virginity ; and again in the hour of His 
 Passion, when the sword passed through her bosom, Rupert, 
 and she tasted the bitterness of death with Him. And 
 it is because of all these reasons that it has been the ^^°"- c^^^^^^- 
 delight of Christians for many centuries, and especially 
 of those Virgin souls which are dedicated to their 
 Lord, of whom it is written, 
 
 T , , , . . ,. Godeschal- 
 
 In earum pectore cubat in mendie, cus. The 
 
 Inter mammas virginum collocans cubiculum ; Sequence, 
 
 Virgines 
 1 Gen. xix. 2 ; Judg. xix. 6, 9; Ruthiii. 13 ; Job xxix. 19, &c. cas*«- 
 
44 A COMMENTARY ON [I. 14. 
 
 He lieth on their bosom in the noontide, 
 
 Making His couch betwixt the breasts of the virgins ; 
 
 to wear the crucifix upon their breasts in memory of 
 their suffering Bridegroom. 
 
 14 My beloved is unto me as a cluster of 
 camphire in the vineyards of En-gedi. 
 
 Dion. Garth. And now we have the E-esurrection. There is no 
 doubt as to the plant intended here, which is the famous 
 henna of the East, worn by the women in posies on 
 their breasts, because of its beautiful and fragrant 
 blossoms, and employed as a dye to give the favourite 
 golden red tinge to their nails. And the word "l^-^ 
 Com. k Lap. copher, here read in the Hebrew, means also expiation 
 or ransom, so that we have here a confession from the 
 Thrupp. Bride of the preciousness and fragrance of that Re- 
 demption wrought for her, which makes the traces of 
 Christ's Passion appear even in her humblest mem- 
 bers. This camphire can be gathered only in the vine- 
 yards, where the wine of the Passion is produced, 
 vineyards truly of En-gedi, the " fountain of the kid," 
 Cassiodor. because when the mingled tide flowed from the spear 
 Phiio Carp, wound On the Cross, then the prophecy was fulfilled, 
 s" Bernard' " ^^ *^^^ ^^^ there shall be a fountain opened to the 
 Zech. xiu. i. house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for 
 sin and for uncleanness," and the waters of Baptism 
 were provided to wash away our guilt. En-gedi now, be- 
 cause of the clear sweet waters of the Gospel, but once 
 Gen. xiv. 7. Hazazon-Tamar, the " pruning of the palm," by reason 
 2 Chron. xx. of the stern precepts of the Law, cutting off, rather than 
 ^' cleansing, the sinner. An ambiguity in the LXX. and 
 
 Vulgate rendering of *|D3n 722^^^^ eshcol lia-coplier, 
 which they both turn hotrus Cypri, has led to much 
 difficulty and variety of exposition amongst both Greek 
 and Latin commentators. With the single exception 
 of Origen, who rightly explains the words of a thickly 
 flowering shrub, (though he prefers, after all, to follow 
 the less correct rendering,) they agree in taking hotrus 
 to mean a cluster of grapes, and the Latins, for the most 
 part, suppose Cypri to denote the island of Cyprus, then, 
 as now, famous for its wine, and thus merely an epithet 
 of excellence. Others, nearer to the truth, take it to be 
 the proper name of a halsam-tree, resembling the grape 
 in its clusters, and therefore said to grow in vineyards. 
 
I. 14.] 
 
 THE SONG OF SONGS. 
 
 45 
 
 It is not a' little curious that the error of rendering grajpe 
 for cluster is found not only in those who followed the 
 ambiguous rendering, but in the Chaldee Targum itself. 
 The Greeks generally suppose Cypri to denote blooming 
 ov flowering, from the verb Kvirpi^co, and interpret the 
 whole phrase, a grape infloiver, i.e., before the fruit is 
 developed. " And this," says Origen, " because those Origen. 
 to whom the Word is the True Vine, do not find Him 
 giving them all at once ripe and sweet grapes ; nor 
 does He suddenly become to them that rich wine which 
 makes glad the heart of man, but first He gives them 
 only the pleasant odour of blossoms. This flowering 
 grape is said to be in the vineyards of Engaddi ; that 
 its grateful fragrance may at the very beginning be 
 poured into the soul ; that she may afterwards endure 
 the bitterness of trials and temptations which beset 
 believers for the sake of the Woed of God ; and at 
 last He gives them the sweetness of His maturity, till 
 He brings them to the wine-presses, where is poured 
 out the blood of the grape, the blood of the New Testa- 
 ment, which shall be drunk on the festal day above, 
 where the great banquet is prepared .... And in 
 that this flowering grape is said to be of the vineyards 
 of Engaddi : the word Engaddi is interpreted, the eye 
 of my temptation} Any one, then, who understands 
 how men's life on earth is a temptation, and who also 
 knows how one is delivered in God out of temptation, 
 and who detects the nature of his own special tempta- 
 tion, so that it may be said of him that in all these 
 things he hath not sinned with his li^^s before God : 
 to such a man the Word of God becomes a flowering 
 grape in the vineyards of Engaddi." 
 
 Some of the Latin Fathers, remembering the vine- s. Ambros. 
 bunch borne on the pole by the spies, see in the grape s.^j^tforg. 
 of Cyprus the Crucifixion of Christ ; and in Engaddi, 
 the Scribes and Pharisees who surrounded and tempted 
 
 1 This curious rendering may 
 thus be accounted for : En or 
 Ain is strictly the eye, and is 
 merely transferred by metaphor 
 to a pool or fountain, as an eye 
 of the earth. Gaddi is ex- 
 plained, "my temptation," by 
 following the LXX. interpre- 
 tation of Gen. xlix. 19, where 
 read, " Gad, a temptation 
 shall tempt him," instead of 
 
 our reading, " a troop shall 
 ovei-comehim." From the verb 
 Tia or I'ii, properly " to press 
 violently on," with the pi-o- 
 nominal suffix, comes Origen's 
 view. Another explanation, 
 "my cutting," referred to later, 
 comes from another sense of the 
 same verb, "to prune," or 
 "make an incision." 
 
46 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [I. 14. 
 
 S. Bernard. 
 Serm. 44. 
 
 Rom.iv. 25, 
 
 Aponius. 
 
 S. Mat. V. 4. 
 
 Corn, a Lap. 
 Hortolanus. 
 
 S. Hieron. 
 Trad. in 
 Gen. xiv. 
 
 S. Ambros. 
 in Ps. cxix. 
 
 Beda. 
 
 Him ; but the majority prefer to take it of the Resur- 
 rection. And thus, amongst several others, S. Ber- 
 nard : " If He be well-beloved in myrrh, much more 
 in the sweetness of the grape-bunch. Therefore my 
 Lord Jesus is myrrh to me in His death, a grape-bunch. 
 in His Resurrection. He mingled Himself for me as 
 the most healthful of drinks, in tears, in a measure. 
 He died for our offences, and rose again for our justi- 
 fication ; that dead unto sin, we might live unto righ- 
 teousness. Therefore, if thou hast mourned for thy 
 sins, thou hast drunk bitterness ; but if thou hast re- 
 vived with holier conversation in hope of life, the bit- 
 terness of the myrrh is changed for thee into wine, 
 which maketh glad the heart of man." Aponius, con- 
 trariwise, from finding here in the meaning of Cypri 
 a reference to the funereal cypress, explains that 
 Cheist is the grape of sorroio to sinners, when He 
 pours the spirit of grief and comiDunction into their 
 souls, according to His own saying, " Blessed are 
 they that mourn, for they shall be comforted." And 
 that in Engaddi, because it is the fount of penitential 
 tears which washes the rank-smelling kids. Again ; 
 if Engaddi be explained fount of my cutting, it may 
 be taken of the precious balsam for all our hurts, 
 flowing from the wounded side of Christ, as balm from 
 the incisions in a tree. They are also careful to dwell 
 on the fact that En-gedi was the place whence the 
 choicest balsam came. And thus S. Ambrose, though 
 explaining one word differently : " Engaddi is a place 
 in Judaea, where opobalsam grows. If you ask its 
 meaning, it is in Latin, temptation. In those vineyards 
 is a tree which yields ointment if pierced, and this is 
 the product of that tree. If it be not cut, it is not so 
 fragrant and penetrating in odour, but when it has been 
 skilfully pierced, it drops a tear. So Christ, crucified 
 on that Tree of temptation, weeps over His people, to 
 wash away our sins, and from the bowels of His mercy 
 pours ointment upon us, saying, * Father, forgive 
 them, for they know not what they do.' Then He 
 was pierced with a spear on the Tree, and there came 
 forth from Him blood and water, sweeter than any 
 ointment, a victim acceptable to God, pouring the 
 odour of sanctification throughout the world ; and as 
 balsam from a tree, so power went forth from His 
 Body." Beda, following up a reference of S. Gregory 
 the Great to the use of balsam in chrism, teUs us that 
 
I. 15.] 
 
 THE SONG OF SONGS. 
 
 47 
 
 the balsam denotes the graces of the Holy Spirit, and 
 bids us note the collocation of ideas. The Bride first 
 says, that her spikenard yielded its odour while the 
 King was lying down, then she compares Him to a 
 bundle of myrrh ; and thirdly, calls Him a grape-cluster 
 of Cyprus ; declaring lastly, that He is in the vineyards 
 of Engaddi. And that because a devout woman first 
 anointed the Loed with spikenard when He lay down 
 at supper. After that, the disciples wrapped in fine 
 linen His crucified Body, anointed with myrrh for 
 burial, and after this, He, in the joy of His Eesurrec- Philo Carp, 
 tion, which came so soon, bestows spiritual gifts on the 
 faithful. And it is said i7i the vineyards, denoting the 
 Churches and faithful souls whicli rejoice in the re- 
 demption bought for her by Cheist. Nowhere, save Aponius. 
 in Engedi, adds another, for just as many kings tried |- Bernard, 
 in vain to transplant the balsams of that place success- 
 fully, so there is but the one faith wherein the Bride 
 can find her Beloved, and the life of Cheist, outside 
 His Church, withers away in the soul. 
 
 15 Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, 
 thou art fair ; thou hast doves' eyes. 
 
 " This," notes Origen, " is the second address of the Ongen. 
 Bridegroom to the Bride. In his former speech He 
 invited her to learn to know herself, telling her that 
 she was fairest among women, but that unless she did 
 know herself, she should certainly undergo sufferings. 
 And as she at once hasted in thought and understand- 
 ing to self-knowledge. He compares her to His horses 
 or chivalry, whereby He overcame Pharaoh's chariots. 
 So too He compares her cheeks to turtle-doves because 
 of her great modesty and her swiftness in action, and 
 her neck to jewelled collars. Now, He declares her 
 to be fair, and not as before, merely fair among women, 
 but as near Himself,^ and lifts her to a still higher title 
 of praise, and affirms that she is not fair merely when 
 near to Him, but/a/r even if He be absent. For this 
 is denoted hereby, that after saying. Behold tliou art 
 fair, My comjDaiiion, (A. V. marg.,) He adds after 
 this absolutely, and without any addition, Behold, thou 
 
 ' The LXX. translate W!?"), 
 my neighbour, r) irXr^aiov fiov. 
 The root is TO^, he fed, and the 
 
 primary meaning of the word 
 is " one who eats at the same 
 table." 
 
48 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [I. 15. 
 
 S. Greg. 
 
 Nyss. 
 Psellus. 
 
 Origen. 
 
 Philo Carp. 
 
 Tres. Patr. 
 
 Cassiod. 
 
 Beda. 
 
 S. Just. Org. 
 
 S. Greg. M. 
 
 S. Bernard. 
 Serm. 45. 
 
 Dion. Carth, 
 
 Thom. 
 Vercell. 
 
 Hugo Card. 
 
 Origen. 
 Philo Carp. 
 Cassiod. 
 
 art fairy Man, comment other Greek Fathers, is like 
 a mirror, which appears beautiful or hideous according 
 to the object closest to it, which it reflects, and there- 
 fore in this life Christ's Bride can be fair only by- 
 nearness to Him, that His countenance may shine on 
 and in her, His companion. But in the world to come, 
 when the Church is no longer militant, but Trium- 
 phant, she will have perfection and beauty, not as now 
 by imitation, but inherently of her own. Others, in- 
 cluding some Western expositors, take the words of 
 the double holiness in act and thought, in labour and 
 contemplation, in body and soul, vouchsafed by Christ 
 to His Bride. S. Gregory the Great sees here, as in 
 the two breasts of a former verse, the love of God and 
 of one's neighbour as the double beauty of the Church ; 
 while S. Bernard prefers to find in the words a reference 
 to the grace of penitence, whereby pardon, and thereby 
 renewed beauty, has been won, and that of humility, 
 whereby it is retained. " The repetition," says the Ec- 
 static Doctor, " is a token of affirmation, of love, of se- 
 riousness, and to arouse attention, as though He were 
 saying, Thou, My Bride, My holy and elect Church, for 
 which I gave Myself up to death, thou art fair in soul 
 and in chastity of body. Fair by the gifts of nature, 
 fairer by the blessings of grace. Fair within by the 
 brightness of thy virtues, gifts, and merits : fair with- 
 out, in thy most lovely ways. Fair in the beauty of 
 the Sacraments, adorned with the manifold divisions 
 of thy ministry, the varied order, station, and ranks of 
 thy prelates, religious, and doctors, decked not only 
 with those supernatural gifts of that grace which, 
 maketh us graceful, but of that grace which is given 
 freely." And that, comments another, because the first 
 fairness is of the purgative way, which brings us to 
 know ourselves and love God ; the other, the illumina- 
 tive, which makes perfect, because we see God as He 
 is. Another explanation, not without some beauty, 
 sees here the twofold Church, Hebrew and Gentile, the 
 first having been long God's companion, the other but 
 lately come to Him, but both alike fair in His sight. 
 
 Thou hast doves' eyes. First, they take it of the en- 
 lightening graces of the Holy Ghost, granted to the 
 Church and to every faithful soul. Then, of the inner 
 vision of the soul herself, fixed on heavenly things. 
 Doves' eyes, not only because of the Dove that came 
 to Jordan, but as the type of meekness and purity, 
 
I. 15.] 
 
 THE SONG OF SONGS. 49 
 
 and conjugal faithfulness. Thus, for the one part, 
 Venerable Bede observes : " Christ's love has doves Beda. 
 eyes, because every soul which truly loves Him inter- 
 nally, is not fired, like hawks, with greed for things 
 without, nor plans evil against any living things ; for 
 it is said to belong to the meek nature of the dove, to 
 look on everything that may happen with simple, 
 gentle, and lowly heart." And for the other view, let 
 us hear S. Gregory : " Her eyes are well said to be s. Greg.M. 
 doves' eyes, because whilst she sighs amidst passing 
 things, and is borne aloft to eternal longings, she 
 guards her senses in simplicity, and abhors fleshly de- 
 sires. For the dove, when loving, utters sighs instead 
 of songs. Fitly, then, is the holy soul compared to a 
 dove, for whilst the ungodly prate and rejoice in their 
 love of the world, the elect soul pines in her longing 
 for heaven, because she fears to lose that which she 
 loves so long as it is delayed." And Psellus turns it Pseilus. 
 prettily of the virgin life, looking to the Creator and 
 not to the creature : 
 
 'iSou, (^Tjcri, KaX^ rvyxdveis, S> -napQive, 
 Ixfts yap Ofx/xara Tepirva irepicrT^pas ttapQhov 
 oiroTai' GOV tovs o(p6a\uovs air 4 a Tp€\p as ttjs irKawrjs, 
 Kal irphs ifxe rhv TrXcurrovpyhv rhu ahv ivarevi^en' 
 irepiarcpas Se ij.€fxvr]Tai uui/ 6(p9a\jj.ous 6 \6yos, 
 rb KaOaphv tov /3Ae/u,uaTos (rr^ixaiuwv -^7)9 irapdeuoVf 
 Kal yap roaovTov Kadaphv (crx^v iKelvrj fiKefifiaf 
 &aT€ KareiSe Kadapis 7hv KaWicrroi/ vvfM<pioy. 
 
 Behold, He saith, Virgin, thou art fair, 
 
 Thou ha&t tlie sweet eyes of a virgin dove, 
 
 "When thou hast turned thine eyes from wandering, 
 
 And gazest upon Mh, thy fashioner. 
 
 The Word now maketh mention of doves' eyes, 
 
 Noting the purencss of the virgin's mien ; 
 
 For she halh just such pureness in her mien 
 
 As she hath purely scauned her fairest Spouse. 
 
 Another interpretation sees in the eyes of the Church, Aponius. 
 the Prophets and Apostles of earlier times, and the s. Greg. M. 
 great Doctors and preachers of later days. And thus S. 
 Anselm of Laon : The dove lives beside streams, that s.Ans.Laud. 
 when she sees the hawk she may plunge in and escape, 
 ihe chooses the better grains, she nourishes young ones 
 Qot her own, she wounds not with her beak ; she has 
 no gall, she makes her nest in the holes of the rock, 
 he has a sigh instead of a song. So too, holy preachers Honorius 
 iwell beside the streams of the divine Scripture, where- Augustod. 
 
 B 
 
50 A COMMENTARY ON [I. 16j. 
 
 with their hearts are watered, that by their aid theyr 
 may escape the devil's assaults ; they choose the better r 
 grains, that is, the better doctrines, not those of here-, 
 tics ; they nourish the young of others, that is, theyr 
 train with precept and example men who were formerly? 
 aliens from Cheist and children of the evil one. They? 
 do not rend with their beak, that is, they do not, like? 
 heretics, pervert and rend sound doctrines ; they aree 
 free from gall, that is, unreasonable anger. They buildl 
 in the clefts of the rock, that is, they make their nestt 
 in the death- wounds of Christ, Who is the firmest off 
 all rocks. They have sighing for singing, because as^ 
 others delight in song, so do they in tribulation. Be-- 
 sides, the dove flies in flocks, and so the Church strives > 
 s. Bernard, to draw many with her to the joys of heaven. Finally, 
 Hugo Vict, they expound this whole verse of the Blessed Virgin, 
 Dicm.'^Carth./'^^^' in her purity, fair in her lowliness, fair in the 
 ' beauty of her earthly body,/a/rer in the loveliness ofi 
 her stainless soul, fair in her virginity, fair in hen 
 childbearing, and, as she was full of grace, and espe-- 
 cially dowered by the Holy Ghost, she has doves eyes. 
 
 The Hyron, 
 
 Tu columba nubilis, 
 
 Reginamise- 
 
 Tiirtur subarrhata, 
 
 ricordice. 
 
 Tu domus eburnea, 
 
 
 Civitas murala ; 
 
 
 Tu sic dicta viola, 
 
 
 Quod inviolata, 
 
 
 Ager, rosa, lilium, 
 
 
 Mater, uxor, nata. 
 
 Mary, thou art bridal dove, 
 
 Thou art turtle dowered, 
 Ivory abode of love, 
 
 City strongly towered ; 
 
 Thou, inviolate by stain, 
 
 Name of violet bearest, 
 Rose-bud, lily-flower, plain, 
 
 Child, spouse, mother fairest. 
 
 16 Behold, thou art fair, my beloved, yea, 
 pleasant ; also our bed is green. 
 
 It is now the Bride who speaks in answer to the 
 praises which the Bridegroom has just uttered to her. 
 And here at once arises the question so much debated 
 in the Early Church, as to the physical aspect of 
 Cheist. The Eastern Fathers, almost universally, 
 
I. 16.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 51 
 
 press the literal sense of such texts as that in Isaiah. 
 " He hath no form or comeliness, and when we shall , 
 see Him there is no beauty that we should desire 
 Him." But the Western doctors, with more than 
 equal unanimity, explain these and the like phrases 
 as denoting only the lowliness and suffering of His 
 earthly life, Who yet was " fairer than the children of ps. xiv. 3. 
 men." The Bride, remarks Origen, now that she is ori^en 
 gifted with the spiritual insight of doves' eyes, recog- xheodoret. 
 nises the beauty of her Spouse, namely, the Godhead Tres Patr. 
 hidden under the veil of Humanity. TJiou, she says, 
 art fair. She does not qualify the words as He did, g f^^ 
 by adding among men, for she knows of none other Nyss. 
 beauty save His, not even her own, as she ascribes it Angeiomus. 
 all to Him. " To us who now believe," exclaims S. 
 Augustine, " the Bridegroom ever seems fair. Fair s. August, 
 was God the Word with God, fair in the Virgin's '^ ^^' •^^^' 
 womb, where He lost not His Divinity and took on 
 Him Manhood. Fair was the Word born an Infant, 
 for when He was an Infant, when He sucked, and was 
 carried in arms, the Heavens spake, and the Angels 
 uttered praise. A star guided the wise men, and the 
 Food of the meek was worshipped in the manger. 
 Fair was He then in heaven, fair on earth, fair in the 
 womb, fair in His parents' arms, fair in His miracles, 
 fair in His scourges, fair inviting us to life, fair reck- 
 ing not of death, fair laying down His life, fair taking 
 it again, fair upon the Tree, fair in the tomb, fair in 
 heaven, fair unto the thought." 
 
 He is not fair only, but pleasant, a yet stronger 
 word, denoting, as they say, far more than mere beauty chislerius. 
 of feature, that winning grace in expression, voice, ges- 
 ture, and act, which attracts affection even as har- 
 monious regularity of countenance compels admiration. 
 And they delight in finding twin sources of beauty in 
 the Hedeemer in the most various ways. First, and 
 most obviously, we may take it of the two Natures in „ p „ 
 His one Person, the first being fair by reason of its Beda^^' 
 Divine essence, the ^econdi pleasant for its tender par- 
 doning grace. " How fair art Thou unto Thine Angels, §. Bernard. 
 O Lord Jesu," cries a Saint, '' in the form of God, in Serm. 45. 
 Thine eternal day, in the splendour of the Saints, Thou 
 splendour and image of the Father's substance, 
 begotten before the morning star. Thou truly ever- 
 lasting and undimmed radiance of unending life ! 
 How pleasant art Thou to me, my Loed, in the very 
 E 2 
 
52 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [I. 16. 
 
 PS. XXXV. 
 
 10. 
 
 Philo Carp. 
 
 Aponius. 
 
 Origen. 
 Ps. cxxi. 6. 
 
 S. Ambros. 
 
 S. Greg. 
 Nyss. 
 Tres Patr. 
 Ps. xci. 4. 
 
 seat of this pleasantness of Thine ! For where Thou 
 didst empty Thyself, where Thou didst strip Thine 
 unwaning light of its natural rays, there Thy loving- 
 kindness shone forth the more, there Thy charity 
 blazed out more brightly, there Thy grace shed its 
 rays further. How bright to me is Thine arising, O 
 Star out of Jacob ; how gleaming is Thy coming up, 
 O Flower of Jesse's Root; how joyous is Thy light, 
 visiting me in darkness, O Dayspring from on high ! 
 How fascinating and wondrous is Thine heavenly 
 might, in Thy conception by the Holy Ghost, in Thy 
 Yirgin-birth, in Thy stainless life, in Thy streams of 
 doctrine, in the flashings of Thy miracles, in the reve- 
 lations of Thy Sacraments ! How brilliantly, O Sun 
 of righteousness, dost Thou arise from the heart of 
 the earth after Thy setting, how beautiful in Thine 
 apparel ! At last, 6 King of Glory, Thou ascendest 
 to the highest heavens. Wherefore then should not 
 all my bones say, ' Lokd, who is like unto Thee?'" 
 He was/air, observes an Eastern Father, in the Pro- 
 phets, but pleasant in the Apostles ; fair in keeping 
 those good things which He gave under the Law, 
 pleasant in the abundant promises of better things m 
 the Gospel. Fair in His pure ^odij , pleasant m His 
 stainless human soul. 
 
 Also our bed is green. This, the true sense of the 
 Hebrew, is not found either in LXX. or Vulgate. 
 The former has two readings, each adopted by certain 
 expositors. 0«r bed is shady, and Thou art a shadow 
 to our bed. The Vulgate has. Our bed is jioioery. 
 Origen, taking the first reading, explains that the 
 Bride says our bed, because her members are Christ's 
 members, and adds that it is shady because of His 
 promise, "The sun shall not burn thee by day, 
 neither the moon by night," and shady too because of 
 the thick growth of good works from souls watered by 
 His grace, and not parched up with spiritual dryness, 
 under which shade we may avoid the hot breath of 
 sin. Theodoret, who takes the same reading, expounds 
 the bed to be the divine Scriptures, shady because 
 guarded by the grace of the Holy Spieit, and shel- 
 tered from the heat of wickedness. The other LXX. 
 reading, which is the received one, is followed by 
 several Eastern Fathers, but they do not take it, as 
 might be expected, in the sense of those words, " He 
 shall defend thee under His wings, and thou shall 
 
I. 16.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 53 
 
 be safe under His feathers," but of tlie Human Na- 
 ture of Christ, mercifully shading from our eyes the 
 dazzling glory of His Godhead, on which man cannot 
 look and live. The Latin commentators, for the most s. Greg. M. 
 part, expound the bed of the tranquillity of the Church, 
 flowery Avith the many virtues of the Saints. Beda, Beda. 
 reproducing in a Christian form the explanation of 
 the Targum, adds that the Church is flowery not only 
 with good works, but with the abundant offspring of 
 faithful, produced to God from water and the Spieit, 
 and blooming with the flower of faith. And it is to 
 be noted, continues he, that throughout this book the 
 Bride always expresses a desire to be with her Spouse 
 in the house, on the bed, or any other inner place, 
 whereas the Bridegroom is always summoning His 
 love to outer tasks, to the labours of the vineyards or 
 of the gardens. And that because Holy Church, if it 
 might be, would ever gladly converse with her Lord 
 in the quiet of earthly peace, and bring forth and train 
 up for Him a heavenly progeny. But He ordains her 
 to be tried by constant suflTerings in the present life, 
 that she may arrive, all the purer, at everlasting 
 blessings, and lest, if all temporal things should be 
 too prosperous, she might take pleasure in her exile, 
 and sigh less after the Heavenly Country. Another 
 sees in the flowery bed that hallowed womb where the Rupert. 
 Incarnate Lord rested for nine months, and the same 
 idea, substituting the overshadowing trees (denoting 
 darkness and mystery) for the blossoming flowers of 
 beauty and lowliness, is seen in the way in which the 
 Greek Fathers explain the LXX. reading of Habakkuk 
 ii. 3 : " God shall come from Teman, and the Holy 
 from the thick and shady mountain of Paran." Thus 
 in the Eastern Office for Christmas Day : 
 
 Rod of the Root of Jesse, _ _ 
 
 Thou, Flower of Mary born, S- Cosmas. 
 
 From that thick shady mountain 
 
 Cain'st glorious forth this morn : 
 Of her, the Ever- Virgin, 
 
 Incarnate wast Thou made, 
 The immaterial Essence, 
 
 The God by all obeyed ! 
 
 I think," observes S. Bernard, "that the Church's s. Bernard. 
 ^ bed, whereon one may rest, means cloisters and con- Serm. 46. 
 ^^ rents, where one lives free from the cares of the world 
 
54 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [I. 16. 
 
 and the anxieties of life. And it is declared to be 
 flowery, when the conversation and life of the brethren 
 are beautified with the examples and precepts of the 
 Fathers, as though with fragrant flowers." And note, 
 that this bed is flowery, rather than made of cedars and 
 firs, for another reason, that as cut flowers fade quickly, 
 and need to be renewed daily, so it is needful for Reli- 
 gious constantly to renew the vows and resolutions of 
 their profession, so as to offer them fresh and sweet to 
 God. Two other writers see here, by a somewhat 
 forced interpretation, the tomb in which Cheist lay 
 down, called Jlowe)y by reason of the fragrant myrrh 
 Hugo Card, and spices used at His burial. Far more beautiful is 
 Nic. Argent. ^^^ view of Nicolaus de Argentina, who dwells on 
 the Vulgate diminutive lectulus, " little bed," in the 
 text here, and bids us remember that hard and nar- 
 row bed of the Cross, which was the bridal couch of 
 Christ and His Church. And precisely in this sense 
 runs the hymn : 
 
 Vieyra. 
 Serm. do 
 S. Francisco 
 Xavier. 
 
 Aponius. 
 Angelomus 
 
 The Hymn, 
 Hue udju- 
 gum Cal- 
 varies, 
 
 The fox hath where to lay his head, 
 
 Her nest receives the sparrow : 
 Thy Monarch, for His latest bed, 
 One plank hath, hard and narrow. 
 
 Isa. xxviii. 
 20. 
 
 Venantius 
 Fortanatus. 
 The Hymn, 
 Pange 
 lingua. 
 
 Heb. iv. 9. 
 
 Francis 
 Eaker. 
 
 Of it the Prophet spake, saying, " The bed is shorter 
 than that a man can stretch himself on it." It was 
 once dry and leafless, but now, because of the Resur- 
 rection, it is the delight of the Western Church to 
 represent it as fleury or pommee, breaking out into 
 blossom and fruit. And so in the great Passiontide 
 hymn: 
 
 Faithful Cross, above all other 
 
 One and only noble Tree, 
 None in foliage, none in blossom. 
 
 None in fruit thy peer may be. 
 
 And lastly, as this is not our rest, we may take the 
 green or flowery bed of those pastures of heaven, 
 where the Sabbath remaineth for the people of God 
 when they have ended their weary pilgrimage and 
 warfare. 
 
 Thy vineyards and thine orchards are 
 
 Most beautiful and fair, 
 Full furnished with trets and fruits 
 
 Exceeding rich and rare. 
 
I. 17.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 55 
 
 Thy gardens and thy gallant walks 
 
 Continually are green ; 
 There grow such sweet and pleasant flowers 
 
 As nowhere else are seen. 
 
 Jerusalem ! my happy home ! 
 
 Would God I were in thee, 
 Would God my woes were at an end, 
 
 Thy joys that I might see ! 
 
 17 The beams of our house are cedar_, and 
 our rafters of fir. 
 
 The first inquiry here is, Who is the speaker ? All 
 save Origen, who varies from himself on this head, 
 agree that the Bride still speaks. Next, What is the 
 house (LXX. and Vulg. houses) thus described ? The 
 more usual interpretation is that the local Churches on 
 earth are the joint dwelling-place of Cheist and of the 
 elect soul. Theodoret, however, explains it of Holy Theodoret. 
 Scripture, incorrupt as cedar, perfumed as cyjpress 
 (LXX. and Vulg.,) and several Fathers say that the s. Greg, 
 soul itself is the house intended. Taking the common ^^Jugt. org 
 exposition, they tell us that the beams, the most import- s. Bernard, 
 ant part of the Church's building, are her Prelates and 
 great preachers, cedar because of their incorruptness, 
 and that the rafters or fretted ceilings (LXX. (parvu- 
 ixara, Vulg. laquearia) denote the clergy in general, 
 or else the faithful laity, resting, as Beda reminds us, Beda. 
 upon the beams, and lifted bigh from earthly things 
 by their precept and example. Another interpretation 
 sees in the beams the great dogmas on which the 
 Church's structure rests, and in the panels the prac- 
 tical virtues with which the Saints who rest on these Tres Patr. 
 doctrines adorn their dwelling. Not remote from either 
 of these is the view of Honorius, who takes the houses Hon. Aug. 
 to be the cloisters, whose beams are the Abbats and 
 other superiors, and whose panels are the Religious ; 
 of cypress, because that tree does not revive when cut 
 down, and was therefore borne anciently before the 
 bier of the dead, and thus typifies the death to the 
 world of those who seek to be bidden in the taber- 
 nacle of God. Yet again, taking the house to be the s. Greg, 
 soul wherein Christ dwells, its beams, they tell us, are Nyss. 
 the inner virtues, its main strength and support; the 
 panels, less important, but more ornamental, the out- s. Bernard, 
 ward beauty of a devout life. It is to be noted, fur- 
 
56 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [n.i. 
 
 1 Kings vi. ther, that both the Temple and palace of Solomon 
 i5j vu. 2, 7, -vvere built of cedar and fir or cypress, and that a re- 
 ference to that fact is intended here. But, whereas 
 they were framed with beams and planks cut from the 
 wood, and therefore dead, here, on the other hand, the 
 Hebrew implies that whole trees, living evergreens, 
 cedars and Jirs, formed the house and shadowed the 
 bed of the Bridegroom, which was therefore more 
 beautiful and enduring than the former temple and 
 palace. And so the Targum : " Solomon the Prophet 
 said. How fair is this house of the sanctuary of the 
 LoED, which is builded by my hands, of cedar wood ! 
 But fairer shall be the house of the sanctuary which 
 shall be builded in the days of Messiah the King, the 
 beams whereof shall be of the cedars of the garden 
 of Eden." And what was that cedar shrine and 
 palace, incorrupt, repelling all evil, save the most pure 
 womb of His immaculate Mother ? Cedar, in her 
 utter purity, cyjpress in her sorrows by the Cross of her 
 Son ; wherefore it is written, " I was exalted like a 
 cedar in Libanus, and as a cypress tree upon tbe 
 mountains of Hermon." 
 
 Hengsten- 
 berg. 
 
 Targum. 
 
 Dion. Carth. 
 Parez. 
 
 Ecclus.xxiv, 
 13. 
 
 The Hymn, 
 Regina cle- 
 mentite. 
 
 Tu fons, hortus, platanus, 
 
 Cedrus exaltata, 
 Tu palma, tu olea, 
 
 Cypiessus plantata. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Targum. 
 S. Greg. 
 Nyss. 
 Theodoret. 
 Philo Carp. 
 
 I I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of 
 the valleys. 
 
 The first clause here is rendered in the Syriac, LXX., 
 and Vulgate, ^ower of the plain, and modern critics, 
 for the most part, hold that the narcissus, not the rose, 
 is the plant intended. The commentators differ as to 
 the speaker. The Targum, followed by some Greek 
 Fathers, assigns the verse to the Bride, but the ma- 
 jority of the Westerns, with some great Eastern names 
 too, hold that it, as well as the succeeding one, belongs 
 to the Bridegroom, claiming to be Himself the chief 
 
II. 1.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 57 
 
 glory of that flowery bed of which the Bride had de- Origen. 
 lightedly spoken just before. FollowiDg this interpre- t;assio(l. 
 tation first, let us hear Origen : *' The plain is level bK'"'' 
 ground, cultivated, and tilled by husbandmen. The 
 valleys denote rocky and untilled places. We may 
 thus understand the plain of that people which was 
 cultivated by the Law and the Prophets, and the 
 valleys of the rocky and untilled dwelling of the 
 Gentiles. The Bridegroom was therefore the Flower 
 among the Jewish people, but because the Law brought 
 no man to perfection, therefore the Word of God 
 could not there pass beyond the stage o^ Jloioer, and 
 arrive at the perfection of fruit. But He was made 
 a Lily in the valleys of the Gentiles. What kind of 
 Lily ? Such, no doubt, as He describes in the Gos- 
 pels, which the Heavenly Father clothes. The Bride- % ^^*' '"'• 
 groom becomes then a Lily in this valley, because His 
 Heavenly Father clothed Him with such a garment 
 of flesh as Solomon in all his glory could not have. 
 For Solomon had not a body pure from all desire and 
 from fleshly enjoyments, and thus liable to no sin. 
 But He seems to set forth why He, Who was the 
 Flower of the field, willed to be the Lily of the valleys. 
 Though He had long been the flower of the field, yet 
 He never says that any flower imitating or resembling 
 Him had sprung from that field. But when He be- 
 came the Lily of the valleys, immediately His beloved 
 became a lily too, in imitation of Him ; so that the 
 result of His labour is, that as He is made a lily, so 
 His neighbour, that is, every soul which draws near 
 Him and follows His example, becomes a lily also. 
 What He then says, 'As the lily among thorns, so is 
 My love among the daughters,' we may take as spoken 
 of the Gentile Church, either because she arose from 
 the midst of unbelievers, as out of thorns, or because 
 set in the midst of thorns by reason of noisy heretics 
 around her, attacking her with their teeth." And the 
 same great Father in another place expounds the words Horn. 8. 
 of Christ's Incarnation. For my sake, he says, who 
 was in the valley, the Bridegroom comes into that valley, 
 and becomes a Lily there. Instead of being the Tree 
 of Life, planted in the Paradise of God, He became 
 the Flower of all the plain, that is, of the whole world, 
 of the entire earth. For what could so truly be the 
 flower of all the world as the JSTame of Christ.? His 
 Name is ointment poured out. Aponius sets be- 
 
58 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [II. 1. 
 
 Aponius. 
 
 S. Cyril. 
 Alex, de 
 lucarn. 
 
 Theodoret. 
 
 S.Ambros. 
 de Spir. 
 Sanct. ii. 5. 
 
 Alanus de 
 Jnsulis. 
 
 fore lis this same idea from another point of view. 
 Cheist was, he comments, the flower of the field be- 
 fore His Incarnation, because in His glory He was 
 the worship of the heavenly spirits in all the plain of 
 the heavens, but after His Incarnation He became the 
 Lily of the valleys, when He came down into the vale 
 of tears, and brought with Him three things, the 
 doing-away of sin, the wiping out of falsehood, and 
 the cooling of desire, just as the lily exhibits three 
 qualities, whiteness, fragrance, and medicine for cer- 
 tain complaints after it has been parched in the fire. 
 S. Cyril of Alexandria sees in the perfume of the 
 flower, invisible in the visible blossom, the Godhead 
 united with the Manhood of Cheist, and inseparable 
 from It. Theodoret, agreeing with many others that 
 the words _^oz6'er of the plain denote Cheist's coming 
 to earth, explains the lily of the valleys of His further 
 humiliation, when He went down into the lower parts 
 of the earth, and preached in Hades the Resurrection. 
 Yet again, they take the plain to be His most holy 
 Mother, from whom He sprang by no human will, as 
 the flower grows in spots no man has tilled. And 
 thus S. Ambrose : " Cheist was the Flower of Mary, 
 and sprang from the virgin womb to shed the sweet 
 perfume of faith throughout the world. A flower, 
 though cut down, retains its fragrance, and if pounded, 
 collects it, nor does it lose it by being torn up. So 
 too the LoED Jesus withered not when ground upon 
 the Cross, nor did He disappear when so torn away 
 from us, but when wounded with that piercing of the 
 spear. He, Who cannot die, bloomed yet more beau- 
 teously with the Precious Blood He shed, breathing 
 forth the gift of eternal life to them which were dead." 
 " The human Nature of Cheist," says one of the 
 greatest of the Schoolmen, " is called 2. plain, for as a 
 variety of flowers spring up in a plain, so are there 
 many virtues in the human nature of Cheist. Herein 
 was the violet of lowliness, the rose of patience, the 
 lily of purity. Cheist was the flower of this plain ; 
 that is, its glory because of His Godhead, since He had i 
 by reason of that Godhead the fulness of gifts in His 
 human nature. Fitly is that human nature of Cheist 
 denoted by a plain, because of its width and smoothness, 
 for in Him was no roughness of sin. Whence also 
 He is said to be Lily of the valleys. For as there was 
 perfect humility in Mary and in Christ's human na- 
 
n.i.] 
 
 THE SONG OF SONGS. 59 
 
 ture, therefore the person of the Virgin and the Man- 
 hood of the WoED are called valleys." In the lily, 
 beautifully notes another, there are five things ob- Hon. Aug. 
 served. It is white, having a projecting anther of 
 golden hue, it is fragrant, and expanding, and ever 
 curving downwards. So was Chbist white in His 
 Manhood, golden in His Godhead, fragrant in His 
 preaching, open in receiving penitents, bowed down in 
 His condescension to sinners, and in lifting them up. 
 Another Avriter dwells somewhat variously on some of 
 these same qualities. " Christ was a lily," says he, Eucherius, 
 " because of the glory of His Resurrection, externally ^^ ^^^- "^• 
 white because of the glory of His Body, golden within 
 by reason of the resplendence of His soul. And before 
 His Passion He was as it were a closed lily, but when 
 crowned with glory and honour because of that Pas- 
 sion, He was thereafter an open lily, because He dis- 
 closed in His assumed humanity the power of that 
 divine radiance which He had with the Fathee before 
 the world was." So far we have considered how 
 Cheist is Flower and Lily in Himself, and may next 
 turn to ponder how He is these to us. And first, 
 Origen tells us that the words mark different stages of o^&e'^' 
 spiritual progress, that He is the Flower of souls 
 which are like a plain by reason of their simplicity, 
 gentleness, or equity, in that He is in them the begin- 
 ning of good works, the promise of fruit, while to 
 those who search into deeper and more hidden things, 
 as though in the valleys. He becomes a Lily, either in 
 the brightness of purity or the sheen of wisdom, that 
 they too may be lilies, breaking forth from the midst 
 of thorns, that is, fleeing from the thoughts and cares 
 of the world. S. Gregory teaches that Cheist is the 
 Flower of the plain, in that He gives the soul the 
 beauty of heavenly desire; the Lily of the valleys, ' ^^^' 
 because of the purity He infuses into the lowly. And 
 they delight to tell us how He is the crown aad glory 
 and loveliness of the Virgin Life. Cheist, observes |p^ad^°"' 
 S. Jerome, (writing of one who had given herself to her Demetr. 
 LoED,) as the author and Prince of virginity, confi- Cf- s. Am- 
 dently speaks, " I am the flower of the plain and the virgin. Ui. 
 lily of the valleys." The order of Virgins in the g j^^^ ^ 
 Church, comments another, is a plain, that is, an un- Hon. Aug. 
 tilled soil whose flower is Christ, because He is its 
 delight, its crown, and its reward. He is, notes a 
 third, the Lily of the valleys, not of the fields of the Nic. Arg. 
 
60 A COMMENTARY ON [H. 1. 
 
 active life, mucli less the lily among the thorns, but of 
 those who dwell in the IomIj and sequestered life of 
 contemplation, whereon the rays of the sun pour the 
 heat of love, unstayed and undisturbed by any words 
 of temptation, while the mountains stand around, and 
 s. CIV. 10. |.|^g rivers of grace flow down them into the valleys, so 
 that there is abundance of corn there, and the Lily, 
 finding the water it loves, flourishes abundantly. 
 
 Following the other interpretation, which ascribes 
 Tres Patr. the words to the Bride, they tell us how the Church is 
 the Jloiver of the plain so far as she consists of believ- 
 ing Israel, levelled to the smoothness of a field by the 
 Law and the Prophets, watered by the rain of hea- 
 venly knowledge, bright with the flowers of holiness. 
 The Gentiles, uneven and rough through unbelief, and 
 depressed by the weight of sin, are the valleys out of 
 which the Lily springs from the depth, so high that 
 she cannot be hid even in the lowest parts of the vale, 
 lifting up her head in the grace and beauty of faith, 
 of purification, and of contemplation of God. The 
 Philo Carp. Church under the Law, remarks another Greek Fa- 
 ther, not dissimilarly, calls herself a flower, when she 
 has listened to the voice of the Prophets, and striven 
 to serve God. But when she has heard the voice of 
 Cheist Himself in the Gospel, telling His disciples 
 s. Mat. vi. to cast away all worldly anxiety, and saying, " Con- 
 28- sider the lilies how they grow," then, attaining to the 
 
 loveliness and fragrance of true devotion, she is bold 
 s. Greg. ^^ ^^J' -^ ^^ ^^^^ ^^h' They take it too, of any holy 
 Nyss. soul growing in the plain of this world, exposed to 
 
 wind and storm, but lifting itself up to heaven and 
 Card. Hail, diff'using perfume around. And the words plain and 
 grin. valleys denote twofold humility ; the first, that where- 
 
 by any one humbles himself to his superiors, and does 
 not try to rise above his equals : and the second, that 
 more perfect lowliness w^hereby he humbles himself 
 to his equals, and strives to descend below his inferiors. 
 Not any flower, but especially a lily, because it is white 
 externally and with a golden spike within. Such is 
 the soul, which is compassed with the glory of righte- 
 ousness, and which carries within its inmost shrine the 
 spiritual gift of wisdom and knowledge. How much 
 more then is it true of her who was herself that pure 
 calyx within which the golden glory of the Eternal 
 Dion. Carth. Wisdom tabernacled ! Well may the Ecstatic Doctor 
 say, " The most Blessed Virgin is the most blooming, 
 
ir. 2.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 61 
 
 fairest, and most fragrant flower of the field, that is, 
 of this world, wherein we are placed as in the arena of 
 contest, for our life on earth is a warfare. She is also 
 the flower of that other field, the garden of deliglits, 
 the heavenly Paradise. And again, she is the flower 
 of the field, that is, of the Church Militant in its pil- 
 grimage here on earth, whose mother, flower, queen, 
 and advocate she is, obtaining by her prayers and 
 merits the ornaments and perfume of merits for the 
 Church. Then, she is the flower of every devout soul 
 which loves her, into whose thought she never enters 
 without fruit, and without shedding her sweetness 
 around. She is the Lily of the valleys, that most sweet 
 and peerless Virgin Mother of God, the blooming off- 
 spring of her lowly parents, from whom she sprang as 
 a most fair Lily, nor was Solomon in all his glory 
 arrayed as that fair Lily was." And lastly, taking our 
 own version, we may see in the rose and lily the 
 double grace of martyrdom and chastity which forms 
 the choicest coronal of heaven. Thus S. Bernard ob- 
 serves, " The flower is virginity, the flower is mar- serm. 47. 
 tyrdom, the flower is good deeds. In the garden, 
 virginity ; in the field, martyrdom ; in the chamber, 
 good works. He is the flower of the garden, the Virgin 
 sprung from a virgin stem. He too is the flower of 
 the field, the Martyr, the Crown of Martyrs, the force 
 of martyrdom." Wherefore the Paris Breviary fitly 
 sings in the Common of Virgin Martyrs : 
 
 ^ , ,.,. , -r. .-, , • Sant. Vict. 
 
 Roses and lilies are trie Bridegroom s portion, The Hymn, 
 
 Thou, to thy Bridegroom evermore found faithful, Quidsacram, 
 
 Gavest Him roses as a Martyi-, gavest Virgo. 
 Lihes, a Virgin. 
 
 2 As the lily among thorns^ so is my love 
 among the daughters. 
 
 Noting the contrast, so strongly marked in the first Theodoret 
 clause, they observe that as the lily surpasses thorns, g j^^^^. q * 
 so does the Church of God excel the Synagogue, the 
 schools of philosophy, and the parties of the State. 
 Again, the Church was a lily among thorns in the time 
 of her greatest purity and beauty, when she was the 
 victim of repeated persecutions. Whereupon Hono- Honor, 
 rius : " As I, saith the Bridegroom, am the Lily of the August, 
 valleys, the ornament of the lowly, so thou. My love, ' "^ ^°^' 
 shalt be the lily among thorns, the glory of the Gen- 
 
62 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [II. 2. 
 
 Cassiod. 
 
 S. August, 
 de Bapt. 5. 
 S. Greg. M. 
 
 Com. a Lap, 
 Tres Patr. 
 
 Hugo Card. 
 
 Eccles. X. I 
 
 S. Greg. 
 
 Nyss. 
 Apomus. 
 
 S. Bernard. 
 Serm. 48. 
 
 tiles ; and as I am tlie Lily among tliorns, that is, tlie 
 Jews who pierce and wound Me, so thou, O Church, 
 My love, shalt be among the Gentile daughters of 
 Babylon, which is confusion, who shall pierce thee 
 with many a thorn, and rend thee with many a suffer- 
 ing." The words are true also of that inner Church 
 of the elect, compassed by the outer Church of the 
 called, wherein are many reprobates who show no grace 
 or beauty in their lives, but are like thorns, flowering 
 quickly in temporal prosperity, withering swiftly in 
 goodness, wounding the devout with their evil habits, 
 cut down and given to feed the fire. Such as these 
 are daughters, indeed, but not of God, rather of the 
 evil one, carnal and worldly souls, given up to the 
 wounding and torturing pleasures of the senses. And 
 observe further, that a lily growing amongst thorns 
 ensures the wounding of him who would gather the 
 flower for his very ov/n. On which a devout writer 
 comments thus : " As the Bride's love for her Spouse is 
 signified here, so also is His love for her. For he that 
 would gather a lily amongst thorns, necessarily suffers 
 their pricks ; which is evidently true of the Bridegroom 
 Himself, for He, gathering that lily from the midst of 
 the reprobate, suffered the prickmgs of the thorns, 
 whilst He underwent the rendings of the persecutors 
 as He was assembling His elect by His own preaching 
 and that of His disciples. Whence it is written, 
 ' Whoso breaketh a hedge [the synagogue of the 
 people,] a serpent shall bite him.' The Lokd acted 
 like a hunting dog, which pursuing wild game, thrusts 
 its head amongst the prickles of thorns, fearing no 
 wounds so that it may take its prey. He drew 
 forth the Church, lurking like a wild beast amongst 
 thorns, that is, amongst the reprobate ; but He en- 
 dured the piercings of the thorns even to bloodshed- 
 ding, in token of which He wore a thorny crown upon 
 the Cross." The soul which clings to Cheist amidst 
 the troubles, cares, and persecutions of an ungodly 
 world, is also fitly called a lily among thorns. But ail 
 these cannot really hurt the lily, rather do they set off" 
 her beauty. " The thorn," expounds S. Bernard, " is 
 sin, the thorn is punishment, the thorn is a false 
 brother, the thorn is evil hard at hand. ' As the lily 
 among thorns, so is My love among the daughters.' 
 O shining lily, O frail and delicate flower, the unbe- 
 lieving and destroyers are with thee, see then that thou 
 
n. 2.] 
 
 THE SONG OF SONGS. 63 
 
 walk cautiously amongst the thorns. The world is full 
 of thorns. They are in the earth, in the air, in thy 
 flesh. To be amongst them, and not to be hurt by 
 them, comes of the Divine power, not of thine own 
 strength. 'But be of good cheer,' saith He, ' I have f- ^'^^'^ x^''- 
 overcome the world.' Therefore, although thou seest 
 the prickles of tribulations, like those of thorns, aiming 
 at thee on every side, let not thine heart be troubled, 
 neither let it be afraid, ' knowing that tribulation Rom. v. 3. 
 worketh patience ; and patience, experience ; and ex- 
 perience, hope ; and hope maketh not ashamed.' Con- 
 sider the lilies of the field, how they flourish and 
 bloom among the thorns. If God so guards the grass 
 which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, 
 how much more His love and dearest Bride ?" And Henr. 
 another holy writer treats at much length of the various Harph. 
 thorns which must be overcome by patient continuance 
 in well-doing. The truly patient soul is likest to the 
 ; beauty of Christ, to the measure of a perfect man, in 
 that it bears all cheerfully, and loves those who put 
 it to pain ; first, by words of slander and calumny, then 
 by actual wrong- doing. How is this patience to be 
 attained ? Hearken, O lily among thorns. " My soul Ps. cxx. 5, 6. 
 hath long dwelt among them that are enemies unto 
 peace. I labour for peace." And again : " They that ps. xxxvui. 
 went about to do me evil, talked of wickedness, and 12, 13. 
 imagined deceit all the day long. As for me, I was 
 like a deaf man and heard not, and as one that is 
 dumb, who doth not open his mouth." And this is 
 effected by loving contemplation of our Maker, be- 
 
 I cause the soul that looks on God is deaf and blind to 
 meaner things, and is filled with such delights in think- 
 ing on Him that pain becomes of no moment, or even a 
 source of pleasure, as the Cross was to S. Andrew, 
 the fire to S. Laurence, the stones to S. Stephen, the 
 dungeon and rack*to S. Agatha. And this patience 
 is threefold, in heart, word, and deed, indisposing 
 men to vengeance, leading them on to entire forgive- 
 ness of their enemies, and thence to hearty interest in 
 ] and affection for them. Those who begin by cheek- 
 ,j ng their own impulse to revenge, at first from the 
 ower motive of fear of results, and then for the sake 
 )f salvation, and at last from true love of God, attain 
 jven on earth the " peace to men of good will," pro- S. Luke ii. 
 nised by the Angels at the Nativity, and, tried by ^'*- 
 nany sorrows and tribulations, reach at last the per- 
 
64 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON [H. 2. 
 
 feet tranquillity of the children of God, in their own 
 beloved Home. Among the davqhters. That is, among 
 all elect souls, loving God the Father with filial ten- 
 irimbert. derness, but yet thorny, as beset with the pricks of 
 original and actual pin, and unable to fulfil His com- 
 mandments perfectly. And therefore there is only 
 one of whom it is truly written, " Many daughters 
 Prov. xxxi. have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all," and 
 ?Esd V 24 ^.^^ again, " Of all the flowers Thou hast chosen one 
 ■ lily." 
 
 Keble, Ave Maria ! blessed Maid, 
 
 Christian Lilv of Eden's fragrant shade, 
 
 ^^"'"' Who can express the love 
 
 That nurtured thee, so pure and sweet, 
 
 Making thy heart a shelter meet 
 For Jesus' holy dove ! 
 
 Dion. Carth. Whereupon the Carthusian : Although there were 
 many holy virgins, yet in respect of the Most Blessed 
 Virgin they seem as though but thorns, in that they 
 had some sinfulness, and though pure in themselves, 
 yet the embers of evil were not utterly quenched in 
 them. But the Virgin Mother of God was perfectly 
 freed from all sin, the embers of evil were completely 
 quenched in her, and yet she was filled with the in- 
 
 Rupert. tensest love. Another reminds us that she was indeed 
 among thorns, in that she, like her Son, was a mark 
 for slanderous tongues, she, Avith her Son, suffered at 
 the Cross. " As a rose groweth among thorns," says 
 
 Serm^Angel. *^^ great Swedish Saint, " so grew the Blessed Virgin 
 
 16. * * in this world among troubles ; and as the rose in- 
 creases, so do the thorns likewise ; thus as Mary, the 
 choicest of roses, advanced in age, so much the more 
 deeply was she wounded by the thorns of tribulation." , 
 Another Saint refers the thorns to Our Lady's kinship ' 
 
 s. Pet. Dam. to the unbelieving Hebrews. " Sprung from the thorny 
 race of Jews, she shone bodily with the pureness of 
 virgin modesty, and she glowed in soul with the warmth 
 of double charity, she was ever fragrant in good works, 
 and with the unvarying impulse of her hearfi she soared 
 up towards heavenly things." A Christian poet, six 
 hundred years before the great Bishop of Ostia, had 
 expressed nearly the same thoughts in verse : 
 
 Sedulius. Et velut in spinis mollis ro^a surgit acutis, 
 
 IsUl quod lajdit habens, raatremque obscurat honore ; 
 Sic Ev8B de stirpe sacra veniente Maria, 
 
 Serm. 3, de 
 Nat. B.V.M 
 
II. 3.] 
 
 SONG OF SONGS. 
 
 65 
 
 Virginis antiquae facinus nova Virgo piavit, 
 Sicut spina rosam, genuit Judsea Mariam. 
 
 As from the sharp thorns springs the gentle rose, 
 Stingless, and hides its mother with its hloom ; 
 So blessed Mary, come of Eva's stem, 
 A new Maid, purged that elder Maiden's sin. 
 Thorns bear the rose, Judea Mary bore. 
 
 3 As the apple-tree among the trees of the 
 wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat 
 down under his shadow with great delight, and 
 his fruit was sweet to my taste. 
 
 When Cheist took the nature of man, He came s. creg. 
 down into the wood of this life, and became one of its Nyssen. 
 trees, but a fruitful one, nay, able to make fruitful 
 trees of men however evil and wild. And human life 
 is called a ivood,^ because in it are found many things 
 which beset the soul, lurking as wild beasts do in a 
 forest, sluggish when the sun is hot, but active in the 
 darkness. Because the "singular beast" which feeds ps. ixxx.i3, 
 in the wood had sorely hurt the beautiful vine of vuigate. 
 human nature, therefore the apple-tree was planted in 
 the wood ; which, in that it is a tree, is of like nature 
 with the wood of humanity ; for Cheist was tempted 
 in our likeness, though without sin. But in that it 
 bears such fruit as to gratify the senses, it is more 
 unlike the rest of the wood than the lily is unlike the 
 thorns. For the pleasantness of the apple is common 
 to three senses, it is beautiful to the sight, fragrant to 
 the smell, and sweet to the taste. So Cheist is more 
 than the Bride, for He is the joy of our eyes, and the 
 ointment to our smell, and life to us who eat of Him ; 
 but human nature, even if perfected in virtue, is but a 
 flower, not feeding the husbandman, but merely deck- 
 ing itself. For He needs not our good things, whereas 
 we do need His. Therefore the purified soul beholds 
 her Bridegroom made the apple-tree in the wood, that 
 
 It is almost a common- 
 place to note that this figure 
 is used by Dante in the very 
 opening of the Divine Comedy. 
 
 Nel mezzo del cammin di nos- 
 tra vita, 
 Mi ritrovai pel una selva os- 
 
 Chi la diritta via era smar- 
 
 rita. 
 Ahi quanto a dir qual era d 
 
 cosa dura 
 Questa selva selvaggia ed aspra 
 
 e forte, 
 Che nel pensier 
 paura. 
 
 rinaova la 
 
66 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [II. 3. 
 
 Theodoret. 
 S. Ambros. 
 S. Bernard. 
 
 Philo Carp. 
 
 Origen. 
 
 S.Ans.Laud. 
 
 Aponius. 
 Psellus. 
 
 Ovid. Ep. ex 
 Pont. 15. 
 
 Origen. 
 
 S. Bernard. 
 Serm. 48. 
 
 C'assiodor. 
 S. Greg. M. 
 Beda. 
 
 Theodoret. 
 Tres Patr. 
 
 graffing into Himself all the wild boughs of that wood, 
 He may cause them to bring forth fruit like His own. 
 They assign other reasons too why Chkist is called an 
 apple-tree,^ and several of them dwell on His feeding 
 us with the Gospel, while the Holy Eucharist is the 
 idea which suggests itself to others, as the juiciness of 
 the apple makes it both food and drink, and so Cheist 
 gives us His Bodj^ and Blood in the Sacrament of the 
 Altar. A Greek and a Latin commentator, in distant 
 centuries, following up this view, understand here, to 
 make the simile more perfect, a pomegranate-tree, 
 (therein agreeing with the Arabic version,) because the 
 juice of that fruit is ruddy and watery, typifying that 
 which flowed from Cheist's side upon the Cross. 
 They have pushed the metaphor further, and remarked 
 how the grains from which the fruit is named lie en- 
 closed in the ruddy flesh within the rind, just as the 
 members of Cheist, in the One Church, are united in 
 His Body, crimson with His life-blood : 
 
 Quae numero tot sunt, quot in horto fertilis arvi 
 Punica sub lento cortice grana rubent. 
 
 Many, as in a fertile orchard's soil 
 
 Beneath their slight rind blush the Punic seeds. 
 
 Among the sons. They vary much in expounding 
 these words. Some will have it that the Angels, or 
 Angels and men together are meant, but S. Bernard 
 protests against this view, on the ground that Cheist 
 is spoken of as He appeared when made lower than 
 the Angels, and thus, though fairer and more fruitful 
 than the trees of the wood, than all mankind, not so 
 glorious to the eye as many trees of the orchard or 
 park. The praise given Him here, observes the Saint, 
 is poor and small, as coming from one who is small. 
 It is not the mighty Loed, highly to be praised, that 
 is commended, but the Loed, small, yet highly to be 
 loved, the little Child Who was born for us. Limiting, 
 then, the word sons in this wise, some will have it that 
 the Apostles and Prophets, and the elect generallj^ 
 God's special children by adoption, are here intended, 
 those trees of Eden around the Tree of Life. Others, 
 taking it in a bad sense, refer it to evil men generally, 
 
 J It may be observed that 
 modern critics, generally speak- 
 ing, say that the citron, not 
 
 the opple, is the tree denoted by 
 niEn, but the mystical sense is 
 not affected thereby. 
 
IL 3] THE SONG OF SONGS. 67 
 
 as having the vrildness and brute terrors of the forest 
 in them, or to the Jews in particular ; or, with further Rupert, 
 restrictions of meaning, many of them see a reference to Aponius. 
 the crucified Redeemer, hanging on the tree between ps^fu"*"^^' 
 the two thieves, suffering Himself, as S. Thomas ob- s. Thomas 
 serves, to be fastened to a tree as its fruit, in order to ^^'^'"^^• 
 atone for the first sin of man, in plucking the fruit from c°228! ^^° ' 
 the tree of knowledge of good and evil. I sat doion 
 under His shadoio icitli great delight. The Hebrew 
 of the first clause, closely followed by the LXX. is, 
 I delighted, and sat down under His shadow. The 
 Vulgate, a little differently, I sat doion under the 
 shadoio of Him Whoin I desired. There are three 
 things, comments Henry Harph, which cause a shadow, Henr. 
 light, medium, and object. Christ, in His Divinity, Harphius. 
 is the Light whence is cast the shadow of God. The 
 medium, whose form this shadow takes, is His Man- 
 hood, by the fulness of His grace, and the abundance 
 of His merits. The object of the light, which becomes 
 the shadow, is our will, lying, of its own glad accord, 
 under the light divine. And as the shadow moves 
 with every motion of the interposed body which causes 
 it, and accompanies it wherever it goes, so the will 
 which has become the shadow of God follows within 
 the guiding of His Spirit in everything, and externally 
 imitates the Manhood of the Lord Jesus, and His 
 teaching in all the paths of perfection. Again ; the origen. 
 shadoio denotes Christ's providential care and guar- Cassiodor. 
 dianship of His Church, and of every soul which puts S-^"^-^*^ • 
 its trust in Him, according to that saying of the Psalmist, 
 " My soul trusteth in Thee, and under the shadow of Ps. ivii. i. 
 Thy wings shall be my refuge." Or you may take it, 
 with S. Gregory, of the Holt Spirit, " The Shadow s. Greg. m. 
 of Christ," says he, " is the protection of the Holy 
 Ghost. For the Holy Ghost overshadows the soul 
 which He fills, because He allays the heat of every 
 temptation, and while He gently fans the soul with 
 the breeze of His inspiration He banishes whatever 
 baneful heat it had been enduring." Yet again, S. 
 Bernard tells us that faith, being the evidence of s. Bernard, 
 things not seen, is shadowy and dark, as we walk by ^^^' ^^' 
 faith and not by sight, although that very shadow is 
 leading us to the full glory of the heavenly vision. 
 And whereas it is not said I delight, and I sit ; but, I 
 delighted, and I sat ; we may understand the Church pj^^^^J^^j. 
 speaking of the time when she was yet in the Syna- g Ambrosl 
 f2 
 
68 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [II. 3. 
 
 Isa. xxxu. 2. 
 
 gogue, abiding under the Law, which is but the shadow 
 of the Gospel, and even then by anticipation rejoicing 
 and trusting in Christ alone, looking hopefully for the 
 Man who should " be as an hiding-place from the wind, 
 and a covert from the tempest ; as rivers of water in a 
 dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary 
 land." And they remind us how Elijah lay down 
 
 s. Bernard, under the shadow of a juniper- tree, and arising, found 
 
 ^^^' ' a cake baken on the coals, and a cruse of water at his 
 
 head. So, those who come near to the Cross, find the 
 
 shadow of Christ fall on them in the mysterious sacra- 
 
 Nic. Argent, mental Veils wherewith His Body and Blood are hidden 
 from our eyes. Another reminds us that the dark say- 
 ings and hidden things of Holy Scripture, the chosen 
 meditation of the faithful soul, are the shadow of Christ 
 Himself; and the further explanation that every fore- 
 taste given us here in contemplation, is but the shadow 
 of the Beatific Vision, has not been forgotten. Again ; 
 as the Cross is the Tree which throws the shadow, 
 every sorrow and trouble endured for Christ's sake 
 in this world is not merely endured, but delighted in 
 by the faithful soul, which desires to be conformed to 
 His Passion. 
 
 Irimbert. 
 
 Thorn. 
 Vercell. 
 
 Bonar. 
 
 Oppressed with noonday's scorching heat, 
 
 To yonder Cross I flee ; 
 Beneath its shelter take my seat, 
 
 No shade like this for me ! 
 
 Beneath that Cross clear waters burst, 
 A fountain sparkling free ; 
 
 And there I quench my desert thirst. 
 No spring like this for me ! 
 
 A stranger here, I pitch my tent 
 Beneath this spreading tree ; 
 
 Here shall my pilgrim life be spent, 
 No home like this for me ! 
 
 For burthen ed ones a resting-place 
 
 Beside that Cross I see ; 
 Here cast I oiF my weariness, 
 
 No rest like this for me, 
 
 Origen. 
 
 And so resting, she advances in holiness and in like- 
 ness to Him, because as the day passes from noon 
 towards evening, the shadows become longer, and 
 cover a greater space. Of none is it so truly said, 
 
II. 3.] THE SOx\G OF SONGS. 69 
 
 / sat down under His shadow, implying long and Rupert, 
 happy rest, as of her concerning whom the Angel 
 spake, " The power of the Highest shall overshadow s. Lukei. 
 thee," for her abiding in the peace of God was of ^^' 
 
 ^ no brief hour, but for all time. They tell us too 
 how the Saints, striving to imitate the Sun of Righ- 
 teousness, are His shadows, a delight to those who xres Patr. 
 
 \ hearken to their teaching and follow their examples. 
 
 I And Sis fruit teas sioeet to my taste. There are 
 many such fruits, for the Tree of Life bears twelve, Rev. xxii. 2. 
 besides those fruits of the Spirit which the Apostle Gal. v. 22. 
 counts up for us. And first, it is the preaching of ^^pj"^^?^* 
 Cheist's Passion, and that which comes thence, the 
 remission of our sins. Then, there is the meditation origen. 
 on God's love, a true sustenance of the soul, and the 
 contemplation of the Godhead, Manhood, and Life of 
 Christ, whereof a Saint tells us : " Cheist Himself is ^- ^^®^- ^■ 
 a fruitful Tree, planted in our hearts by faith, which 
 tree, if our soul love as it deserves, and tend carefully, 
 brings forth sweet and wholesome fruits. When the 
 soul eagerly gathers and eats of these, she esteems 
 all worldly pleasures as inferior to their sweetness." 
 Again ; the Holy Eucharist, as noted above, is the Aponius. 
 
 fruit of that Tree which gives us both food and drink. Rupert.^ ' 
 He Himself, when born for us, the fruit of the over- Diou. earth, 
 shadowing Spieit, was sweet to His Mother as she 
 pressed her lips to Him. Further ; as fruit is the 
 ultimate product of the tree, so action is the ultimate 
 product of man's will put into exercise, and when that 
 will is moved by a higher influence than any of earth, 
 then man's good works are the fruit of the Spirit, Harpii. 
 pleasant to the palate, and not biting, and yet palling, 
 like earthly delights. Words are but leaves ; devout 
 thoughts and inward devotion are the flower ; but only 
 the perfect Christian life is the fruit. And they tell Dion. Carth. 
 us, too, that the deeper insight into the things of God y^°(.™\ 
 which is attained by contemplative Saints in mystic 
 vision is, in an especial manner, the fruit of that same 
 Tree which gives us the other fruits of refreshment 
 and consolation in our hungering and thirsting after 
 righteousness here below, and who are bidden to " taste Ps. xxxiv. s. 
 and see how gracious the Lord is," and find Him in- 
 deed sweet to their taste or palate, that spiritual un- ^^^ p^^^ 
 derstanding without which the choicest dainties are 
 insipid. 
 
70 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [II. 4. 
 
 Theodoret. 
 
 Cassiodor. 
 
 Hugo Vic- 
 
 torin. 
 
 S. Greg. M 
 
 Tar gum. 
 
 Hugo Card. 
 
 S. Just. Org 
 
 S. Bernard. 
 Serm. 49. 
 
 Acts ii. 2. 
 
 Beda. 
 
 S. Bernard. 
 
 Acts ii. 13. 
 
 Adam. Vict. 
 The Se- 
 quence, 
 Lux jucunda 
 for Pente- 
 cost. 
 
 4 He brought me to the banqueting-house, 
 and his banner over me was love. 
 
 The hanqueting-liouse. More exactly, with LXX. 
 and margin of A. V., the house of wine. The Vulgate 
 is but little different, the chamber of wine. They take 
 the words, firstly, of admission into the Catholic Church, 
 wherein alone is the wine of the Spirit to be found. 
 Next ; it is explained of Holy Scripture, a view not 
 very remote from that of the Targum, which calls 
 Mount Sinai the house where the wine of the Law was 
 stored up for Israel. That, after all, remarks Cardinal 
 Hugo, was only the chamber of water, the mere out- 
 ward and typical sense. Not till Cheist came for His 
 bridal with the Church, was the water turned into 
 wine, and the inner mystical meaning revealed. But 
 as the revelation was not completely given till the ad- 
 vent of the Paraclete, some explain the house ofioine 
 to be that upper chamber in Jerusalem where the dis- 
 ciples were gathered together on the Day of Pentecost. 
 " Do you not think," asks S. Bernard, " that the 
 chamber of zcine is that dwelling where the disciples 
 were assembled, when ' suddenly there came a sound 
 from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled 
 all the house where they were sitting,' and fulfilled 
 the prophecy of Joel ? Might not each of them, going 
 forth inebriated with the plenteousness of that house, 
 and given to drink of such pleasure as out of a river, 
 truly say, ' The King hath brought me into the cham- 
 ber of wine ?' " This was that new wine put into new 
 bottles, of which the Lord spake, so that the Jews were 
 in one sense right when they said, " These men are full 
 of new wine." 
 
 Utres no\a, non vetusti, 
 Sunt capaces novi musti; 
 
 Vasa parat vidua ; 
 Dat liquorem Helisseus, 
 Nobis sacrum rorem Deus, 
 
 Si corda sint congrua. 
 
 Bottles new, no longer olden, 
 Hold that wine, so new and golden; 
 
 Lo, the widow's jars are here : 
 Oil Elisha is renewing, 
 God gives us His own bedewing, 
 
 If our hearts prepared appear. 
 
 Again ; remembering that it is written, " Wisdom hath 
 
11. 4.] 
 
 THE SONG OF SONGS. 71 
 
 builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars : Prov. ix. 
 she hath killed her beasts ; she hath mingled her wine ; ^' ^ 
 she hath also furnished her table," some explain the Nyss. 
 house of u'ine to be the Altar of God, where the Cup ^^p^^^- 
 of Salvation, the Wine which truly maketh glad the s^pascii. 
 heart of man, is given by the Bridegroom to His love. Radb. 
 And with this sense the h an qneting -house of the A. V. 
 best accords. Also they see here a reference to the 
 progress of the soul in prayer and contemplation, when 
 God bestows the wine of comfort, joy, love, and fer- 
 vour. First, as the Greek Fathers tell us, by medita- ^^^ '^^^'■• 
 tion on the mystery of the Incarnation, because Christ's 
 Human Body is the house wherein dwells God the 
 Word, the true Wine of the soul. Then, as a great 
 Latin Doctor adds, " What can we better understand s. Greg. M. 
 by the chamber of wine than the hidden contemplation 
 of eternity ? In this eternity the holy Angels are ine- 
 briated with the wine of wisdom, when, beholding God 
 face to face, they are filled with every spiritual delight. 
 Into this the holy soul enters, if it leave all temporal 
 things behind, and be brought in by the Bridegroom, 
 and there tastes whatsoever is bestowed upon it of those 
 delights of the Angels. And if as yet, because still 
 detained in a corruptible body, she cannot fill herself 
 completely ; nevertheless, even from that very little 
 which she can hurriedly take, she understands how 
 much she ought to love that which she does love." 
 Nay, more, add others, for the draughts she there im- "°"'"*jy''\ 
 bibes make her utterly forget everything else, and "^° 
 take from her all wish, yea, all power, of returning to 
 her former life. And lastly ; the house of wine is inter- Dion. Carth. 
 preted of the heavenly mansion where the marriage- 
 feast of the Lamb is made ready. And the Church says 
 of this, not, Se ivill bring me in, but. He brought me in. 
 And that for two reasons, first, because His promise 
 is so sure, that a thing pledged by Him is as certain as 
 though it were already past ; and again, He has be- 
 stowed so many foretastes of everlasting blessedness 
 even here on earth that we may truly say, Ke brought 
 me into thebanqueting-Jiouse,y^h.evQ the Saints assemble Origen. 
 from the East and the West, and sit down with Abra- 
 ham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of God. 
 
 And His banner over me ivas love. Little doubt what 
 that banner is, the sign of that love greater than which 
 no man hath, that a man lay down his life for his 
 friends. 
 
72 A COMMENTARY ON [II. 4. 
 
 Salve Crux, arbor 
 
 Vitae pra^clara, 
 Christi vexillum, 
 
 Thronus et ara. 
 
 Hail, Cross, Life's Tree 
 
 Glorious alone, 
 Christ Jesus' banner, 
 
 Altar, and thi'one. 
 
 But it will not be the token of warfare in the House of 
 Wine on hio;h, as it is in the Church Militant on earth. 
 There it will be, as the same hymn continues, the em- 
 blem of past victory, the pledge of everlasting peace, 
 and the glory of the triumphant Saints : 
 
 Crux coelestis 
 
 Signum victoriae, 
 Belli robur 
 
 Et palma glorise. 
 
 Cross of the heavens, 
 
 Victory's crown, 
 Strength in the battle, 
 
 Palm of renown. 
 
 Ghisierius. Here, the office of the banner is manifold. First, it is 
 the summons to the nation, to assemble the host. And 
 isa. ixii. 10. gQ j^ jg written, "Lift up a standard for the people." 
 Jer. li. 27. Next, it is the signal for the battle : " Set ye up a 
 standard in the lands, blow the trumpet among the 
 nations, prepare the nations against her." Thirdly, 
 the great banner marks the tent of the Leader, for 
 Numb. ii. 2. " Every man of the children of Israel shall pitch by 
 his own standard, with the ensign of their father's 
 house." And in all these ways the Cross of Cheist 
 is the banner of the Church. But the Vulgate reads, 
 less exactly, He set love in order over me. Ordinavit 
 s. Hieron. in me charitatem. " Love," observes S. Jerome, writ- 
 Ep. ad ing to Marcella, "has no order, and impatience knows 
 
 ^*'"^® ■ no measure, and therefore this is a hard thing." But 
 God is the author of order, not of confusion, and there- 
 fore the first way in which we are taught His love in 
 order is by contemplation of the Three Persons of 
 Aponius. the Holy Trinity, wherein we learn first, the Name 
 of the Father, Who so loved the world that He 
 gave His Only-begotten Son for it; secondly, the 
 Name of the Son, the Eternal Wisdom Who loved 
 us and gave Himself for us ; thirdly, the Name of the 
 Holy Ghost, the Spirit of love, Who comforts and 
 strengthens us. And our order is therefore that we 
 
ir. 5,] THE SONG OF SONGS. 73 
 
 are to love the Lord our God with all our heart ; with 
 
 all our mind ; and with all our strength. He set love 
 
 in order, for He loved us first, and thus drew us on to 
 
 love Him. S. Bernard understands the gift of spiritual Cassiodor. 
 
 tact and discretion, which regulates and guides our ^eda. 
 
 zeal, teaching us what things are to be preferred to serm!^49)^ 
 
 others, — the love of God to the love of man ; heaven and so. 
 
 to earth ; eternity to time ; the soul to the flesh. But 
 
 love is also divided into active and affective, and it is 
 
 after the order of God's law that active love has to 
 
 busy itself with less perfect things, and persons, for 
 
 their sakes, rather than for its own, when it would 
 
 prefer rising with affective love, to the contemplation 
 
 of heavenly things. It is to be noted that the LXX. 
 
 takes this whole verse as addressed by the Bride to 
 
 the companions of the Bridegroom, and reads, Bring 
 
 ye me into the house of ivine, set love in order over me, 
 
 applying the words first to the Jewish Church calling 
 
 on the Prophets to lead her to Cheist, then of the Origen. 
 
 Christian Church appealing to the Apostles and Doc- ^^^^° ^**"p- 
 
 tors ; and afterwards of faithful souls asking for further 
 
 instruction in divine mysteries, and for guidance in 
 
 their affections. It has thus been not inaptly applied De Ponte. 
 
 to postulants for the Religious Life, asking for admis- Ghisierius. 
 
 sion from Superiors, and instruction in the rule and 
 
 order which they propose to follow. The Yulgate may 
 
 also be explained to mean. He set love in array over 
 
 me ; that is, as my chief and leader in the battle, teach- ^^so Card. 
 
 ing me that in all things charity is the more excellent 
 
 way. Or, again, He arrayed his love against me, at- Sanchez. 
 
 tacking the fortress of my heart with power which I 
 
 could not resist, entering it as its Lord and Conqueror, 
 
 and setting His banner in token of victory over its 
 
 highest battlements. 
 
 generous love ! that He who smote j. h. New- 
 
 In man for man the foe, man, Dream 
 
 The double agony in man ofGerontius, 
 For man should undergo ; 
 
 And in the garden secretly, 
 
 And on the Cross on high, 
 Should teach His brethren, and inspire, 
 
 To suffer and to die. 
 
 5 Stay me with flagons, comfort me with 
 apples, for I am sick of love. 
 
 The version before us seems to be the intreaty of 
 
74 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [II. 5. 
 
 Theodoret. 
 
 S. Ambros. 
 in Ps. cxix. 
 
 S. Greg. M. 
 
 Origen. 
 Aponius. 
 
 Titelmann. 
 
 Pia Desid. 
 iii. 2. 
 
 the Cliurcli for the Holy Eucharist under its two forms, 
 the flagons denoting the chalice, and the apples the 
 species of Bread, true medicine of the soul which longs 
 for Christ. But there is a twofold difficulty in ac- 
 cepting this apparently obvious meaning. In the first 
 place, the Bride speaks not to the Bridegroom, but to 
 His friends, for the verbs are in the plural, and He 
 alone would be asked to give Himself. Next, the 
 A. V. is at variance with the older translations and 
 with modern criticism. The LXX. reads, Strengthen 
 me loith ointments, strew me with apples, for I am 
 wounded with love. The ointments are those which 
 have been poured forth, the apples are the fruit of 
 that Tree under whose shadow the Bride sat down. 
 And the words are thus, notes Theodoret, a petition to 
 the Bridegroom's friends to heap up about her every 
 memory of His love, to guard her against herself, to 
 hinder her from straying to any other than Him. 
 Thus too a Western Doctor, following the same read- 
 ing, tells us that the ointment is that which Cheist 
 shed, the apples, what hung upon the Tree. Others, 
 however, explain the ointments to be the graces of the 
 Holy Spieit, and particularly that of ghostly strength, 
 while the apples are discourses on divine things, sweet 
 to the palate of the Bride. The Vulgate is somewhat 
 different : Prop me with flowers, surround me with 
 apples. It is, says S. Gregory, the mother calling her 
 children round her bed, that in seeing their beauty 
 and growth she may find some comfort, the floioers 
 being the younger and weaker offspring, the beginners 
 in the spiritual life ; the apples, those who have gone 
 on further towards perfection. And with this agrees 
 Origen's interpretation, which sees catechumens and 
 faithful souls in the two, and also that of Aponius, who 
 explains the flowers of all pure souls, and the apples of 
 the Apostles, growing out of Cheist, as out of a tree, 
 by His teaching. Again, the words have been aptly 
 taken to denote severally the words and the deeds of 
 Cheist, which the Bride beseeches His companions 
 to recall to her memory, lest she should fail to bear 
 them in mind ; and thus she looks at them and turns 
 them over lovingly as the letters and gifts of her ab- 
 sent Bridegroom. Hermann Hugo reminds us that 
 it is no earthly fiowers and fruits that she desires, but 
 roses and lilies and apples, such as S. Dorothea in 
 the legend sent to Theophilus by the hand of an Angel, 
 
11. 5.] 
 
 THE SONG OF SONGS. 75 
 
 to tell him of her arrival after martyrdom in the garden 
 of God, blooming in its pride when earth was lying 
 frozen in the grasp of winter. The Bride would fain Hugo Card, 
 have many such flowers heaped around her, — roses by 
 the martyrs ; lilies by the virgins ; violets by the con- 
 fessors and penitents ; and apples by all who do good 
 works in the Church, and bring forth fruit to perfec- 
 tion. And yet again, the flowers may well be the 
 prayers of the faithful, and the apples their works, by 
 ■which the Church in general, or any soul in particular, 
 may be aided. Modern criticism translates the first r>e Wette. 
 clause of the verse, strengthen me toith raisin-cakes, and ^^ ^'|'am. 
 the latter, sti^eio my bed with apples, (i.e. probably, apple- xxx. 12. 
 leaves.) The raisin-calces, made of dried grapes, out 
 of which the wine has been pressed, but still retaining 
 much sweetness, and amongst the most satisfying of 
 foods, and the apples, or their leaves, used, not for sus- 
 tenance, but for a bed whereon to recline, most fitly 
 typify that spiritual communion of the faithful soul 
 which is cut off, by one cause or another, from oppor- 
 tunities of Sacramental feeding at the Altar of God. 
 Strength and rest are to be had even thus, and the 
 sick may be healed by touching the hem of Jesu's 
 garment. 
 
 Lord, I cannot seek Thee LyraEucha- 
 
 At Thine Altar-throne, ristica. 
 
 Yet may I receive Thee, 
 Friendless and alone. 
 
 Far from Priest and Altar, 
 
 Christ, to Thee I cry, 
 Come to me in spirit, 
 
 Let me feel Thee nigh. 
 
 In my silent worship 
 
 Let me share the Feast, 
 Be Thv Love the Altar, 
 
 Be Thyself the Priest. 
 
 For I am sick of love. O happy infirmity, where Gisten. 
 the " sickness is not unto death," but unto life, " for s.Johnxi.4. 
 the glory of God !" O happy fever, that proceedeth ;°"^^p- 
 not from a consuming, but a perfecting fire ! O happy sl^BasU.'M. 
 disorder, wherein the soul relisheth no earthly things, 
 but desires only the savour of heavenly food ! The 
 LXX. reads, loounded with love; that is, as all the 
 Easterns agree, with the love of God. And thus S. s. Aug. in 
 Augustine says, " She calls herself wounded with love. Ps. xxxvii. 
 For she loved, and did not yet possess ; she grieved, 
 
76 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [II. 5. 
 
 Origen. 
 S. Hieron. 
 Ep. 140. 
 Ps. xlv. 6. 
 S. Greg. 
 Nyssen. 
 Isa. xlix. 2. 
 
 S. John X. 
 30 : xiv. 23. 
 
 Francis 
 Quarles, 
 School of 
 the Heart, 
 33. 
 
 Cassiodor. 
 S. Greg. M. 
 Beda. 
 
 Hugo Card. 
 
 because she had not yet ; therefore, if she grieved, she 
 was wounded, but the wound hurried her to true 
 healthfulness. For he who is not wounded with this 
 wound, never can attain to true health." Every virtue, 
 observes Origen, wherewith the soul is affected, is as 
 it were an arrow of God shot at the soul, arrows that 
 are very sharp, so that it is subdued unto Him. 
 " God," says an ancient Father, "hurled His Son at 
 me. His Bride, as at a target, a javelin whereof is said 
 by the Prophet, * In the shadow of His hand hath He 
 hid Me, and made Me a polished shaft.' That arrow, 
 piercing me with its point of faith, hath brought its 
 Archer together with it, according to that saying, ' I 
 and My Father are one.' ' We will come unto him, 
 and make our abode with him.' " And so a quaint 
 old English poet says : 
 
 Lord, empty all Thy quivers, let there be 
 No corner of my spacious heart left free, 
 
 Till all be but one wound, wherein 
 
 No subtle sight-abhorring sin 
 May lurk in secret, unespied by Thee, 
 Or reign in power, unsubdued by Thee, 
 
 Perfect Thy purchased victory, 
 
 That Thou may'st ride triumphantly, 
 And leading captive all captivity 
 May'st put an end to enmity in me. 
 
 Then, blessed Archer, in requital, I 
 
 To shoot Thine arrows back again will try ; 
 
 By prayers and praises, sighs and sobs, 
 
 By vows and tears, by groans and throbs, 
 I'll see if I can pierce and wound Thine Heart, 
 And vanquish Thee again by Thine own art ; 
 
 Or, that we may at once provide 
 
 For all mishaps that may betide 
 Shoot Thou Thyself, Thy polished shaft, to me. 
 And I will shoot my broken heart to Thee. 
 
 The interpreters of the Vulgate reading, which is also 
 that of A. v., explain the words to denote the eager, 
 restless longing of the exiled soul for the Heavenly 
 Country, which gives her strong distaste for earthly 
 things, and makes her languid in all that regards them. 
 And her sickness, adds another, is threefold. She is 
 sick because of her own vileness, which she fears will 
 repel her Spouse ; sick with anxiety, lest she should 
 fall short in those good works which He desires ; sick 
 by reason of her frailty, lest she should become cold 
 and lax through want of perseverance. And accord- 
 
II. 6.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 11 
 
 ingly, she asks for three remedies against these, — 
 Jioivers, to give her beauty ; apples, to give her fruit ; 
 and, in the next verse, His own Hand to be her stay. 
 None has expressed this yearning for heaven, this 
 sickness of earth, both springing from love, better 
 than S. Teresa. 
 
 Ah, what a length does life appear, TiieRhyttim, 
 
 How hard to bear this exile here, vino sin vivir 
 
 How hard from weary day to day in me. 
 
 To pine without relief: 
 The yearning hope to break away 
 From this my prison-house of clay 
 
 Inspires so sharp a grief, 
 That overcome I weep and sigh, 
 Dying because I do not die. 
 
 * m * *^ 
 
 Ah, Lord, my Light and living Breath, 
 Take me, take me from this death, 
 
 And burst the bars that sever me 
 
 From my true life above. 
 Think how I die Thy Face to see, 
 And cannot live away from Thee, 
 
 my eternal Love. 
 And ever, ever weep and sigh, 
 Dying because I do not die. 
 
 And in this sickness of love, comments a great master (jgrgon, 
 of the ascetic life, the Bride passes out of herself, and sympsaima 
 falls into a death which is life, a trance wherein, no ^^ c*"*- 
 longer able to sustain herself, she is stayed up in the 
 everlasting Arms, and therefore adds, as she feels 
 them, 
 
 6 His left hand is under my head, and his 
 right hand doth embrace me. 
 
 " The Bridegroom cannot bear the suffering of His s. Bernard. 
 Bride, He is at hand ; for He cannot delay when called Serm. 57. 
 by such longings. And because He finds that she was 
 faithful in her tasks, and eager for gain while He was 
 absent, in that she desired to have flowers and apples 
 to be added to her, He returns to her now with an 
 even more spontaneous reward of grace. He supports 
 her reclining head with one of His arms, holding the 
 other ready to embrace her, and cherish her in His 
 bosom." And on the difference between these two 
 hands, let us hear the Doctor of Grace : " Mis left g August 
 hand is under my head, for He will not leave me even in Ps. cxiiV. 
 
78 A COMMENTARY ON [II. 6. 
 
 in temporal needs and desires, but nevertheless the 
 s. Greg. M. left hand will be under my head, not put before it, but 
 beneath it, that His right hand may embrace me, pro- 
 mising me everlasting life. Thus is fulfilled that say- 
 1 Tim. iv. 8. ing of the Apostle : ' Having promise of the life that 
 now is, and of that which is to come.' What of that 
 s. Just. Org. which now is ? His left hand is under my head. What 
 of that to come? His right hand doth embrace me. 
 s. Mat. vi. Do ye seek things for time ? ' Seek ye first the king- 
 ^^' dom of God,' that is, the right hand, ' and all these 
 
 s. Pet. Dam, things shall be added unto you.' Ye shall have, saith 
 Ep. 37. j£g^ riches and glory, and in the world to come life 
 
 everlasting. With the left hand I will sustain your 
 weakness, with the right I will crown your perfection." 
 Again, the same Saint in another place observes that 
 the right hand is above, the left hand below ; the left 
 In Ps. cxx. for consolation, the right for protection. Our head, 
 that is, our faith, where Christ dwells, rests on the 
 left hand, because we set that faith above all temporal 
 things, and then, truly, the right hand embraces us. 
 Cassiodor. But, writes another Father, even the temporal things 
 here intended are not earthly, rather they are Divine. 
 " God's left hajid -means the pledge of the Holy Spirit, 
 the understanding of the sacred Scriptures, and such 
 Phiio Carp, like gifts and graces whereby Holy Church is com- 
 Beda. forted in the present life. By the right hand is de- 
 
 noted the blessedness of the Heavenly Country, and 
 by the head the guiding principle of the soul. There- 
 fore the Bridegroom's left hand is under the Bride's 
 head, because the Church receives all these gifts to 
 ^ the end that she may learn to sigh for things eternal. 
 
 And the right hand of the Bridegroom embraces her, 
 because the whole aim of the Church or of the faithful 
 soul is that she may at length attain everlasting bless- 
 edness, and rejoice in the vision of her Maker. It is 
 well said, therefore, that the Bridegroom's left hand is 
 under the Bride's head, and then that His right hand 
 embraces her, because no one can arrive at the em- 
 braces of eternal bliss, unless he strive to be partaker 
 here of heavenly mysteries and Divine gifts." And 
 Serm. 4, in thus too, more tersely, S.Bernard: "The left hand 
 Nativ. Dom. raises, the left clasps. The left heals and justifies, the 
 right embraces and blesses. In His left hand are 
 merits, in His right rewards. In His right, I say, 
 s. Hieron. 4, delights ; in His left, medicines." Another view sees 
 in zech. jj^ ^j^g i^f^ hand, under the head, as giving a certain 
 
i 
 
 n. 6.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 79 
 
 degree of support, the old Law, but in the loving 
 
 ' embrace of the right the tidings of the Gospel. Again, 
 
 the left hand is taken to denote punishment and suf- 
 
 I fering, the right to be blessings and rewards. And in 
 
 this sense an Eastern Father writes : " His left hand 'rneodoret. 
 I is under my head, that is, I am lifted up above suflPer- 
 I ings, and not pressed down under them, because I am 
 j united to my Bridegroom, and heed Him eagerly. His 
 \ right hand shall embrace me ; that is. He will deck me 
 j with His bounties, and as though embracing, and grasp- 
 ing, and fulfilling my desire, heap me therewith." So 
 j too S. Bernard tells us that when we have attained that s. Bernard, 
 love which casteth out servile fear, God's left hand ^^'^™- ^'• 
 of threatening is under our heads, and we are bold 
 enough, in confident hope, to draw close to that right 
 hand wherein are His promises ; but that when we 
 fear Him more than we love or hope, when dread of 
 wrath to come is our chief sentiment, then His left 
 hand is over our heads. Another, accepting the view Apouius. 
 that the left hand denotes punishment and suffering, 
 applies it in a different and very beautiful way. " The 
 scaflfbld, and torments of divers punishments, seemed 
 to the foolish and ungodly shameful and hateful, but 
 to the Martyrs, and to all who have been brought into 
 the hall of wisdom, to be joyous delights, and beds of 
 rest for the weary. Beds whereon fire rouses only a 
 sportive smile ; whereon the amphitheatre of the tried 
 soul is turned into a paradise, the gratings and frying- 
 pans become the softest feathers, the balls of name 
 turn to the sweetest flowers, melted lead into balmy 
 unguents, the scourges, and rods, and toothed irons, 
 become the most delicate brushes, wherewith the soul, 
 cleansed from every stain of sin, and called back to 
 lier former beauty, is restored to her Creator. For 
 death undergone for Cheist's sake is preferred as 
 more precious than any joy, any pleasure, or the most 
 costly gem. These, then, are the delights of holy 
 souls for winning everlasting joys, where the Church, 
 fainting in delight, is glad of being held in the em- 
 ibrace of Cheist her Beloved, that she may be counted 
 {^worthy to bear the most savage tortures for her Maker. 
 <The left hand under her head may well be the shield 
 lof faith, held in the warrior's left hand as he fights ; and 
 by the embrace of the right hand we may understand 
 he sword of prayer, wherewith he is ever armed on 
 the right. With one of these arms the enemy is par- 
 
80 A COMMENTARY ON [II. 6. 
 
 Thom, ried, witli tlie other he is laid low." Others see in the 
 
 Vercell. £j,g^ clause the highest grade of mystic contemplation, 
 which is God's left hand under the head of intellectual 
 meditation in the illuminative way, while the embrace 
 of the right hand denotes the close union of the loving 
 will with Him in the unitive way. But the loveliest 
 interpretation of all is that which sees in the left hand 
 the Manhood of the Eternal Word, and all the works 
 wrought by Him after His Incarnation, when He was 
 indeed tinder our head, made lower not only than the 
 
 isa. ]iii. 2. Angels, but than men, a Man of Sorrows, acquainted 
 with grief, despised and rejected, marred more than any 
 other, with no beauty that we should desire Him, so 
 that we esteemed Him not ; and in the Eight Hand the 
 Godhead of the Crucified One, full of Divine gifts, 
 the place of everlasting glory and blessedness. And 
 
 Origen. thus Origen says : " That part of the Word of God 
 which existed before His taking flesh in this dispen- 
 sation, may well be His Right Hand ; that which ex- 
 ists through His Incarnation may be called the left. 
 
 Prov. iii. i6. Whence tlie left hand is said to have riches and 
 honour. For through His Incarnation He sought for 
 riches and honour, that is, the salvation of all. In 
 His right hand is said to be length of days, whereby 
 without doubt that part which was in the beginning 
 with God, which was God the Word, is denoted as 
 eternal. This left hand then, the Church, whose Head 
 is Christ, desires to have under her head, that it may 
 be protected by faith in the Incarnation ; but to be 
 embraced by His right, that is, to know and to be 
 taught those things which were dark and hidden be- 
 fore the time of the dispensation which began when 
 He took flesh. The right hand is there where we 
 must hold that all things are wherein is nought of the 
 misery of sin, nought of the fall of weakness. Here 
 is the left hand, where He cured our wounds, and car- 
 ried our iniquities, made Himself sin and a curse for 
 us. All these, although they do as it were support the 
 head and faith of the Church, may fitly be called the 
 left hand of the Word of God." And in the same 
 
 s. Bern, de strain S. Bernard observes, " In the left hand the holy 
 
 Diiig. Deo. goul recalls to mind that love, greater than which none 
 is, that He laid down His life for His friends ; in the 
 right she remembers the Beatific Vision which He 
 
 Promised to His friends, and the ^oj in presence of 
 lis majesty." And therefore the Church looks for- 
 
11. 7] THE SONG OF SONGS. 81 
 
 ward in hopeful awe for the coming of that Great Day 
 when the sheep and the goats shall be portioned, the 
 one on His right hand, and the other on His left, 
 trusting that then He will set her on His right hand pg_ ^iv 
 in a vesture of gold, wrought about with divers colours, 
 denoting the various graces and merits of the holy 
 souls whom He has purified by sufiering here. 
 
 7 I charge you^ O ye daughters of Jerusalem, 
 by the roes, and by the hinds of the fields that 
 ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please. 
 
 The Vulgate and LXX. are both at variance with 
 this version. The former reads, I adjure you, O ye 
 daughters of Jerusalem, hy the she-goats, and by the 
 stags of the fields, that ye stir not, nor aivaJce My love 
 (fem.) until she please. "It is," observes Cassiodorus, Cassiodor, 
 *' the voice of the Bridegroom, adjuring the daughters 
 of Jerusalem, that is, souls bent on everlasting desires, 
 and seeking the Vision of Peace, not to rouse or dis- 
 turb the reposing Bride. That is, do not disturb or 
 try to engage in outer works the soul which is busied 
 in Divine contemplation, prayers, or reading, until she 
 iviU, to wit, until at the close of her time of contem- 
 plation, she desires, warned by her bodily weakness, 
 to be roused from her sleep of everlasting rest, and to 
 proceed to her temporal duties. Let us see then by 
 what He adjures the daughters of Jerusalem. By the 
 she-goats and the stags of the fields. She-goats and 
 stags are clean beasts, hostile to serpents and poisons. Beda. 
 They denote the virtues of the Saints, which shine 
 with spiritual clearness, and are not merely on their 
 guard against the venom of the devil's craft, but ac- 
 tually pursue it and bring it to nothing." S. Grregory, s. Greg. m. 
 agreeing with most of this explanation, prefers to un- 
 derstand the daughters to be weakly and effeminate 
 souls, who prefer the temporal aspects of religion to 
 the eternal ones, and therefore are eager to engage 
 the Church chiefly in external works, instead of trust- 
 ing to her better judgment as to the share to be given 
 to each. S. Justus of Urgel applies the words very S. Just. Org. 
 aptly to the wisdom of Christian teachers in not forcing 
 the wills of the faithful towards counsels of perfection, 
 but leaving, instead, some room for voluntary and 
 spontaneous offering. And he cites S. Paul's counsel, 35^°''' ^"' ^^' 
 not command, to virgins, and his advice to Philemon, Pliiiem. 14. 
 
82 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [n. 7. 
 
 S. Mat. xix. 
 12, 21. 
 
 Aponius. 
 
 Titelman. 
 
 Hugo Card. 
 
 Rupert. 
 
 as also the Loed's own language respecting eunuchs, 
 and to the young man whom He told to sell that he 
 had, and give to the poor, in illustration of his com- 
 ment. The palace of Christ, as another tells us, has 
 not only many chambers and a banqueting-house, but 
 also a great park, wherein are many souls, once wild 
 in the woods of Gentile philosophy, but now captured 
 by the hunters of the Church, and tamed for the de- 
 light of the daughters of Jerusalem, and set to disport 
 themselves in the fields of Holy Writ, retaining their 
 old swiftness and acute senses, but employing them 
 better than before, when, as Platonic and Stoic teachers, 
 they were only seeking after that God whom they 
 have now found. They are urged to be patient with 
 the Church, and to let her have her sleep out, to re- 
 cruit her strength, when they would fain see their own 
 intellectual eagerness in the pursuit of Divine know- 
 ledge universally shared. " Again, it may be an appeal 
 to all devout and peaceful souls, in the name of the 
 Patriarchs and Seers of the Old Testament, and of the 
 Apostles and Doctors of the New, not to interfere 
 with the pious employments of their brethren on any 
 pretext, but to rejoice in any spiritual advantage they 
 may gain therein. Or you may take it as the address 
 of Christ to the children of the earthly Jerusalem, 
 the Scribes and Pharisees, not to interfere with or per- 
 secute the Christian Church, and this in the name of 
 those swift ministering spirits, the Angels, who might 
 otherwise be agents of punishment to them, as they 
 had been of old to the Egyptians and Canaanites, when 
 they meddled with the Synagogue. Cardinal Hugo, 
 viewing the text as a warning against spiritual impa- 
 tience to arrive at results before the means have been 
 got ready, compares the necessary pause to the filling 
 of cups before a feast can begin, to the tuning of in- 
 struments before a concert, to the whetting of arrows 
 and hooks before a hunting-match, with other similes 
 of the kind. And Rupert, taking the daughters of 
 Jerusalem literally, interprets the passage of a warning 
 to them, in the name of the Patriarchs, not to inter- 
 rupt the silence of the Mother of God touching the 
 mysterious burden of her womb, till it should please 
 her to speak, lest Herod should learn the truth too 
 soon, and find the Child to slay Him. 
 
 The LXX. read, / adjure you, O ye daughters of 
 Jerusalem, hy the forces and powers of the field, if ye 
 
II. 7.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 83 
 
 shall stir up or awaJce the love so long as she (or he) 
 please. And this is explained by Origen to mean that origen. 
 the Church is God's husbandry, but that each soul has 
 its o^n plot in the great field, to till for Him and plant 
 with virtues and good works. The Bride urges the 
 daughters of the heavenly Jerusalem, by all that is 
 dearest to them in these gardens of their souls, that if 
 they have once begun to stir up and rouse love, Avhich 
 was sleeping, they are not to check its rising within 
 any narrower bounds than those of the Bridegroom's 
 will, because there should be no other measure to our 
 love of God. It matters not what patience or suf- 
 fering on the Bride's part this may involve, for it is 
 her part to obey His will so long as He manifests it. s. Epipha- 
 S. Gregory JN'yssen, agreeing in other respects with s^^QJeg. 
 this, will have the forces and powers of the field to Nyss. 
 denote the Angels, whom the elect souls are hereby 
 enjoined to imitate. Psellus, on the other hand, sees PseUus. 
 here a continuance of the former intreaty of the Bride 
 that she may be decked for her Bridegroom, and re- 
 ■nv^c-^nts her as calling on the Angels to increase in 
 every way her love for Him, until His will for the sal- 
 vation of all mankind may be fulfilled in her. Another 
 very singular view is that of Philo, who takes the phuo carp. 
 words as those of a holy soul beseeching other Saints 
 not to urge God, Who is love, to call her to Himself by 
 death, until His own good time, that she may employ 
 herself in His service here below, according to that 
 saying, " Until I have showed Thy strength unto this Ps. ixxi. 16. 
 generation, and Thy power to all them that are yet for 
 to come." The Greek Fathers, it will thus be seen, 
 agree with the A. V. in ascribing the words to the 
 Bride, and represent Love himself, whether God, or a 
 faculty of the soul, as the sleeper. Herein they are 
 also in accord with the Targum, which represents the Targum. 
 words as an address of Moses, after the return of the 
 spies, adjuring the people of Israel by the Loed of 
 Hosts and the powers of the land of Israel,^ not to 
 rouse the Lokd, nor to attempt to enter Canaan until 
 
 ' Hence it appears that the 
 Targum accepts the LXX., 
 "forces" and "powers," for 
 "gazelles" and "hinds," ob- 
 viously referring ni«a2? to the 
 root Nl^ " he went out to war" I 2 Kings xxiv. 15 
 g2 
 
 and taking nib\*^ hinds, as 
 though it were equivalent to 
 D'V^ (from the same ultimate 
 root bM^ princes or chieftains. 
 
84 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [II. 8. 
 
 His will should allow of it, at the end of the forty 
 years. This, taken in conjunction with some of the 
 patristic comments given above, will lead us on to what 
 is probably the true mystical import of the words. 
 The Bride urges all devout souls, in the name of those 
 other souls which, though less perfect, and not yet as 
 meek and docile as the sheep of Christ's fold, are yet 
 dear to the Good Shepherd, not to hasten God's good 
 time by impatience, but to let patience have her per- 
 fect work. Storms and persecutions may rage round 
 the ship of the Church, but if He be in the ship, even 
 though asleep on a pillow, it is the truest faith to 
 await His waking, instead of rousing Him entirely 
 from slumber, only to rebuke our incredulity. Again ; 
 as the word is not Beloved, but Love, we may well see 
 here counsel against hurrying on souls too fast in re- 
 ligious growth, lest undue forcing should make them 
 weakly exotics, rather than hardy, vigorous, and fruitful 
 plants. It is, in other terms, the Apostle's counsel to 
 give milk to babes and meat to the full-grown only, 
 and not to urge immature Christians to apply to them- 
 selves language and usages fitted only for the tried 
 athletes of the Faith. Still further is it a warning 
 
 Ainsworth. against arousing Chbist, by our sins, to stand up in 
 judgment against us, because each of us has not been 
 
 Prov. V. 19. ill soul a true Spouse to Him, " as the loving liind and 
 pleasant roe." 
 
 S. Ambros. 
 
 Targam. 
 
 8 The voice of my beloved ! behold, he 
 Cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping 
 upon the hills. 
 
 9 My beloved is like a roe or a young hart : 
 
 The first act of this dramatic idyl closed with the 
 preceding verse, wherein the Bride warns her com- 
 panions against disturbing the slumber of the Bride- 
 groom. Now, His time for waking has come, she 
 hears His voice and sees Him, from a distance, hasten- 
 ing to her, and the second stage of the action— wherein 
 some commentators not unfitly see typified the first 
 efforts of the Pentecostal Church — begins with await- 
 iug His nearer approach to perfect union. The Tar- 
 gum, which refers the words to God's message by 
 Moses to Israel in Egypt, and to His Passover, as He 
 went slaying the first-born of the Egyptians, while 
 
II. 8.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 85 
 
 sparing the houses marked with the blood of the Lamb, 
 gives, as it were, the key to all subsequent expositions. 
 The voice of my Beloved ! At first it was only by His Origen. 
 voice that Christ was known by the Church, for He 
 sent it before Him by His prophets, and was only 
 heard, not seen ; while His people had merely the pro- 
 mise of His Advent announced to them, according to Ny?sen.' 
 that saying of the Apostle, " Gtod, Who at sundry Heb. i. 'i. 
 times and in divers manners spake in times past unto 
 the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days 
 spoken unto us by His Son." And therefore, as the 
 present verse represents the last few moments before 
 His Advent, rather than that very time itself, this 
 Voice has been aptly said to be that of the great Fore- Tres Patr. 
 runner, the " Voice crying in the wilderness, Prepare isa. xi. 3. 
 ye the way of the Loed." And this exposition receives ^- ^^'^^ ^* ^' 
 support from a saying of the Baptist himself, wherein 
 he most plainly refers to this very passage of the Song : ^g^rg^^*"^' 
 "He that hath the Bride is the Bridegroom : but the s.Johniii. 
 friend of the Bridegroom, which standeth and heareth 29- 
 Him, rejoiceth greatly because of the Bridegroom's 
 voice." Another and singular view is, that the Voice s. Just. Org. 
 of the Beloved is that call of the dead to resurrection, 
 which will precede His second Advent to judge the 
 world. A Latin Father, following the reading which Aponius. 
 makes the Bride the sleeper, bids us note how light 
 her slumber is, how she is roused at once by the first 
 tones of the Bridegroom's voice, heard in Holy Writ, 
 in prayer, or in meditation, according to His own 
 saying, " Every one that is of the truth heareth My S- .-^P^^i 
 voice." A G-reek commentator, on the other hand, bids ^^"^' 
 us observe how difficult true contemplation is, how we 
 do but hear the voice, without seeing the form, of the %^^^' 
 WoED of God, and how, even when He does appear, 
 the swiftness of His movements is such as to dazzle 
 the eye, as He does not remain fixed that we may gaze, 
 but comes rapidly on. And from this is drawn counsel, 
 where the Western writer does but state a fact, to wit, 
 the need of the soul being on the alert to catch the first 
 intimation of her Bridegroom's presence. If He will 
 but speak to her, it is enough, because " the sheep S- -^o^" ^' ^• 
 follow Him, for they know His voice." Again ; as the 
 time of silence and waiting was said above to be appli- 
 cable to the abiding of the Apostles in Jerusalem dur- 
 ing the ten days of expectation ; the Voice here may 
 fitly be taken, of the mighty rushing wind of Pentecost, GMsierius. 
 
A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [II. 8. 
 
 Com. k Lap. 
 
 S. John 
 xvi. 14. 
 
 S. Ambros. 
 in Ps. cxix. 
 
 S. Greg. M. 
 Horn. 29, in 
 Evang. 
 
 Hugo Card. 
 
 In loc. 
 
 S. Bernard. 
 Serm. 53. 
 
 which gave the Apostles utterance, called the Voice of 
 the Beloved, because of the mission of the Comforter 
 from the Son. And so it is written : " He shall glorify 
 Me : for He shall receive of Mine, and shall show it 
 unto you." JBeJiold, He cometh lea'phig upon the moun- 
 tains, sMpping upon the hills. " I long," cries a Saint, 
 putting words into the mouth of the Bride, " that love 
 should be stirred up for me. I count myself wounded 
 with love, and love itself hastens to me the more. 
 I said. Come, it leaps and skips. I ask Him to come 
 with grace. He worketh the increase of graces, and as 
 He comes, brings with Him additional grace ; nay, He 
 gains it Himself in coming, because even He desires 
 to please His beloved. He leaps upon the high places, 
 that He may ascend to His Bride. For the chamber 
 of the Bride is the Judgment-seat of Cheist." He 
 leaps on the Church, He skippeth on the Synagogue. 
 He leaps on the Gentiles, He skippeth on the Jews. 
 Let us behold Him leaping. He leaps from heaven 
 into the "Virgin's womb, from the womb into the manger, 
 from the manger into Jordan, from Jordan to the 
 Cross, from the Cross to the grave, from the grave into 
 heaven. And there is an ancient tradition of the 
 Church, that the Loed, in the course of His Ascension, 
 tarried one day with each of the nine orders of the 
 Angelic hierarchy, arriving on the tenth at the right 
 hand of the Fathee, and thereupon sending the Holy 
 Ghost down on the Apostles. For this reason, they 
 say, it is that the Kyrie Eleison is said nine times in 
 the Mass, and ended with the Gloria Patri. All this, 
 observes S. Gregory, was leaping on the mountains, 
 because beyond man's reach, though for the most part 
 visible to him, and also because surpassing, in the 
 might of His loving-kindness, all that the greatest 
 Saints have ever done. S. Bernard, pointing out that 
 the Bridegroom is said first to leap over mountains, and 
 then over hills, refers the verse to the humiliation of 
 God the Son, passing from His throne in the highest, 
 revealing, as He goes down through the choirs of 
 angels, the wonderful mystery of His love, hidden from 
 all generations. He reaches the mightiest Spirits, still 
 unspeakably below Himself, and passing by them, 
 comes to the lowlier powers, and leaves even these 
 far above Him, made, as He was, lower than the Angels 
 for our sakes, and found in fashion as a man. Not 
 only so, but He is said to leap over the Angels for an- 
 
II. 8.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 87 
 
 other cause also, His far greater eagerness to minister 
 to the heirs of salvation, rejoicing as a giant to run His pg ^j^^ ^ 
 race. " He leaped over Gabriel, and came before him serm. 54." 
 to the Virgin, as the Archangel himself beareth wit- 
 ness, saying, ' Hail, full of grace, the Loed is with 
 thee.' What ? dost thou find Him in the womb Whom 
 thou leftest but now? How is this? 'He did fly, Ps. xvUi. 10, 
 yea. He did fly before on the wings of the wind.' Thou Vuig. 
 art vanquished, O Archangel ; He who sent thee for- 
 ward hath leaped over thee." And the same Saint re- Serm. 4, in 
 minds us in another place how often the Loed literally Ascens. 
 chose a mountain for His manifestations, preaching 
 His first discourse to the people on one, praying on 
 another, transfigured on a third, crucified on a fourth, 
 and ascending again from that Mount of Olives which 
 had been His frequent resort. 
 
 Thrice for us the Word Incarnate high on holy hills was set, 
 Once on Tabor, once on Calvary, and again on Olivet, 
 Once to shine and once to suffer, and once more, as King of kings, 
 With a merry noise ascending, borne by cherubs on their wings. 
 
 Again ; He leaped over mountains and hills by His Origen. 
 
 conquering the kingdoms and provinces of the earth 
 
 through the conversion of the Gentiles in the person of 
 
 His messengers, of whom is written, " How beautiful ^a.^ii,' 7. 
 
 upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth 
 
 good tidings." And, as another aptly points out, He q^v, ^ * 
 
 overthrew the idol temples, so often set upon hills in the 
 
 midst of groves, a meaning enforced, as is noted, by 
 
 the version of Symmachus, who reads, Going against 
 
 the mountains, leading against the hills. 
 
 The lonely mountains o'er, Milton 
 
 And the resounding shore, Hymn on 
 
 A voice of weeping heard and loud lament j the Nativity, 
 
 From haunted spring, and dale 182. 
 
 Edged with poplar pale. 
 The parting genius is with sighing sent ; 
 
 With flower-inwoven tresses torn 
 The nymphs in twilight shade of tangled thickets mourn. 
 
 He comes leaping also to holy souls, not only to those s. Ambros. 
 more perfect ones, like His Apostles, who are lofty ^'^ ^^- ^^^^• 
 and strong as mountains, rooted deep in love, and 
 kissed by the first rays of the sun ; but also to the 
 lowlier hills which court His presence. " Behold, He 
 cometh, not upon the plains, nor upon the valleys, but 
 leaping upon the mountains. If thou be a mountain, 
 
88 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [II. 9. 
 
 Cassiodor. 
 Beda. 
 
 Origen. 
 Ps. cxxi. 
 
 Acts ix. 
 marg. 
 
 Aponius, 
 
 He leapeth on tLee. He leaps on Isaiah, He leaps on 
 Jeremiah, He leaps on Peter, John, James. The 
 mountains are round about Him. If thou canst not 
 be a mountain, if thou art not strong enough for that, 
 be at least a hill, that Christ may go up on thee, and 
 if He pass, let Him so leap over thee, that the shadow 
 of His transit may be thy safeguard." And another 
 Saint reminds us that the Bridegroom is said to leap, 
 and to leap over the hills, to teach us that though He 
 comes often to His Saints, yet that the sweetness of 
 internal contemplation is very brief and rare for each 
 one even in the case of those most advanced in holi- 
 ness, because we are weighed down with the burden 
 of the flesh. He comes leaping to us as we study Holy 
 Scripture, appearing in passage after passage on the 
 hills of the Old Testament, and the loftier and more 
 conspicuous mountains of the New. And in this sense 
 we may take that saying, " I will lift up mine eyes 
 unto the hills, from whence is my help." LiJce a roe 
 or a young hart. For roe the LXX. reads SopwaSt a 
 doe. And because this word is derived from depKca, 
 " I see," by reason of the animal's large and beautiful 
 eyes, Origen tells us that Cheist is compared to it 
 because He comes to us in contemplation, and that He 
 is like a young hart, because the stag hates and de- 
 stroys serpents, and thus figures the active Saints who 
 imitate their Lokd in making war upon evil. There 
 is a crowd of other yet more fanciful interpretations, 
 amongst which it is unnecessary to specify more than 
 two, which seem really to illustrate the words, to wit, 
 the swiftness of the creatures named, and their delight 
 in climbing among the mountains, symbolising the 
 working of Cheist in the soul ; and the harmlessness 
 of the young hart, which has not yet put out its horns, 
 denoting the gentleness of the Savioue. 
 
 Behold^ he standeth behind our wall, he looketh 
 forth at the windows, showing himself through 
 the lattice. 
 
 i.yranus. . This wall, observes De Lyra, is that thick darkness 
 in which the Law was given on Sinai, through which 
 pierced the lightning-flashes from the hidden glory of 
 God. Cheist Incarnate stood, notes another, as though 
 behind our wall, because the Godhead lay hid in our 
 
11. 9.] THE SONG OP SONGS. 89 
 
 humanity. And because human weakness could not g ^^^ ^ 
 endure His infinity, were He to disclose it, He inter- * ^^^' " 
 posed the barrier of flesh, and whatever great work He 
 wrought among men, He did as though hiding behind 
 a wall. He who looks through windows and lattices, is 
 partly seen and partly hides himself : so too our Lord 
 Jesus Christ, when He was working miracles by 
 divine power, and enduring insults in the weakness 
 of the flesh, looked forth as it were through windows 
 and lattices, because while hiding Himself in one way. 
 He showed in another way who He was. 
 
 Again, He stands behind our wall, that is, our sin cassiodor. 
 and fleshly weakness prevent us from seeing Him con- 
 stantly, and yet He gives glimpses of Himself, by 
 making, as it were, openings in that wall whereby we 
 can contemplate Him partially. This is the wall to '^^^' "^^- 
 which Hezekiah turned his face and wept, because he 2 Kings 
 could not yet behold his Saviour. The iinnclows ^^\ 
 whereat we see Him, observes a G-reek Father, are our 
 powers of understanding, chiefly exercised when we 
 pray or read Holy Scripture, and as we are so engaged, 
 we see Him at intervals. And whereas the LXX. 
 word for lattice is nets, the same Father tells us that 
 it is just when we are in the midst of temptation and 
 snares that we see Christ's Face shining on us through Origen. 
 the meshes, to bid us be of good courage, for He is at 
 hand to free us. Another, remembering how S. Paul 
 describes that mid-wall of partition which stood be- 
 tween Jew and Gentile till the Passion, tells us that Philo Carp, 
 the wall is the Law, which hid Christ altogether 
 under type and shadow. The tvindoivs, which gave 
 fitful glimpses of Him, are the Prophets ; and the lat- 
 ices, through which He looks out (LXX.) denote the 
 Apostles, who had seen Him in the body, and were able g Epipha- 
 to preach His full revelation. S. Epiphanius, how- nius. 
 Bver, not very dissimilarly, takes the chief Messianic 
 Prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Daniel, to be these 
 fpindows. S. Bernard applies the words windoivs and 
 ^•attices very touchingly to the weaknesses and suffer- s. Bernard, 
 ng of our mortal bodies, as though gaps and crevices ^^'■'"- *^' 
 n a ruinous wall, and tells us that through these same 
 ndows of His own human Body the Lord looked out 
 m suffering mortality, and learned to share and pity its 
 leepest sorrows. The Chaldee paraphrase helps us to 
 Lnother deep mystical meaning, applying, as it does, 
 he verse to the Lord looking through the windows of 
 
90 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [n. 10. 
 
 Corn, a Lap. 
 
 S. Just. Org. 
 
 Cantacu- 
 
 zene. 
 
 Isa. lix. 2. 
 S. Bernard. 
 Serm. 56. 
 
 Ps. xviii. 29 
 
 Nic. Argent 
 
 the Israelites in Egypt as tliey slew the Paschal Lamb, 
 sprinkled its blood, and ate its roasted flesh with bitter 
 herbs. So the Loed Jesus looks out steadfastly on 
 faithful souls from behind the wall of the species of 
 Bread and Wine in the Holy Eucharist, showing Him- 
 self in part to them even there, as they feed on Him in 
 faith, and gives them joy with the light of His coun- 
 tenance. And again, they remind us how His love 
 looked out upon us through the lattices of those Five 
 Wounds He bore for us upon the Cross. The time 
 will at last come when our wall shall be swept away, 
 and all, especially sin, which now hinders us from be- 
 holding Chkist face to face, shall vanish. Our sins 
 separate between us and God. Would there were no 
 barrier against me save that of the body, exclaims 
 S. Bernard, and the sin which is inherent in the flesh, 
 and not many another source of evil besides. I fear 
 that besides that sin which is of my nature, I have 
 added many, very many, of my own unrighteousness, 
 whereby I have driven the Bridegroom too far from 
 me, so that were I to speak truly, I should confess 
 rather that He stands behind several walls than behind 
 one. But it is written, " With the help of my God I 
 shall leap over the wall." Till that blessed time come, 
 we may pray in the language of a devout writer : " O 
 my Beloved, Thou standest behind the wall of my mor- 
 tality, blindness, and sloth, and I cannot see Thee, nor 
 love Thee, as I would. Look upon me, then, through 
 the lattices of all the powers of my soul, that I may 
 know and love Thee as much as Thou vouchsafest. 
 Look at me also, sometimes, through the windows, , 
 through those partial images of Thyself in my soul. , 
 So, though I cannot see Thee perfectly and wholly, , 
 yet I may ever in part behold Thee more clearly, and i 
 love Thee more truly, when and how far Thou wiliest, , 
 that I may thus learn by experience that Thou standest 
 behind my wall, looking at me through the windows, 
 and gazing on me through the lattices, and that no 
 barrier parts Thee and me save that wall of mortal 
 flesh, after whose dissolution I may see and know 
 Thee perfectly, even as I am now known unto Thee." 
 
 10 My beloved spake^ and said unto rae_, 
 Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come 
 away. 
 
II. 10.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 91 
 
 Spake. The word H^^ anaJi, here rendered spaJce, 
 is very much more frequently used in the Bible in the 
 sense of ansioered. Accordingly the LXX. turns the 
 sentence, My beloved ansivereth and saith unto Me, 
 which suggests at once the constant occurrence of the g ^^^ 
 same phrase in the Gospels, applied to our Lord, and xi. 25. 
 by no means always denoting a reply to spoken words, s. John v. 
 but rather to unspoken thoughts, which He reads as ^^' ^' 
 in an open book. Rise up. The LXX. in some copies, 
 and the Yulgate add, hasten, and also insert the word 
 dove among the epithets of the Bride in this verse. Rise 
 up, the Lord says, and come. My love ; rise up from the s. Ambros. 
 pleasures of the world, rise up from earthly things, and ^^ Isaac et 
 come to Me, thou who art still labouring and heavy ^^"'^*' ^^'^■ 
 laden, because thou art careful about things of the 
 world. Come away above the world, come to Me, for I 
 have overcome the world. Come near to Me, now fair 
 with the beauty of eternal life, now a dove, meek and 
 gentle, and altogether full of spiritual grace. And why, origen. 
 another Father asks, does he say, JRise up, hasten ? 
 Because He would say, I bore for thee the tempest's 
 rage ; I met the waves which were thy due. My soul, 
 for thy sake, was exceeding sorrowful unto death ; I 
 arose from the dead, breaking the gates of death, and 
 loosing the fetters of hell. Therefore I say unto thee, 
 Rise up, and come aioay. He calls her out of the Cassiodor. 
 house into the field, and saith. Rise up from thy plea- ^^ ^' 
 sant couch, from that repose, wherein thou seekest to 
 please Me alone with psalms, and hymns, and prayers, 
 hasten and come, that is, hasten to the help of thy neigh- 
 bours, that by preaching, and the example of good 
 works, thou mayest make them true imitators of thee, 
 and lead them to salvation with thyself. She is His 
 love, observes S. Justus, because reconciled to Him by s. Just. Org:. 
 His death, His/«^> one, because washed from her sins. 
 Or, as S. Bernard, at fuller length, comments. She is s. Bernard, 
 fitly called His love, who seeks her Bridegroom's profit 
 by earnestly and faithfully preaching, counselling, and 
 ministering. Fitly is she His dove, who unceasingly 
 seeks to gain the divine pity for her loved ones, sigh- 
 ing and entreating for them in prayer. Fitly also is 
 she His fair one, who shining with the heavenly long- 
 ing of lofty contemplation, at any rate when it may be 
 timely and suitably done, clothes herself in its beauty. 
 It may also be taken of any holy soul which God calls 
 to Himself out of the troubles of the world. And thus 
 
92 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [II. 11, 12. 
 
 S. Hieron. 
 Epitaph. 
 S. Paulse. 
 
 Ps.xxvii, 15, 
 
 S. Ambros. 
 in Ps. cxix. 
 
 Rupert. 
 
 Brev. Paris, 
 et Rotomag, 
 
 S. Greg. 
 
 Nyss. 
 
 S. Jerome speaks of one who had served her Master 
 well, and was ready when He came and called for her. 
 " The moment she heard the Bridegroom calling, E-ise 
 up, come away, My love, My fair one. My dove ; for 
 lo, the winter is past and over, the rain is gone ; she 
 joyfully answered. The flowers are seen in the land, 
 the time of pruning is come. I believe verily to see 
 the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living." 
 His calling is not merely away from the world, but 
 into heaven. " See," He says, " the middle wall of 
 separation, which parted the concord of our inner af- 
 fections and roused the bodily passions to strife, and 
 to contrariety, is taken down. Come then, unfearing, 
 to see Me no longer through the lattice, but face to 
 face, O My love, to enjoy My loving countenance." 
 And it is also taken in especial of the summons to 
 the holiest of Saints by the voice of the Archangel. 
 " Thou, the Heavenly Sender of the message would 
 say, My love for thy lowliness, My dove for thy gen- 
 tleness. My fair one for thy purity, come. Come, 
 Mary, come, for Eve hath fled to a hiding-place. 
 Come, and believe the Angel bringing thee glad tid- 
 ings ; for Eve believed the whispering serpent. Come, 
 and crush the serpent's head, for Eve was deluded 
 with the head, and tempted with the belly, and tangled 
 in the tail of the serpent. Come, and say. Behold the 
 handmaid of the Lord. For Eve hid and excused 
 herself alike. The serpent, said she, deceived me, and 
 I did eat. This is the Voice of my Beloved, and He 
 saith this to me, Hise up by faith, hasten by hope, 
 come by charity." The words are applied to the 
 Blessed Virgin in another sense also, used as they are 
 by the Gallican Church as one of the Antiphons for 
 the Feast of the Assumption. And how does the 
 Bride treat the call ? She hears the command, replies 
 a Saint, she is established by the word, she is aroused, 
 she advances, she draws near. She becomes fair, she 
 is called a dove. Fair, because drawing near God 
 she has received the image of the Divine beauty in 
 herself as in a mirror ; a dove, in that she is lovely 
 with that image of the Holt Ghost she has received". 
 
 11 For lo_, the winter is past, the rain is 
 over and gone ; 
 
 12 The flowers appear on the earth ; the 
 
II. 11, 12.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 93 
 
 time of the singing of birds is come^ and the 
 voice of the turtle is heard in our land ; 
 
 Here, as so often, the Chaldee anticipates the true Targum. 
 mystical sense, by explaining these words of the end- 
 ing of the bondage of Israel in Egypt, and of the Voice 
 of the Holt Spieit of redemption, promised to Abra- 
 ham, and now heard by his descendants. For singing, 
 it reads, with the old Versions, 'pruning, and interprets 
 the phrase of the circumcision of the firstborn. And 
 the first general exposition of the verse by the Fathers 
 takes it of the Gospel revelation, ending the rigour 
 and harshness of the Jewish Law on the one hand, and 
 of Gentile idolatry on the other. The rain is over, . 
 because the Sun of Uighteousness, shining out, has The^doret. 
 dispersed the mists and clouds of error and sin, the s. Greg, 
 earliest Saints, Apostles and Martyrs, spring up as ^•' *'^- 
 flowers in the new field of the Church, as Prudentius 
 sings of the Holy Innocents : 
 
 All hail! ye infant martyr flowers, Prudentius, 
 
 Cut off in life's first dawning hours : Saf«5j"'"' 
 
 As rose-buds snapt in tempest strife, fiores mar- 
 
 When Herod sought your Saviour's life. tyrum. 
 
 The Voice of the Holy Dove descends in tongues of 
 fire on the disciples at Jerusalem, and the time of 
 pruning away all ignorance, unbelief, and love of the 
 world, has come, when the Father purges the branches 
 of that True Vine which He hath planted. And ob- 
 serve that there are three stages of pruning the choicer 
 vines. First the thick and hurtful branches are cut Nic. Argent, 
 away. Secondly, the useless shoots, at the time 
 when the vines flower. Thirdly, the superfluous 
 leaves, which hinder the ripening of the grapes, that 
 their removal may suff'er the sun's rays to shine on the 
 fruit. So too, it is needful in the soul first to prune 
 away the more serious faults ; secondly, lighter of- 
 fences, or even things which are not offences, but 
 merely useless and superfluous ; and thirdly, things 
 which are useful, lawful, and permitted, have to be cut 
 away, that the precious and beautiful fruit may be 
 ripened by the Sun of grace. 
 
 One ancient Father, however, takes the word in a s. Epiph. 
 yet wider sense, that of reaping, and explains the whole 
 passage to be only another form of those words of the 
 
94 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [II. 11, 12. 
 
 S. Mat. ix. 
 37. 
 
 LoED, "The harvest truly is plenteous, but the la- 
 bourers are few, pray ye therefore the Loed of the 
 harvest, that He will send forth labourers into His 
 harvest." 
 Phiio Carp. And next, they take the winter and rain to be the 
 time of the Loed's Passion, when the floods came 
 about Him, and the joyous shining which follows them 
 denotes His Eesurrection. So in many a hymn, as for 
 example, Adam of S. Victor : 
 
 Coelum fit serenius, 
 Et mare tranquillius ; 
 Spirat aura levius, 
 
 Vallis nostra floruit. 
 Eevirescunt arida, 
 Eecalescunt frigida 
 
 Postquam ver intepuit. 
 
 Now the heaven from clouds is free, 
 And more calmlj' rests the sea, 
 "While the air breathes balmily, 
 
 In our valley flowers appear : 
 Green is now the dried-up plain, 
 And the chilled earth glows again 
 
 Since the genial spring is here. 
 
 The Easter 
 Sequence, 
 Mundi reno- 
 vatio. 
 
 Veuant. 
 Fortunat. 
 The Hymn, 
 Salve, festa 
 dies. 
 
 And similarly a yet older poet : 
 
 flail, festal Day, for evermore adored, 
 
 Wherein God conquered Hell, and upward soared ! 
 
 See the world's beauty, budding forth anew, 
 Shows with the Lord His gifts returning too ! 
 
 The earth with flowers is decked, — the sky serene, 
 The heavenly portals glow with brighter sheen. 
 
 The greenwood leaves, the flowering meadows tell 
 Of Christ, triumphant over gloomy Hell. 
 
 Cassiodor. 
 S. Greg. M. 
 Angelomus, 
 
 Parez. 
 
 Psellus. 
 
 They give other interpretations of the voice 
 turtle besides that of the Pentecostal Advent. 
 
 of the 
 First, 
 that it denotes the preaching of the Apostles, and this 
 is followed by many. Then, that it refers to the song 
 of the Blessed Virgin, chanting the glory of the In- 
 carnation. The loneliness and sorrowful note of the 
 bird lead some to see in it a type of the Baptist, 
 crying in the wilderness : and lastly, these same quali- 
 ties cause another writer to remind us of the sad and 
 Nic. iVrgent. desolate life of that turtle-dove whose Soul God did 
 indeed deliver out of the hands of His enemies, but 
 whose Body suff'ered pain for three and thirty years, 
 and Who uttered His voice in the land in the Seven 
 
II. 11, 12.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 95 
 
 Words upon the Cross. And the Gloss bids us notice oioss. 
 a difference between the use of the words tui^tle and 
 dove. The turtle is a solitary bird, the dove a gre- 
 garious one ; and accordingly the voice of the turtle 
 always denotes the revelation of those more secret 
 mysteries, the knowledge of which is confined to a few 
 great Saints, whereas the dove implies whatever is 
 made known to the lowliest, and therefore it was a 
 Dove, not a turtle, which descended on Cheist at the 
 waters of Jordan, because His consecration to His 
 Priestly office was to be known to all mankind. And 
 there is a resurrection of Christ in every faithful soul s. Ambros. 
 also, when the winter of spiritual coldness, the rain of 
 temptation, are past and over, when the blossoms of Dion, earth, 
 holy words and works spring out of the heart, when 
 the time comes for pruning away all luxuriant and 
 unprofitable growths : — or, if you take the word to be 
 singing,^ the time for making melody in the heart with 
 spiritual song, — when the dove-like voice of pure, 
 faithful, and retired prayer goes up in supplication to 
 the LoED. Only One Dove, not many, as a Saint tells §. Bernard, 
 us, because the Inspirer of penitential prayer, Who Serm. 59. 
 Himself maketh intercession for us with groanings 
 which cannot be uttered, is but One. They take the ^^^- v">- 
 words also of the Annunciation, in the spring-time of 
 the year, when Mary heard the heavenly message = " O 
 fairest of the daughters of Jerusalem, thou heardest ^^f^ ^Irm. 
 the voice of the turtle, thou heardest and didst under- de Assumpt. 
 stand. He spake within, and thou wast within, there- 
 fore thou didst hear and understand, saying. It is the 
 voice of my Beloved." And, lastly, they take the 
 winter to be all the sorrowful exile of eartli; the spring, 
 with its tokens of rejoicing, to denote the bliss of the 
 Heavenly Country, the true Land of God's people. 
 Our Land, as the Bride calls it, for her Bridegroom, 
 Who is LoED of it, gives it to her as a marriage pre- 
 sent. The flowers are said to appear in the land be- 
 cause holy souls are received into heaven when they 
 depart from earth. And because they did not remain 
 lothful in good works in this life, winter though it 
 were, they blossom gloriously in the Land of the living. 
 [t well follows : The time of pruning is come, because 
 ;he larger the number of the elect that is gathered into 
 leaven, the more swiftly are the reprobate cut off 
 
 1 The Hebrew may denote singing, but not that of birds, as 
 luggested by the italics of A. Y. 
 
96 A COMMENTARY ON [II. 13. 
 
 from the Church as 'useless branches, that the world 
 Vieyra, may come to an end. The great Portuguese preacher, 
 Serm.de las jj^ g, touching funeral sermon delivered on the death of 
 Dona Maria ^ joung lady of rank, dwells on the juxtaposition of 
 de Atayde. Jloivermg and 'pruning in this verse. " The flowers," 
 says he, " appear in our land, and Death grants them 
 no longer time. They appear, they disappear. Behold 
 the flowers, how the spring of their life is the autumn 
 of their death. The pruning knife which is in his 
 hand, is a tool for August, and not for April, but Death, 
 with unseasonable activity, arms himself therewith, 
 and threatens the buds, that the flowers may not guard 
 themselves. O the sternness of it, O the disappoint- 
 ment ! It is not the blow I grieve for, but its date. 
 That there should be a time to bloom, and a time to 
 prune, is natural, but that the time of blooming and 
 of pruning should be the same, that the very flower 
 of life should be the most frail, is hard indeed." The 
 turtle which utters her voice is the Church, the land 
 of the Bridegroom is the life of blessedness, her voice 
 is heard therein, because her prayers, uttered in long- 
 s. Greg.M. jj^g here, are received by Cheist in heaven. And 
 Ezek.' ' ^ even here she has her flowers of promise, the foretaste 
 of that bliss which, in its perfection, will be abundance 
 of fruit. 
 
 13 The fig-tree putteth forth her green figs, 
 and the vines with the tender grape give a good 
 smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come 
 away. 
 
 It is still only the promise of fruit. The fig-tree of 
 the Synagogue, though unable to bring fruit to matu- 
 
 Cassiodor. rity, yet trained souls imperfectly to some degree of 
 spiritual advance ; reared its Nathaniels and other 
 seekers after God, soon to be ripened in the sun of 
 Christ's presence, and to develop into Apostles and 
 Saints of His Church. And whereas the green figs, 
 for the most part, fall from the tree before they ripen, 
 
 s. Ambros. go, though multitudes listened to Christ and His. 
 
 Luc'.^c! 13. Apostles' preaching, comparatively few clung stead-! 
 fastly to the Faith, or brought fruit to perfection. 
 Others, however, take this falling away of the imma- 
 ture figs to denote the disappearance of the ceremo- 
 
 Beda. nial rites of the Law. And taking the fig-tree to be 
 
 the Christian, rather than the Jewish Church, they 
 
ir. 14.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 97 
 
 tell us that its young fruits, soon to be so sweet, are Phiio Carp, 
 the early Martyrs and Saints, and that the Vine of ^- ^•'^e- ^^• 
 the Church put forth the grapes with a good smell, 
 when the multitude of new converts filled the world 
 with the fragrance of their holy works. S. Bernard s. Bernard, 
 prefers to distinguish two classes of Saints here, the ^^^"^- ^^^ 
 meek and gentle, typified by the sweetness of the fig ; 
 the zealous and fervent, denoted by the glowing pro- 
 duce of the grape. Others, applying the words to the Theodoret. 
 devout soul, tell us that the green figs denote the first- Pseiius. 
 fruits of faith, immature, but the pledge of better 
 things to follow. These grow, some allege, on the tree 
 of human nature, not able of itself to achieve ripeness ; 
 but others tell us that the only tree which bears such com. a Lap 
 fruit at all is the Cross, which bore no flowers, but at 
 once gave the fruit of salvation to the world. And as 
 the Chaldee paraphrase interprets the words as a sum- Targum. 
 mons to Israel to enter the Land of Promise, of which 
 it is written, " They shall sit every man under his vine Micah iv. 4. 
 and under his fig-tree ; none shall make them afraid," 25.^'"^^ '^' 
 the words are also explained of the blessedness of zech. iii. 10 
 heaven, and the foretaste of it which a holy life yields 
 us even on earth. And therefore the Bridegroom again ^'2^^^" 
 says, Arise, 'my love, my fair one, and come away, be- Horn. 5. 
 cause in this pilgrimage and race, incessant advance 
 and progress are needful, and the soul that has risen 
 can go on rising, can come ever nearer to her God, 
 finishing her course. And the repetition denotes, on s. Bernard. 
 His part. His tender affection. His eager longing for ^^'^™- ^*- 
 the salvation of mankind, wherefore He calls His be- 
 loved once more to her labour in the vineyard. So 
 long as it is winter He suffers her to rest, He permits 
 that in seasons of distress and tribulation quietness *^^^°' 
 and confidence should be her strength, but the moment 
 the time is again favourable, she must be up and doing 
 His work upon the earth. 
 
 14 O my dove, that art in the clefts of the 
 rock, in the secret places of the stairs_, let me 
 see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice ; for 
 sweet is thy voice, and thy countenaDce is comely.. 
 
 The Greek Fathers, remembering how the Apostle 
 has said that the E,ockis Chkist, interpret the dwelHng Q^j^g,/" ^' 
 of the dove as the sure doctrines of the Faith, the Theodoret. 
 mysteries of the Gospel. For the secret ^places o/'Tres Patr. 
 
 H 
 
98 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [II. 14. 
 
 Aponius. 
 
 S. Greg. 
 
 the stairs, the LXX. reads having a huhoay^h, or outer 
 wall, whicli, Origen tells us, implies tliat the Bride is 
 called out of the city, beyond its fortifications, to her 
 labour, but is told that her path shall not be unshel- 
 tered, seeing that the shadow of the Eock will be over 
 Phiio Carp. it. Others tell us that this outer icall is the old Law, 
 and that we are called to pass from it to the safer 
 refuge of the Gospel Eock. So too, a Western com- 
 mentator bids us see in the clefts of the JRock the four 
 Gospels, in the cavern of the loall (Vulg.,) the doctrine 
 of the Apostles and the examples of the Saints. But 
 he gives also that which is the favourite interpretation 
 of the Latin Fathers, namely, that we are to see, in 
 the clefts and cavern, the Five Wounds of the Lord's 
 crucified Body. " I would understand by the clefts of the 
 'Rode," observes S. Gregory, " the wounds of Cheist's 
 hands and feet as He hung upon the Cross ; and in. 
 the same way, I should call the wound in His side, 
 which was made with the spear, the cavern of the wall. 
 Rightly is the dove said to be in the clefts of the Eock, 
 and in the cavern of the wall, because when in medi- 
 tating on the Cross she imitates Christ's patience, and 
 calls His words to mind for her example, she is a dove 
 in the clefts." They shall look, observes another, on 
 Him whom they pierced. And He says, that the soul 
 which sighs because of His piercing with the nails, is 
 a dove in the clefts, and when grieving for the wound 
 in His side, she is in the cavern of the wall. I was a 
 loall, the LoED continues, when I was mortal and pas- 
 sible, but now that I have risen from the dead, I am a 
 most strong Eock, nevertheless, the clefts are still to 
 be seen in Me. " O happy clefts," exclaims the great 
 Abbat of Clairvaux, " which build up faith in the Ee- 
 surrection and in the Divinity of Cheist ! ' My Loed,' 
 saith Thomas, 'and my God.' Whence came this 
 oracle, save out of the clefts of the rock F Herein the 
 sparrow hath found her an house, and the turtle a nest 
 where she may lay her young. Herein the dove guards 
 herself, and fearlessly looks on the wheeling hawk." 
 He is here in unconscious accord with Homer : 
 
 Rupert. 
 Zech.xii. 10 
 
 S. Bernard 
 Serm. 6l. 
 
 Ps. Ixxxiv 
 3. 
 
 Hom.Il.xxi. 
 495. 
 
 And 
 
 (pvyfv, ws Te TreAem, 
 7) f>a.6' vcp' 'IprjKos KoiKrjv elaiiTTaTo ir^Tprju. 
 
 she fled ; as flies a dove, 
 Shunning the falcon, to the hollow rock. 
 
 he goes on to remind us how the bowels of 
 
II. 14.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 99 
 
 Chbist's mercy may be seen by us through His gaping 
 wounds, and how the Martyrs found their rest therein 
 when their own bodies were but one huge wound 
 under the torturer's hand. And so runs the hymn, 
 
 Here is the heart's true bulwark found, The Hymn, 
 
 And here is rest secure, _ Cor meum ' 
 
 And here is love's most certain ground, tibi dedo. 
 
 And here salvation sure. 
 In this cleft Rock, once rent for all. 
 And in this Heart's protecting wall. 
 
 May I confide, may I abide, 
 
 Jesu, Saviour glorified. 
 
 Again, while the rocJc must always mean Christ, the Beda. 
 wall may be taken as the guard of Angels round about g Bernard 
 the elect, or as that wall of the Communion of Saints serm. 62. 
 built up with living stoues, wherein the soul may tarry 
 for a time in contemplation of the holy lives of Saints 
 departed. But if she will be perfect, she must pass 
 from the disciples to the Master, from active imitation 
 of the servants to loving gaze upon the face of the King. 
 The wall may be insecure, the Eock never. And there- 
 fore it is well said to the Church Militant by the Pro- 
 phet, " O ye that dwell in Moab, leave the cities, and jer. xlviii. 
 dwell in the rock, and be like the dove that maketh her 28. 
 nest in the side of the hole's mouth." The words are 
 taken by S. Bernard in yet another sense, as denoting 
 the hidden mysteries of God's glory, wherein the con- 
 templative soul makes her dwelling. The A. V. read- 
 ing, secret place of the stairs, supported by the Chaldee 
 paraphrase, but not by any of the old versions, accords 
 very well with this last meaning, as the clause will 
 then denote the gradual ascent of the soul towards 
 God, up the steps of that ladder which Jacob saw in ^^ p^^'°'^*-!V- 
 his dream, set up on the earth, and its top reaching to Gen!^xxviii. 
 heaven, denoting the Manhood and Godhead of the 12. 
 One Mediator between God and man. It is in this 
 latter sense of secret retirement and meditation on the PhUipp. 
 mysteries of Divine love that we shall best apply the *'^'^^"sr- 
 words to the Blessed Virgin, although more fanciful 
 reasons are given by various commentators when ex- 
 plaining them of her, to whom is then said, S/iotv Me Rupert. 
 thy countenance, in pure love and trust, not like Eve, 
 who hid her face from Me in the garden after her sin, 
 let Me hear thy voice, saying, "Behold the handmaid Dion. Carth. 
 of the Lord, be it unto me according to Thy word," 
 unlike Eve too, who was silent and uttered no word of Rupert 
 H 2 
 
100 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [II. 15. 
 
 Origen. 
 
 Theodoret. 
 
 Beda. 
 
 S. Just. Org. 
 
 Rom. X. 10. 
 Aponius. 
 
 S. Epiphan. 
 S. Greg. 
 Nyssen. 
 Philo Carp. 
 Psellus. 
 
 S. Bernard. 
 Serm. 63. 
 
 penitence when charged with her guilt, nor song of 
 thanksgiving when I gave her the promise that her 
 Seed should crush the serpent's head. The face and 
 voice are, they tell us, the works and prayers of the 
 Church or of the holy soul. As the face is the outer 
 expression of our nature, so our purity of life and 
 d«voutness of zeal must be exhibited in action ; and 
 God requires our preaching of His kingdom, and our 
 prayers and praises also, because " with the mouth 
 confession is made unto salvation." Another and sin- 
 gular view sees here C heist calling on the Jewish 
 Church, which had turned away its face from Him, to 
 turn it back to Him now, though all stained with His 
 Blood, that He may cleanse it with that very stream 
 which has reddened it ; to utter again in His ears that 
 voice which had but lately yelled out the harsh and 
 bitter cry, "Crucify Him, Crucify Him," that with 
 the medicine of that same Blood, He may restore to 
 her the power of celebrating His praises in sweet and 
 musical tones. And He shows His love by telling the 
 sinner that it is for His own sake as well as ours that 
 He asks this, by adding of our harsh voice that it is 
 sweet, of our disfigured countenance that it is comely. 
 Some of the Greek Fathers take all the latter clause 
 of this verse as the words of the Bride, desiring to see 
 and hear Chbist in the flesh, and no longer in pro- 
 phetic mystery. 
 
 15 Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that 
 spoil the vines : for our vines have tender 
 grapes. 
 
 The Bride has now obeyed her Bridegroom's sum- 
 mons, and they two have gone on together to the vine- 
 yards, but in no leisurely fashion, as the companions 
 are at once called to the work of capturing the mis- 
 chievous fox-cubs. And note that the Bridegroom 
 speaks in the same terms as the Bride. She had 
 spoken, but just now, of our land, claiming as hers 
 what is His. He, in turn, says, Take us the foxes. 
 " He might have said. Take Me, but through love of 
 His fellowship with man. He says, Take us. O sweet- 
 ness, O grace, O might of love ! Is the Most Highest 
 of all thus become one of all ? Who hath done this ? 
 Love, that knows nothing of dignity, yet rich in dig- 
 nity, powerful in affection, mighty in persuasion." 
 
II. 15.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 101 
 
 The Targum, explaining the little foxes to be the Targum. 
 Amalekites, of whom is written, *' Eemember what Deut. xxv. 
 Amalek did unto thee by the way, when ye were come ^7, is. 
 forth out of Egypt ; how he met thee by the way, and 
 smote the hindmost of thee, even all that were feeble 
 behind thee, when thou wast faint and weary ; and he 
 feared not God ;" gives the key to the mystical sense. 
 Accordingly, the primary interpretation is that heretics, origen, &c. 
 spoiling the vineyard of the Church, but not actually 
 striving to root up the vine, like the wild boar of Pa- Ps. ixxx. 13. 
 ganism or open unbelief, are intended. They are 
 called foxes from their craft and deceit ; little foxes, s. Greg. m. 
 because of their external show of humility. They 
 assign as another reason for the simile, that one well- Hugo Card, 
 known trick of foxes is to simulate death, lying stiff 
 and extended, till their prey, taking courage, ap- ^^°"' c^^*^''- 
 proaches near enough to be seized ; resembling here- 
 tics, who make a special show of sanctity and deadness 
 to the world, in order to deceive the unwary. And 
 note, that the command is not to kill them, nor even to 
 drive them out, but to take them. That is, comments g^ August, 
 the Doctor of Grace, to convince them of error, to con- inPs. ixxx. 
 vert them, and that, not only for their own sakes, adds 
 another Saint, but for that of the Church in general. 
 If the heretic be truly convinced of his sin, and so re- s. Bemaid. 
 pent and be converted, we have gained him for God ; Serm. 6*. 
 if not, at any rate, the weaker members of the Church 
 have been put on their guard by his detection, and are 
 stablished in the true faith. S. Ambrose, citing that s. Ambros. 
 text, " the foxes have holes," says that heretics are aptly g^Luc c"q 
 compared to foxes for this amongst other reasons, be- 
 cause they do not dwell in a house, but prefer a burrow 
 of their own making, where they lie in wait for that 
 hen of the Gospel which gathers her chickens under 
 her wings. Secondly ; it is said that the words are Origen. 
 addressed by the Bridegroom to His companions, the 
 Angels, directing them to extirpate the evil thoughts 
 which the craft of the powers of darkness introduces 
 into the vineyard of the soul in order to spoil its fruits. 
 They take them, when they suggest to the spiritual 
 understanding their true origin, and teach it, by the 
 discerning of spirits, to know what is from God and 
 what from the devil. They take them when little, by Tres Patr. 
 repressing them at once, before they have effected a s. Greg, 
 lodgment in the soul, and before they have grown to ^^^' 
 maturity by being willingly dwelt on. They are called 
 
102 A COMMENTARY ON [II. 15. 
 
 foxes, too, and little foxes, by way of contempt, to 
 make us learn tliat they are no formidable enemies 
 lions, tigers, bears, endowed witli gigantic strength 
 that we have to encounter, but rather skulking foes 
 whose whole resource is craft, needing only watchful 
 
 Serm. 64. * i^^ss as the sole weapon to repel it. S. Bernard, ap 
 plying the passage to the Heligious Life, remarks that 
 the words do not refer to the spiritual perils which 
 beset novices, because their vocation is only in its 
 flower, and the foxes wish for fruit. The danger of 
 novices is, that a frost of spiritual coldness may blight 
 the promise of their early zeal, but the peril of the 
 professed is more subtle, namely, that Satan will trans- 
 form himself for them into an angel of light, and sug- 
 gest ideas to them which look like virtues, but which 
 lead to sin. He specifies such examples as a Religious 
 leaving the convent and returning to the world for a 
 time, in the hope of converting kindred and friends, 
 and bringing them to the same haven, but being, in- 
 stead, led back by them into secular habits. Or, on 
 the contrary, withdrawing for the opposite reason of 
 desiring a solitary life in a hermitage, and then falling, 
 either because of the removal of the external constrain- 
 ing discipline of a community or from spiritual pride. 
 Again ; excessive and unprescribed fasting and penances 
 are more likely, adds the Saint, to lead to evil than to 
 good, because they give rise to scandal in one way or 
 other by introducing a different standard of practice 
 into the house from that recognized by authority. On 
 the other hand, the little foxes of a Religious house are 
 
 Com. a Lap. petty relaxations and violations of the rule, such as 
 breaking silence, lack of punctuality, and other seeming 
 trifles, which, if not checked at the outset, finally sub- 
 vert the whole discipline and order of the community. 
 And observe, it is not merely necessary to take the 
 foxes which have already made their way into the 
 vineyard, but to keep others out for the future, and 
 this must be done with a wall or fence. Not with one 
 so low and so slightly put together that our enemy 
 
 Neh. iv. 3. can say of it, " Even that which they build, if a fox go 
 up he shall even break down their stone wall." The 
 stones must first be laid in close order, so that no cre- 
 vices shall be in the wall ; next, they must be built up 
 to a considerable height, so as not to be climbed over ; 
 thirdly, they must be cemented with mortar, that they 
 may not be dislodged. So the prayers and good works 
 
11.15.] THE SONG OP SONGS. 103 
 
 of a soul which seeks to keep the enemy aloof must be 
 regular and continuous, not intermittent and casual ; 
 they must be numerous, so as to fill up the day in such 
 wise as to leave few idle moments for temptation, they 
 must be bound together with that binding cement of 
 love towards God and our neighbour, whose chief in- 
 gredient is the precious Blood of Christ. Again ; 
 they remind us how the Lord, speaking of Herod An- 
 tipas, said, " Go, tell that fox," and thereby showed s. Luke xiii. 
 another class of enemies of the vine to be here in- Rupert, 
 tended. " See you not how that wild beast has eaten 
 the tender shoots, how that cruel monster hath slain 
 the infants in Bethlehem of Judah, the city of David ? 
 Talce the foxes, for our vineyard hath flowered. (Vulg.) 
 Its fruit is yet in flower, and not in grape ; it is not 
 yet ripe, and therefore it is most destructive to the vine- 
 yard that its flower should be cut down or spoiled. 
 Let it grow first and let fruit come of the flower, let 
 the Gospel be founded, and let it be known by signs 
 and wonders that the Holy of Holies hath come, — this 
 will be the coming of the flower to fruit, of the grape 
 to ripeness. Then, if this grape be cut down, it will 
 be kept, and carried on the pole of the Cross ; that by 
 the proof of its Eesurrection and sweetness, men may Cf. Heng- 
 learn what is the Land, what is the Kingdom, with which ste"berg, 
 the little foxes, which spoil the vines, have nought to 
 do." The Syriac, LXX. and Vulgate translate the 
 last clause more correctly than the A. V., rendering it, 
 our vines {vineyard, Vulg.) are in flower. This is the 
 time to take the foxes, for when the time of ripeness 
 has arrived, the Lord of the vineyard will come Him- 
 self for the vintage of the mature grapes, and then 
 there can be no more peril from the craft of the enemy. 
 And, finally ; the words may be explained as spoken to Honorius. 
 the Angels in the Day of Judgment, according to that 
 saying of the Lord, " So shall it be in the end of the s.Mat. xiii. 
 world. The Son of Man shall send forth His angels, 40. 
 and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things 
 that ofiend, and them which do iniquity, and shall 
 cast them into a furnace of fire." Especially is it spoken 
 of the evil spirits, who strive to injure His vineyard. 
 And then truly will His vine flourish in liixuriant 
 beauty for evermore. 
 
 16 My beloved is mine, and I am his : lie 
 feedeth among the lilies. 
 
104 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [II. 16. 
 
 Eph. V. 31. " For they two shall be one flesh. This is a great 
 mystery : but I speak concerning Cheist and the 
 
 s. Just. Org. Church." Her Beloved is hers, because He is her 
 Head ; she is His, because she is His Body. " My 
 Beloved is mine, saith the holy soul. He gives me the 
 grace of vocation, the badge of redemption, the glo- 
 rious liberty of adoption. And what do I give Him ? 
 
 Aponins. Obedience of will, the desire of preserving that purity 
 which He gave me by nature. What gives He to me ? 
 A perfect example of guarding virginity, by His Virgin 
 birth. What give I to Him ? Singular gladness by 
 my being born again in Baptism, by keeping His pre- 
 cepts with all my heart, by imitating the nature of 
 angels and heavenly spirits." And whereas the He- 
 brew, as well as the LXX. and Yulgate, reads simply, 
 M;i/ Beloved to me, and I to Him, they delight in sup- 
 Hugo Card, plying words to complete the idea variously. My Be- 
 loved is careful for me, anxious for my salvation. I 
 am careful for Him, to obey Him in all things. He 
 co-operates ivith me, by His assisting grace, Itvith Him 
 
 1 Cor. iii.9. by my free will, thus being a " labourer together M'ith 
 God." My Beloved is like to me, in nature, having 
 taken on Him the form of a servant. I am like to Him , 
 by grace, being made holy and pure, and wise through 
 His gift. He is the reward to me of all my toils, suf- 
 fering, and weariness. I am the reward to Him of all 
 the sorrows of His life, and of His Passion. He lived 
 and died for me wholly, and to me. Twill live and 
 
 Rom. xiv. 8. die to Him, " for whether we live, we live unto the 
 LoED, and whether we die, we die unto the Loed." 
 My Beloved drank to me in the Cup of His Passion ; I 
 drink It to Him in His honour and glory, taking the 
 
 Ps. cxvi. 12. Cup of Salvation, and calling on the Name of the - 
 LoED. My Beloved spake to me, revealing to me the a 
 
 Parez. mysteries of His law, I to Him in psalms, and hymns, i 
 
 and spiritual songs. My Beloved is wisdom to me : I 
 am heart to Him. He comes from heaven to me, I 
 from the Gentiles to Him. And S. Bernard bids us 
 note the briefness, and as it were incoherence, of the 
 Bride's words. She is too fervent and eager to be 
 altogether silent ; she is too deeply and inexpressibly 
 happy to say much. And thus infrequent speech is a 
 mark in Scripture of that especial soul which could 
 
 Rupert. more truly than any other say, My Beloved is mine, and 
 I am His, because I am she of whom is written, " A 
 
 isa. vii. 14. Virgin shall conceive, and bear a Son, and shall call 
 
 S. Epipha 
 nius. 
 
II. 16.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 105 
 
 His Name Immanuel;" and therefore, "all genera- S.Luke i. 48. 
 tions shall call me blessed." There is an old poem, 
 written with a lower intent, which, taken in a better 
 meaning, makes a good comment on this verse : 
 
 My true-love hath my heart, and I have his, Sir Philip 
 
 By just exchange one to the other given : Sidney. 
 
 I hold his dear, and mine he cannot miss, 
 There never was a better bargain driven, 
 My true-love hath my heart, and I have his. 
 
 His heart in me keeps him and me in one, 
 My heart in him his thoughts and senses guides, 
 He loves my heart, for once it was his own, 
 I cherish his, because in me it bides, 
 
 My true-love hath my heart, and I have his. 
 
 jETe feedeth among the lilies. What are denoted by s. Greg. M. 
 the lilies, asks a Saint, save pure souls ? which re- 
 tain the whiteness of chastity, and by their fair fame 
 give their pleasant fragrance to all near them. The 
 ^vidiegvooni feedeth among the lilies, doubtless because 
 He delights in purity of souls, which both preserve 
 bodily chastity, and are pleasant unto Him by their 
 stainless thoughts, giving, at the same time, a pattern 
 to their neighbours, as though a grateful savour. And 
 so runs the hymn for the Common of Virgins : 
 
 "Who feedest where the lilies spring, The Hymn, 
 
 Surrounded by the Virgin ring, Jksu, 
 
 With glory decking them, Thy brides, Corona 
 
 And granting spousal gifts besides. Virginum. 
 
 Our Beloved is fed, when we love Him, for His food nic. Arg. 
 is our love ; and our sighs, affections, desires, and as- 
 pirations are His chosen dainties. He is among the 
 ilies, says S. Bernard, of His own truth, and meek- s. Bernard, 
 less, and righteousness, lilies which have sprung out ^®'™- '^• 
 )f the earth, shining thereon, conspicuous amongst the 
 )ther flowers, fragrant beyond all spices. As many 
 drtues as there are, so many are His lilies, and they 
 ire countless, all snowy white, all sweetly perfumed. 
 Dur lilies of good works are few and poor, and much ^^^^- ''• 
 ntermingled with flowers of less account, yet He loves 
 ;hem, and is fain to dwell amongst them, continuing 
 IS He began, for He dwelt first on earth between the Rupert. 
 ilies of the pure lives of Joseph and Mary in the car- 
 
 r enter's dwelling at Nazareth. So far, the text has 
 
106 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [II. 17. 
 
 sense appears to be that He is here spoken of as the 
 Good Shepherd, feeding us in His pleasant pastures. 
 inPs.cxix. " The divine Mysteries," comments S. Ambrose, " are 
 good pastures. There thou may est gather that new 
 flower which gave the sweet odour of the Resurrection, 
 there pluck the lily, wherein is the brightness of eter- 
 nity ; there too the rose, the Blood of the Loed's 
 Body. The books of Holy Writ are also good pas- 
 tures, wherein we are fed by daily reading, wherein 
 we obtain refreshment and strength, when we taste 
 what is written in them, or chew the cud of frequent 
 thought over it. In these pastures the Lord's flock 
 is fattened. Good too are the pastures of Chbist, 
 Who feeds us among the lilies, that is, in the glory of 
 the Saints." In this last sense the Cluniac also, speak- 
 ing of the joys of Paradise : 
 
 Bern. 
 
 Cluniac. 
 
 Rhythm. 
 
 "While through the sacred lilies, 
 And flowers on every side. 
 
 The happy dear-bought nations 
 Go wandering far and wide. 
 
 Esth. ii. 8. 
 
 And that, because " when the King's commandment 
 and His decree was heard, many maidens were ga- 
 thered together unto Shushan the palace," for Shu- 
 shan is by interpretation, " Lily." 
 
 S. Greg. M, 
 
 S, Bernard. 
 Serm. 72. 
 
 17 Until the day breaks and the shadows 
 flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like 
 a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of 
 Bether. 
 
 Until the day of Hesurrection, the day of the reve- 
 lation of eternal glory, dawns, until the shadoios of 
 this world's night flee away, so long does the Bride- 
 groom feed amongst the lilies of pure souls obeying 
 Him truly upon earth. But why, asks S. Bernard, 
 is it said Until ? Should we not rather expect that He 
 would feed more among the abundant lilies of heaven 
 than amongst the rare ones of earth? And the saint 
 replies that the reason is twofold. First ; we sinners 
 here have to be incorporated into Christ's mystical 
 Body, and that we may be so, have to be ground with 
 His teeth of suff^ering and trial, but there will be no 
 sinners and no sufiering in heaven, wherefore the Lord 
 speaks not of eating there, but says that He will drink 
 
n. 17.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 107 
 
 new wine in His kingdom, and that, because the Saints, s. Mat. 
 after their full refinement from all dregs, which cannot ^^'^^' ^^' 
 he accomplished in this life, will be the sweet and pure 
 wine of the marriage feast. The Carthusian, more Dion, earth, 
 simply, bids us see here a warning to us to cultivate 
 the lilies of purity in our hearts by holiness of thought, 
 word, and deed, until the close of our lives, that the 
 Lamb may find His accustomed pasture in some few 
 spots at least of the world. When the day comes, we 
 shall no longer need to tend our gardens, for their 
 flowers will be perennial, their dangers gone. Others 
 take the dai/ to be the preaching of the Gospel, before ^- •^"^*- °^^' 
 which the shadows of the Law disappeared, though 
 even under that Law Cheist was feeding His people 
 as their Shepherd. But the literal sense of the Hebrew 
 is somewhat unlike all this. It points to the coming- 
 on of the evening, not to the dawn of day, and runs, 
 U7itil the day breathe, that is, till the cool evening Sanchez, 
 breeze sets in, and the shadows flee, that is, lengthen 
 out before us, becoming vaguer in their outline. And 
 this is the sense of both LXX. and Vulgate, though 
 most of the commentators have followed the other 
 view. And so rendering the passage, we shall follow 
 the traditional Hebrew construction, and take it with 
 the clause which follows, rather than with that which 
 precedes. The Bride is called to her labour, and the Hugo Card. 
 Bridegroom, after the summons, departs, leaving her 
 alone. She, knowing herself unable to accomplish her 
 labour unaided, calls on Him to turn back again to 
 help her, and that so long as the working-day conti- 
 nues, remembering that it is written, " Man goeth forth Ps. civ. 23. 
 unto his work and to his labour until the evening." 
 The nearer the night is, the shorter the time that re- 
 mains for completing our appointed task, the greater Hengsten- 
 need have we of His help, and we therefore say, berg. 
 " Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day xxiv?29. 
 is far spent." And S. Anselm therefore applies the s. Anseim. 
 word turn to the Lord's co-operation with His Church gg^^^^"'^^'"" 
 in the conversion of the heathen. Others see rather g Greg. m. 
 a prayer to Him to visit our souls, even if only in the s. Bernard, 
 sudden and rare semblance of a stag appearing at in- ^p'cJTiius.' 
 tervals upon the hills. Again ; some take it of His Rupert, 
 return to judgment, coming in that same human form ^; *'"^,^" ^f^" 
 which He took of us, and His Eesurrection and Ascen- phfio*^carp. 
 sion have been also thought to be here referred to. 
 Upon the mountains of Bether. Some take these to be 
 
108 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [III. 1. 
 
 Gesenius. 
 
 Cocceius. 
 
 Col. iii. 11, 
 
 Lyranus. 
 
 Honorius, 
 
 the proud and hauglity, to be brought low when Christ 
 appears and sets Himself above them, while others, 
 conversely, take it of His visits to lofty and contem- 
 plative souls. JBether, meaning " division," a region 
 cut up by a chain of hills pierced with valleys in every 
 direction (whence the LXX. mountains of hoUoios,) 
 denotes here anything which parts us from Christ, 
 and we, unable to surmount the obstacle ourselves, 
 pray to Him to turn, and show the light of His coun- 
 tenance, that we may be whole. Further than this, it 
 is a prayer to Him to break down the mid- wall of par- 
 tition between Jew and Gentile ; and yet more, to 
 come from the mountains of division, parting believers 
 from idolaters, into that wide place of the Church 
 Universal, " where there is neither Greek nor Jew, 
 circumcision nor uncircumcision. Barbarian, Scythian, 
 bond nor free, but Christ is all, and in all." And De 
 Lyra, who, according to his wont, explains the moun- 
 tain to be those of Sinai, when Israel's sin in the 
 matter of the calf caused God to threaten that He 
 would abandon and destroy them, thereby points the 
 lesson that all occasions of sin are necessarily gulfs 
 opened between the soul and God. Finally ; in the 
 petition of the Bride for the perfect bliss of heaven, 
 it is not enough for her longing that she should merely 
 enter in there, unless her Bridegroom come close to her 
 Himself, leaping over the nine divisions of the Angelic 
 hierarchy, in order to come to her who is of His own i 
 nature, bone of His bone and flesh of His flesh. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 I By night on my bed I sought him whom 
 my soul loveth : I sought him^ but I found 
 him not. 
 
 Titeiman. While mankind lay on its bed of sickness, smitten 
 
 with the deadly disease of sin, and in the midst of the 
 darkness of ignorance, it looked eagerl}'^ on every side 
 for the coming of the Great Physician, but could no- 
 where find Him, till the time when He, our true Elisha, 
 
in. 1.] THE SONG OP SONGS. 109 
 
 came of His own loving-kindness to stretch Himself 
 
 on the couch of our mortality, to rouse the lifeless 
 
 sleeper. So too, until His Advent, the Synagogue lay s. Ambros. 
 
 on the bed of the Mosaic Law, looking for her Lord ^" ps.cxix. 
 
 in the dark shadows of the ceremonial types and of 
 
 the hidden prophecies, and found Him no more than 
 
 the Gentiles did. And as night denotes the time of 
 
 rest as well as of darkness, so here we may see the 
 
 Church in its earliest days resting after Pentecost, and Corn, a Lap. 
 
 confining itself and its preaching to Jerusalem and 
 
 Judea, but not finding Cheist in the hard hearts of 
 
 the Jews, who refused to hear the glad tidings and to 
 
 put on Him. And therefore she was compelled to rise 
 
 up from that brief repose, and begin the long journey 
 
 of her mission to the heathens, never ended since. 
 
 Taken of the soul, rather than of the Church at large, 
 
 it may be variously interpreted. They say, for the Cassiod. 
 
 most part, that it denotes the impossibility of finding phuo Carp. 
 
 Christ while we lie down in carnal pleasure, and in Angeiomus. 
 
 the darkness of sin. Or, again, not quite so sternly, 
 
 but still in a voice of warning, they tell us that it is 
 
 not in bodily ease and quiet that we can find Christ, vieyra. 
 
 Whose bed was not of down, but the hard Cross : 
 
 Ah, mal6 te placido qusesivi, Sponse, eubili ; Des^d' if'^ 
 
 Qui Crucis in thalamo reperiendus eras. 
 Pax mihi lectus erat. Tibi Crux erat aspera lectus. 
 
 Hoc te debueram quserere, Sponse, tore. 
 
 Ill sought I Thee in my hushed place of rest, 
 
 Spouse, Whom the Cross's bridal-chamber shrined, 
 
 My bed was peace, the rough Cross Thou hast pressed, 
 That is the couch where, seeking, I shall find. 
 
 There are many, observes S. Ambrose, who seek Christ s. Ambros. 
 in ease, and find Him not, and then seek Him in per- de Isaac. 5. 
 secution, straightway finding Him ; and for this reason 
 they find Him after temptations, because He is always at 
 hand in the peril of His faithful ones. " Alas, Lord," 
 exclaims one of the greatest of penitents, " I went very 
 far to seek Thee, and Thou wast very near. I may s. August, 
 find Thee in mine eyes, by modesty and purity ; in my Confess, 
 mouth, by confession of Thy greatness and my sins ; 
 in my memory, by the remembrance of my iniquity 
 and Thy mercies ; in my mind, by holy thoughts and 
 meditations on Thy Divine Law ; but above all, I shall 
 find Thee in my heart, because, if I love Thee, it can- 
 not be but that Thou shouldest rest there." There is 
 
110 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [III. 1. 
 
 Ps. Ixiii. 7. 
 
 S. Greg. M. 
 Horn. 25 in 
 Evang. 
 
 Guigon. 
 Carthus. 
 Scala 
 Paradisi. 
 c. viii. 
 
 Gerson. 
 
 Gillebert. in 
 Cant. Serm. 
 
 Ric. Vict. 
 
 Cf. Bellarm. 
 Ascens. 
 Ment. in 
 Deum. 
 
 a happier sense, however, in which we may look at 
 the words, as agreeing with that saying of David, 
 " Have I not remembered Thee in my bed ; and 
 thought upon Thee when I was waking ?" We seek 
 our iBeloved on our bed, when during any brief repose 
 in this life we sigh with longing for our Redeemer. 
 We seek by night, because though the soul is watchful 
 in it, the eye is clouded. And on this a devout author 
 speaks : " Fear not, O Bride, nor despair ; think not 
 thyself despised if thy Bridegroom withdraw His face 
 awhile. All things work together for good. Both 
 from His absence and His presence thou gainest light. 
 He Cometh to thee and He departeth from thee. He 
 Cometh to comfort thee ; He departeth, to make thee 
 careful, lest thine abundant consolation should puff 
 thee up. He cometh, that the languishing soul may be 
 comforted. He departeth, lest, if the Bridegroom be al- 
 ways with thee, thou shouldest despise His companions, 
 and thou shouldest ascribe this constant visitation not 
 to grace, but to nature. He departs therefore, lest, if 
 too continually with thee. He should meet with con- 
 tempt, that, being absent. He may be more desired, 
 and being desired, be more eagerly sought ; and being 
 long sought, may be more gladly found." There are 
 many ways, then, in which we may seek Him ; there 
 are many reasons why we should seek Him, And 
 first, we may seek in the quiet of still contemplation. 
 Thou art well placed on thy bed, observes a famous 
 English Abbat, if thy soul keep free holiday in repose 
 from its occupations, for what suits love better than 
 repose and freedom ? And night is good, which covers 
 in wise oblivion all temporal things, that we may seek 
 Him Who is Eternal; a convenient time, unfolding 
 favourable opportunities, and hiding from us the de- 
 sire, the care, and the very thought of the world. 
 Even in the night of trouble and sorrow we can still 
 seek Him in contemplation. But as the words are 
 spoken by a still imperfect soul, she does not say, On 
 our bed, denoting completed union with her Spouse, 
 nor on His bed, but on my bed. Still, even so, it is 
 the place where her passions have been hushed to 
 sleep, and where victory after strife has come. She 
 seeks Him then, pondering on His works, following 
 His traces through creation, from stones to plants, 
 from plants to animals, from them to man, thence to 
 the Angels, but finds Him not, because He is exalted 
 
III. 1.] THE SONG OF SONGS. Ill 
 
 above all, and slie must soar to tlie highest before she 
 can reach his throne. I found Him not, only because s. Dionys. 
 He dwells in that light inaccessible which is night to g "'^"^• 
 man's eyes, not because I failed to search diligently. Nyss!^^' 
 I So Mary Magdalene sought Him in the bed of His Thom. 
 1 sepulchre, coming before the dawn, and found Him ^^'■^^^^• 
 j not, because she looked for the living among the dead, 
 I and yet was blessed in her seeking. And thus S. Ber- 
 I nard couples the two ideas in his lovely hymn : 
 
 Jesum queeram in lectulo, S. Bernard. 
 
 Clauso cordis cubiculo ; Rhyth. Ju- 
 
 Privatim et in populo bilus. 
 Quseram amore sedulo. 
 
 Cum Maria diluculo 
 Jesum quaeratn in tumulo ; 
 Cordis clam ore querulo 
 Mente quaeram, non oculo. 
 
 I seek for Jesus in repose, 
 
 When round my heart its chambers close ; 
 
 Abroad, and when I shut the door, 
 
 I long for Jesus evermoz-e. 
 
 With Mary, in the morning gloom, 
 I seek for Jesus at the tomb ; 
 For Him, with love's most earnest cry, 
 I seek with heart, and not with eye. 
 
 So then, the sleep, thus taken, does not typify spiritual Aben Ezra. 
 
 sloth, but that fulness of love which makes the Bride- s.Ans.Laud. 
 
 groom present even in the dreams of the Bride. And 
 
 that because she knows so many reasons for seeking 
 
 Him when she wakes. Upon these let us hear S. Ber- s. Bernard. 
 
 nard again : And first, because He is not always to be Serm. 75. 
 
 found, as He has Himself said : "Ye shall seek Me, 
 
 but ye shall not find Me ;" and that from seeking at |^ Jo^" ^''i- 
 
 the wrong time, by the wrong way, or in the wrong 
 
 place. Wherefore the Prophet says, " Seek ye the 
 
 LoED while He may be found," before He shuts the ^*" ^ " " 
 
 door against the foolish Virgins. Now is the accepted 
 
 time, before the bed of death, before the night of the 
 
 grave, in which there is no redemption. And here He 
 
 must be sought eagerly, carefully, in no half-hearted 
 
 and leisurely fashion. Not after the flesh either, in the 
 
 bed of His tomb. His manger-cradle, or His Mother's 
 
 womb, but in Heaven His dwelling-place. My bed 
 
 is mortal weakness : Sis bed is Divine power. I sought 
 
 Him there in the night of my ignorance, in the feeble- 
 
112 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [III. 1, 
 
 Serm. 84. 
 Ps. cv. 4. 
 
 Serm. 85. 
 
 Ps.cxix. 105 
 Ps. cxix.28. 
 
 Gillebert. 
 
 Ps. Ixxvi. 2, 
 Vulg. 
 
 Ps. iv. 9. 
 S. Bernard, 
 Serm. 86. 
 Ps. xli. 3. 
 
 Monsell. 
 
 ness of my spiritual night. And yet, even so, it was 
 good to seek Him, for it is written truly, " Seek His 
 face evermore," even after He is found, seeking Him 
 with desire when He need no longer be sought with 
 the step. It is good for the lost sheep to seek the 
 Shepherd who first sought it ; good for seven reasons. 
 First, for correction ; agreeing in time with that Ad- 
 versary who wars against our sins. Next, for enlight- 
 enment, that the Word may be a lantern to our feet. 
 Thirdly, for ghostly strength, that He may comfort us 
 according to His Word, that we fall not when the 
 world, the flesh, or the devil attempts to cast us 
 down. Fourthly, for the sake of learning wisdom, 
 only to be learnt from Him Who is Himself the Eternal 
 Wisdom. Fifthly, to recover the beauty lost by sin. 
 Sixthly, for fruitfulness in spiritual wedlock, bringing 
 forth good works abundantly, and rearing fresh chil- 
 dren for Cheist. And lastly, because of the perfect 
 gladness to be found in the enjoyment of the Word. 
 O whoever thou art that wouldst fain know what this 
 means, to enjoy the Word, prepare for Him thy soul, 
 not thine ear. The tongue teaches it not, but grace. 
 It is hidden from the wise and prudent, and revealed 
 unto babes. It is sweet, remarks another, taking up 
 the subject just where the dying Abbat of Clairvaux 
 laid it down, to seek Thee, O good Jesu, it is sweeter 
 to hold Thee. The one is loving toil, the other perfect 
 gladness. Good it is to seek Him on the bed in con- 
 templation, for " in peace is His habitation, and His 
 dwelling in Sion." By nights (Heb. LXX. Vulg.) I 
 sought Him. The nights are many, the bed is but 
 one. Many are the sorrows and trials of the righteous, 
 but they bear them all on the one bed of their calling, 
 saying, " I will lay me down in peace, and take my 
 rest." So it may l3e taken too of the bed of sickness, 
 when the Lord makes the bed of the patient. 
 
 how soft that bed must be, 
 Made in sickness, Lord, by Thee, 
 And that rest, — how calm, how sweet, 
 Where Jesus and the sufferer meet ! 
 
 It was the Good Physician now, 
 Soothed my cheek and chafed my brow, 
 Whispering, as He raised my head, 
 " It is I, be not afraid." 
 
 And, once more, the bed may be taken to denote the 
 
in. 2.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 113 
 
 quiet, as the night does the coolness and obscurity of the Ghisierius, 
 lleligious Life, wherein many a soul has sought the 
 Bridegroom, and found Him too at the last, though 
 He may have at first concealed Himself to incite a 
 closer search, according to His own saying, " In a isa. Uv. s. 
 little wrath I hid My face from thee for a moment ; 
 but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on 
 thee, saith the Lord thy Eedeemer." The Bride- S- Greg. m. 
 groom hides Himself when He is sought, that He may ""^^ • '^ ■ *• 
 be more eagerly sought when not found, and the 
 searching Bride is put off in her quest, that made more 
 capable by the very delay, she may at length find in 
 manifold more ways that which she sought for. 
 
 2 I will rise now, and go about the city in 
 the streets, and in the broad ways I will seek 
 him whom my soul loveth : I sought him^ but 
 I found him not. 
 
 I toill rise noio. The A.V. here implies a resolve to 
 instant action; but the Hebrew KJ, na, does not de- 
 
 T 
 
 note this, but rather, I will therefore rise, or, Come 
 nolo, I will rise. Because I cannot find Him on my 
 bed, I will seek Him elsewhere. And observe first 
 that the exertion determined on is considerable. The 
 Bride does not make a small effort, and say, I will go 
 about my chamber, but, I will go about the city. The 
 Targum, which takes the preceding verse to denote Targum. 
 the withdrawal of God's presence in the Shechinah 
 from the congregation of Israel when they made the 
 Golden Calf, explains this of the people going round 
 the camp from tribe to tribe, and outside it to the ta- 
 bernacle of the Covenant, seeking vainly for any trace 
 of the cloud of glory. So too, the primary sense given 
 by ancient Christian writers to the City here is that it 
 denotes the Church. Literally, it may be taken of Com. a Lap. 
 the Apostles preaching in the earthly Jerusalem, but 
 finding Moses, not Cheist, in the hearts of its people j 
 or, with S. Bernard, of the eager looking of many im- s. Bernard, 
 perfectly instructed hearers, searching if Cheist might Serm. ;tj. 
 be seen again in those streets and ways through which 
 He had passed teaching and healing, unknowing that 
 He had gone up from the earthly to the Heavenly 
 Jerusalem. And so Jeremiah had spoken, saying, 
 " Hun ye to and fro in the streets of Jerusalem, and ^^^- "• ^- 
 
114 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [III. 2. 
 
 see now, and know, and seek in the broad places 
 thereof, if ye can find a Man, if there be any that 
 executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth ; and I will 
 pardon it!" And it was foretold in type that the 
 Eternal Wisdom should so be found, for it is written in 
 another place, " Wisdom crieth without, she uttereth 
 her voice in the streets ; she crieth in the chief place 
 of concourse, in the openings of the gates, in the city 
 she uttereth her words." Nor are we left in doubt as 
 to the fulfilment of this saying, for in the Gospel we 
 read, " Thou hast taught in our streets." But they 
 did not listen when He was there, and now He must 
 be sought elsewhere, in another city, to wit, the Church 
 Militant here in earth. Some say that the streets and 
 ways denote the two kinds of life within the Church, 
 secular and religious, each having its Saints, and its 
 Ricard.vict. profitable examples, but the one narrower and more 
 spiritual, the other broader and more carnal. In each 
 of these the Bride seeks for examples and counsels 
 which may help to bring her to her Beloved. Another 
 takes the Holy Scriptures to be the ways of the Church, 
 through which the soul seeks her Lord, but finds Him 
 not, so long as she looks to the letter alone, and not 
 the spirit. Again, remembering that there are two 
 cities, Jerusalem on high, and Babylon below, some 
 think the latter to be meant here, as signifying the 
 whole world. And then the streets and Avays denote the 
 weary pilgrimage by land and sea of Gentiles seeking 
 the Lord everywhere, if haply they might find Him, 
 in sects of philosophy, in mysterious rites, in cloudy 
 speculations, yet not discovering Him, save in such 
 rare cases as those of Cornelius and the eunuch of 
 Queen Candace. But that He is not to be found in 
 the pursuit of secular things is a lesson which they 
 enforce with much care. " Christ is no haunter of the 
 market. For Christ is peace, in the market is strife. 
 Christ is righteousness, in the market is iniquity. 
 Christ is good faith, in the market is fraud and de- 
 ceit. Christ is a worker, in the market is idle leisure. 
 Christ is charity, in the market is disparagement. 
 Then the market is often a place of thieves, Christ is 
 in the Church, idols in the market. In the Church the 
 widow is justified,^ in the market she is cheated. Let 
 
 Prov. i. 20. 
 
 S. Luke xiii 
 26. 
 
 S. Greg. M. 
 
 Theodoret. 
 
 S. August. 
 
 Cassiod. 
 
 S. Ambros 
 de Virgin, 
 lib. 3. 
 
 ' The theological use of this 
 famous term in this passage 
 
 is noteworthy. It plainly 
 means "justly dealt with," 
 
in. 2.] 
 
 THE SONG OF SONGS. 
 
 115 
 
 US then shun the market, shun the ways. For it is not 
 only bad for you not to find Him whom you seek, but 
 it is generally hurtful to have sought Him in the wrong 
 place." One cannot but agree with S. Ambrose in the 
 earlier portion of this comment, but a pro founder intel- 
 lect than his takes a widely different view of the influ- 
 ence of the search itself upon the soul. Hear Richard 
 of S. Victor on this point: " The Bride sought her Ricard.Vict. 
 Beloved through the streets and ways, and found Him 
 not at her wish. She did not yet feel His presence, 
 did not yet win the grace for which she longed. But 
 I have no doubt that she gained much by her journey, 
 and greatly increased her inner grace ; since no slight 
 longing after righteousness was kindled in her from 
 her recognition of good men and their virtues. For 
 she drew near those who burned with that fire which 
 the Lord Jesus came to send on earth, and willed 
 earnestly that it should be kindled. And in drawing 
 near to them the lukewarm begins to glow, and the 
 fervent takes fire more eagerly." Again, the city is p^euus 
 taken by some in the yet wider sense of the whole Giiiebert. 
 creation, whose streets and ways are all things visible ^^^c- Argent. 
 and invisible. The streets, narrow, and easily learnt, 
 are visible, tangible, earthly things ; the ways or broad 
 places, (Heb. LXX. Vulg.) are heavenly and invisible 
 things, harder for the mind to take in with its glance, 
 but He Who is Uncreate is not even there, no, not in 
 the highest : 
 
 Thou art not here, ... for how should these contain Thee } 
 Thou art not here, . . . for how should I sustain Thee ? 
 But Thou, where'er Thou art, 
 Canst hear the voice of prayer, 
 Canst read the righteous heart. 
 
 Southey, 
 Ciirse of 
 Kehama, 
 xix. 10. 
 
 Descending with rapid plunge from the contemplation 
 of the whole universe, we come, with the Greek Fa- 
 thers, to the search in the microcosm of a single hu- 
 man soul. This city, "whose builder and maker isHeb. xi. lo. 
 God," has its streets of action, its broad places of con- 
 templation, wherein the Beloved is sought. And thus '^^^ ^^**"' 
 Saints may look. But sinners have to do it in another 
 
 "fairly treated," and is op- 
 posed to injustice and fraud. 
 It is obvious that S. Ambrose 
 understood "justifj^ing faith" 
 to be that which puts a man 
 
 in the way of becoming just 
 and righteous, not a quibble 
 which calls him innocent when 
 he is defiled with sin. 
 
 I 2 
 
116 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [III. 3. 
 
 Philo Carp. 
 
 Ps. xlviii. 1. 
 
 Eph. V. 14. 
 Gillebert. 
 
 S. Bernard. 
 Serm. 75. 
 
 S. August. 
 
 2 Kings vi. 
 19. 
 
 Rupert. 
 
 way, by carefully going over every year, nay every 
 action, of past life, with examination of conscience by 
 the rule of Scripture, looking not merely in the streets, 
 or their own more personal and private sins, but in 
 the broad ways of corporate offences, and of conformity 
 to conventional rules of right and wrong, trying if 
 Christ be visible in any part of their old conversa- 
 tion, in order that, learning that He is not there, they 
 may turn utterly away from it, and seek Him in that 
 holiness where only He maybe found, " in the city of 
 our God, even upon His holy hill." And so the 
 Apostle saith : " Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise 
 from the dead, and Cheist shall give thee light." / 
 loill arise, then, not from evil works, not from bad 
 habits, but from good to better ; from habits to mys- 
 teries, from things hidden to things manifest, from 
 calm to sweetness. I will arise, for Christ hath 
 risen. Why should I not rise when I know of the 
 resurrection of my Beloved ? O happy me, if I had 
 risen together with Christ, setting my affections on 
 things alDOve, and seeking Him not below, but above, 
 for I should doubtless have found Him at the right 
 hand of the Father. When once we enter into the 
 gates of the Heavenly Jerusalem, there will be no need 
 to seek Him any more, for He, as its Light, will per- 
 vade all its streets and ways. And observe that it is 
 well said, I sought Him through the streets and loays, 
 and found Him not, for there is only one Way to the 
 City where He dwells, and that Way is Himself. And 
 therefore, as we search vainly here. He tells us, " This 
 is not the way, neither is this the city : follow Me, and 
 I will bring you to the Man Whom ye seek." And 
 so, after our journey away from Him, after our vain 
 search in the company, after our retracing every step 
 of our former way, we shall find Him, as His Mother 
 did, in the Temple of God. 
 
 3 The watchmen that go about the city 
 found me : to whom I said, Saw ye him whom 
 my soul loveth ? 
 
 The tvatchmen that guard (Vulg.) the city, who find 
 the soul thus longing and seeking, are the holy Angels, 
 who guard the Church, or the faithful, and by whose 
 guardianship the mercy of Christ protects His own. 
 
III. 3.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 117 
 
 They are well named ivatchmen, because they watch Ricard.vict. 
 and are careful about the elect, that they may be de- 
 fended from temptation, may advance in good, and 
 may attain salvation. And so the Breviary hymn : 
 
 Custodes hominum psallimus Angelos, Hymn, in 
 
 Naturae fragili quos Pater addidit Fest. Ang-. 
 
 Coelestis comites, insidiantibus Cust. 
 Ne succumberet hostibus. 
 
 The Angel Guards of men we hail, 
 Sent by our God to mortals frail 
 As aids, lest we in battle fail 
 Before the crafty foe. 
 
 The soul, then, searching for God, is found by these, 
 and after going round the city and making her quest, 
 she attains to the appearance of the blessed Angels, 
 she perceives their approach, and is received by them, 
 for they are forerunners of the Bridegroom, and they 
 disclose their presence, revealing themselves. For they 
 are Angels of light, and come with light, whereby she 
 is flooded and illuminated, and reached all at once, so 
 that she is aware of their approach, and feels their 
 presence. Before, she was blind, and felt only herself, 
 now, the grace given her teaches her more. Then her 
 longing breaks out into words, and she complains that 
 her door is open for Him, and yet He does not enter, 
 that she stands knocking at His door, and He does 
 not open. He has promised to come, and promised to 
 open, yet He seems to fail. Where then is He ? for 
 ye, who ever behold His face, must surely know. 
 They found me, and set to work to purify me by action, Theodoret. 
 and to enlighten me by contemplation, dead as I was 
 sin and ignorance, and the pupil of evil spirits. 
 They did this, and more, for me ; but they could not 
 answer my question, because my Bridegroom is as in- 
 comprehensible to Angels as to men. 
 
 Again, the ivatcJimen of the city are the teachers 
 raised up by God in His Church at various times. 
 Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles, Doctors, of whom is 
 written, " I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Je- isa. ixii. 6. 
 rusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor 
 night ;" and in another place, " Also I set watchmen jer. vi. 17. 
 over you, saying, Hearken unto the sound of the 
 trumpet." With this view, which is the more usual 
 one, agrees the Chaldee paraphrase, explaining the 
 words of Moses and Aaron watching over the congre- Targum. 
 
118 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [III. 3. 
 
 S. Bernard. 
 Serm. 76. 
 
 2 Mace. XV. 
 14. 
 
 Ecclus. 
 xxxix. 5. 
 
 Philo Carp. 
 
 S. Gre&. M. 
 
 S.Ans.Laud 
 S. Just. Org 
 
 Angelomus, 
 
 Ps. cxxvii. 
 2. 
 
 S. Thom. k 
 Villanova, 
 
 gation of Israel. Wliat good watchmen, exclaims 
 S. Bernard, wlio keep long watch while we are sleep- 
 ing, as having to give account for our souls ! What 
 good guards, who watching in soul and passing the 
 night in prayers, skilfully track out the ambushes of 
 the enemy, forestall the counsels of the malignant, de- 
 tect the snares, avoid the springes, break 'the nets, 
 frustrate the schemings. These are lovers of the 
 brethren and of the Christian people, who pray much 
 for the people, and all the holy city. These are they 
 who, careful for the Loed's sheep committed unto 
 them, give their heart to resort early unto the Loed 
 Who made them, and will pray before the Most High. 
 And though they do all this, and instruct the soul 
 which is seeking Cheist, yet it is not enough that she 
 should passively drink in their teaching. She must 
 exhibit eagerness, longing, must actively search for 
 herself, not merely let them search in her behalf, and 
 therefore she asks, Save ye seen JBLim ? For when 
 the soul fixes herself on these mere teachers and watch- 
 men, looking to them, and setting them up as her 
 standard, and not searching further for her Loed, she 
 does not find Him. She must pass from them to Him. 
 And in saying, The watchmen found me, rather than I 
 found them, the Bride marks the vigilance and zeal of 
 good pastors of the Church, who themselves seek out 
 souls that are looking for Cheist, that they may bring 
 them to His feet. They take the whole passage also 
 of the Church of the Gentiles, asking the philosophers 
 and idol priests, who disputed with her, the one un- 
 answerable question. Save ye seen Sim 1 It is the 
 Jewish Church also, looking for Him in the City of 
 Holy Writ, in its broad prophecies, and narrow dark 
 types, and accosting its watchmen, the Chief Priests, 
 Scribes, and Pharisees, with the same inquiry. Save 
 ye seen Sim ? And they get no reply in either case, 
 for " unless the Loed keep the city, the watchman 
 waketh but in vain." The world knew Him not, and 
 His own, to whom He came, received Him not. I 
 asked my senses. Save ye seen Sim ? And my sight 
 said. Nay, unless He be an image. But He is Truth 
 itself, and no mere image or phantasm. I asked my 
 hearing, and it replied. Unless He be a sound or a 
 melody, I know Him not. And yet He is this too, 
 the WoED Who is music to His own. I asked my 
 touch, and it answered. Unless He be smoothness or 
 
 i 
 
III. 4.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 119 
 
 roughness, I have not seen Him. Yet this also He is, 
 gentle to others, harsh to Himself in His suffering 
 life. I asked my sense of smell, and it rejoined, If He 
 be not a perfume, I know Him not. Yet He is this 
 too, an offering to God for a sweet-smelling savour. I 
 asked my taste, and it replied, If He be not a flavour, 
 I cannot tell. This also is He Who is our Food, sweet 
 to our taste. All, and more than all, yet the senses 
 cannot find Him. I asked all creation. Sun, I said, 
 moon, and stars, sky, earth, and sea. Have ye seen 
 Sim ? And they answered. We are not the Beloved, 
 we are but His works, and we cannot contain nor com- 
 prehend Him. 
 
 4 It was but a little that I passed from them, 
 but I fouud him whom my soul loveth : I held 
 him, and would not let him go, until I had 
 brought him into my mother's house, and into 
 the chamber of her that conceived me. 
 
 But a little, whether spoken of time or of place. 
 And yet Christ's coming was nine hundred years after Thrupp. 
 the utterance of this Song ; four hundred years after 
 Malachi, the last of the prophetic watchmen, sealed 
 up the oracles of God ; but they seemed but as a few 
 days to the Church because of the love she bore to 
 Him. I passed from them. That is, observes one Cassiodor. 
 Father, when I had learnt fully all they had to teach 
 me, when I had gone through this course of instruction, 
 I found Him. But the majority take it more deeply : 
 When I had left them all behind in search of Him 
 Who is above and beyond them all, when I had left 
 Gentile philosophers, as Justin and Cyprian did ; when g ^^^^ ^^ 
 I had quitted Scribes and Eabbis, like S. Paul ; when p^^.^^^ ' '^' 
 I have found the wisest Doctors, the holiest Apostles, 
 still far beneath Him Who is co-equal with the Fa- 
 THEE : when I have pierced beyond the highest choir ' ^^^" ' 
 of Angels, likest to Him in nature, in beauty, wisdom, 
 and purity ; then, and not till then, can I find Him, R'card. Vict. 
 for love enters in when understanding waits without. ^^^- Argent. 
 It is hut a little, however, that I have to wait, for He 
 comes Himself to meet me, the very moment I have 
 forsaken self and sin, and have been washed clean p^iio carp. 
 from my offences. But a little, for the knowledge of 
 God is granted with small toil, since the moment He 
 
120 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [iir. 4. 
 
 S.Ans.Laud 
 S. Bernard. 
 
 2 Cor. iv. i; 
 
 Philipp. 
 Harveng. 
 
 Ric. Vict. 
 
 Ps. Ixxxiv. 
 
 S. Bernard. 
 Serm. 79, 8i 
 Guilelm. 
 Parv. 
 
 Charles 
 Wesley. 
 
 perceives the affection of the seeker He gives Himself 
 freely, and throws Himself into our arms. But a 
 little, for the Creed which sums up the mysteries of sal- 
 vation is soon communicated, and easily learnt. But a 
 little, for our light affliction, which is but for a mo- 
 ment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal 
 weight of glory. But a little, and yet ascending up 
 far above all heavens, from the depth of sin and sor- 
 row to the exalted throne of the Son of God, whereon 
 He seats and crowns His Bride. 
 
 I held Him, and looiild not let Him go. God is held, 
 observes E-ichard of S. Victor, by devotion in prayer, 
 by longing, importunity, memory, intreaty, faith, and 
 expectation of being heard, and He is not let go if there 
 be no intermission of intention, if the countenance of 
 the petitioner has not turned any more to other things. 
 She holds her Beloved therefore, though it be morning, 
 and does not let Him go until He bless her. She 
 wrestled with Him all the night wherein she slept ; 
 but her heart was waking, because it had ceased from 
 outer cares, and toiled in seeking the Beloved. For 
 though she came through the night unto morning, she 
 ceases not from her wrestling, that is, her steadfast- 
 ness in prayer, and does not let her Beloved go until 
 He give His blessing that she may go from strength 
 to strength and behold the God of Gods in Sion, and 
 be no more called Jacob, but Israel. She wants as her 
 one blessing. Himself, as she holds Him by her love. 
 
 In vain Thou strugglest to get free, 
 
 I never will unloose my hold, * 
 
 Art Thou the Man that died for me ? 
 The secret of Thy love unfold ; 
 
 Wrestling, I will not let Thee go, 
 
 Till I Thy Name, Thy nature know. 
 
 Yield to me now, for I am weak, 
 
 But confident in self-despair ; 
 Speak to my heart, in blessings speak, 
 
 Be conquered by my instant prayer ; 
 Speak, or Thou never hence shalt move, 
 And tell me if Thy Name is Love. 
 
 'Tis Love, 'tis Love ! Thou diedst for me ; 
 
 I hear Thy whisper in my heart ; 
 The morning breaks, the shadows flee ; 
 
 Pure, universal Love Thou art ; 
 To me, to all, Thy bowels move, 
 Thy nature and Thy Name is Love. 
 
III. 4.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 121 
 
 And now that the Bride holds Him, and prevails in Card. Haii- 
 her prayer of intercession, as she clasps Him in the &""• 
 arms of love, that she may bring comfort to the feeble 
 of heart, the sorrowing cry of Isaiah is no longer true : 
 " There is none that calleth upon Thy Name, there is 's^. ixiv. 7. 
 none that stirreth himself up to take hold of Thee." 
 Rather she exclaims, in the words of the Apostle : 
 " For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor Rom. viii. 
 angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things pre- ' 
 sent, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor 
 any other creature, shall he able to separate us from 
 the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." 
 O how the faithful soul holds and, so to speak, con- 
 strains Him, whilst it does what is pleasing and ac- 
 ceptable unto Him ! For the Bridegroom, like the Phiio Carp. 
 Bride, delights in the life, the ways, the fellowship, 
 and the familiarity of the righteous, and He is held by 
 virtuous deeds, not by the hands of armed men, not 
 by the pomp of the wealthy, nor the boastfulness of the 
 rich, not by the stateliness of the haughty, not by any 
 who suiFer from the disease of gluttony, sloth, avarice, 
 luxury, or envy, but by works of mercy, lovingkindness, 
 continence, humility, temperance, good-will, purity, and 
 by the prayers of the just. Then the Bridegroom 
 comes freely and gladly to be brought into our mother's 
 house. And of this house they speak variously. First, 1^^^^^^- ^• 
 the speaker may well be the Gentile Church, resolving Aponius. 
 never to cease her hold on the Lord by prayer and Rupert, 
 zeal till He turns, and has mercy on the Synagogue, 
 the spiritual parent of Christianity, by entering into 
 the heart of the Jews, and dwelling there. " Great is s. Bernard, 
 the might of love. The Saviour had gone forth in 
 wrath from His house and His inheritance, and now, 
 softened by her fervour with Him, He is prevailed 
 upon to return not merely as Saviour, but as Bride- 
 groom. Blessed art thou of the Lord, O daughter, 
 who both restrainest wrath and restorest the inherit- 
 ance. Blessed art thou of thy mother, for whose wel- 
 fare anger is turned away, salvation cometh back : 
 He cometh back Who saith, I am thy salvation." 
 Another devout writer, taking the mother to be the ^'o"- ^^'■^^• 
 Christian, not the Jewish Church, explains the words 
 similarly of the resolute zeal with ^hich holy men 
 labour for the reformation of spiritual abuses, not ceas- 
 ing their labours in their several places, and in Synods, 
 until Christ returns to that dwelling whence the sins of 
 
122 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [TTI. 4. 
 
 S. Bernard. 
 Serm. 79. 
 
 Tres Patr. 
 S. Ambros. 
 de Vug. 3. 
 
 Hugo Vict. 
 Expos, in 
 Hierarch. 
 lib. 6. 
 
 Theodoret. 
 Gal. iv. 26. 
 
 2 Cor. vi. If 
 
 Act.S.Ignat. 
 Mart. 
 
 Cocceius. 
 
 Ps. ex. 1, 
 
 Christian priests and people seem to have driven Him. 
 And observe that it is not enough to bring Him into 
 the house. He must come not as a mere visitor, but 
 as the most intimate of guests, into the chamber, con- 
 ferring no common gifts, but His full grace. Again ; 
 they explain the grace and wisdom of God to be as it 
 were our mother, and that the soul is the house wherein 
 this dwells, with an inner chamber for the reception of 
 the deeper mysteries. The soul sa.js,Itvill bring Him in. 
 *' Therefore," comments a great mj'stical writer, '' God 
 will enter in unto thee that thou mayest enter in unto 
 Him. When His love enters and penetrates thy heart, 
 and affection for Him reaches its innermost recess, 
 then He enters thyself, and thou enterest thyself too, 
 that thou mayest go in unto Him. For He must needs 
 come as far as the chamber and enter the bower itself, 
 arriving at thine innermost habitation, there to rest." 
 And lastly ; they take it of the Bride, saying with the 
 holy boldness of love, that she will not let her Bride- 
 groom go until she bring Him into her true mother's 
 house, in the city of " Jerusalem above, which is free, 
 and the mother of us all." And this, because Christ 
 is Himself the dweller in holy souls, which are His 
 temple and habitation, " for ye are the temple of the 
 living God : as God hath said, I will dwell in them and 
 walk in them." And so we read in the Acts of S. Igna- 
 tius, who, when Trajan asked him, Who is Theophorus ? 
 — " GoD-bearer," a name by which the Saint had just 
 designated himself — replied " He who has Christ 
 within his heart." Trajan said, " Dost thou then carry 
 within thee Him that was crucified ?" Ignatius an- 
 swered, " Truly so, for it is written, ' I will dwell in 
 them, and walk in them.' " The words then are a 
 pledge on the part of the Bride that she will so ten- 
 derly, purely, and jealously guard Christ in her soul, 
 that He will have no mind to go thence, but will tarry 
 in it, so that when she presents herself before the gates 
 of the heavenly city, the warders will be fain to ad- 
 mit her, because they cannot refuse her without at the 
 same time repulsing their King. And whereas it is 
 said. Until I had brought Him, it is not implied that 
 she then will let Him go. Eather she will hold more 
 closely than ever, because then there will be no temp- 
 tation to part her from Him, nor any desire on His 
 part to withdraw. She will not let Him go till that 
 other until is ended : " Sit Thou on My right hand 
 
Iir. 5] THE SONG OF SONGS. 123 
 
 until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool." These 
 four verses were fulfilled by Mary Majj^dalene, who 
 sought her Lord during the night of His absence from ^®'^'*- 
 His Church, came with spices to His tomb, was found 
 there by the Angels, questioned them about Him, 
 passed them, found Him whom her soul loved, and 
 did not let Him go till He sent tidings of His Eesur- 
 rection back to Jerusalem by her. Accordingly, this 
 passage forms the first Lesson at the Nocturns of S. 
 Mary Magdalene's Day in the Breviary. 
 
 5 I charge you, O ye daughters of Jeru- 
 salem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the 
 field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, 
 till he please. 
 
 The old versions take these words here, as in chap, 
 ii. 7, to be spoken by the Bridegroom, and it is well to 
 observe again that the Hebrew admits of either con- 
 struction. It is repeated, says Cassiodorus, because Cassiodor. 
 in the earlier verse reference was made to the Primi- 
 tive Church of the Jews, but here to the Gentile Church, 
 bound far more closely to Him in love. But the same 
 words are used to denote the identity of God's love 
 and care for His Saints under both dispensations. 
 And whereas the Church has just been described not 
 as sleeping or resting, but searching eagerly, she is 
 nevertheless here said to sleep, because search after 
 Christ is the sweetest of all sleep. The Chvirch sleeps, 
 therefore, and seeks for Christ, sleeps to earthly de- 
 sires and worldly affairs, but wakes to her Bridegroom 
 and seeks Him, because she clings to contemplation 
 of Him, desires Him only, and strives to reach Him. 
 And it is repeated here for another reason, because the ^?.^^"- 
 Bridegroom has pity on His Bride, who had been "^" 
 searching and toiling all the night to find Him, and 
 therefore needed repose more than she did before. 
 And, accordingly, the words may well represent to us 
 those seasons of repose and comparative tranquillity 
 which always intervened between the persecutions suf- 
 fered by the Early Church, giving her time to repair 
 her shattered strength, and to rear up children in- 
 stead of the fathers she had lost by the sword, or rack, 
 or £re, or the wild beast, man. If taken, as by the 
 A. v., of the Bride, it will then denote the appeal for 
 a brief time of peaceful contemplation, after she has 
 
124 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [III. 6. 
 
 Cocceius, 
 
 Targum 
 
 Cassiodor. 
 Philo Carp. 
 S. Just. Org. 
 
 Card. Hail- 
 grin. 
 
 Hos. ii. 14. 
 Theodoret. 
 Rom. xii. l, 
 
 drawn her Beloved into the inner chamber. Or it may 
 be explained, again, as a warning to the persecutors not 
 to break rudely in upon the calm and silent spreading of 
 the Word, so as to force that Lord Whose still small 
 voice was well-nigh quiet like slumber, to speak to them 
 in His wrathful judgments, in the wind, and fire, and 
 earthquake, taking vengeance for His elect. This 
 point marks the close of the second phase of the action, 
 wherein the search for and discovery of the Bridegroom 
 are described. The third stage of the drama, detailing 
 the espousals, now begins. 
 
 6 Who is this that cometh out of the wilder- 
 ness like pillars of smoke^ perfumed with myrrh 
 and frankincense, with all powders of the mer- 
 chant ? 
 
 The ambiguity of the A. V. does not exist in the 
 Hebrew, nor in the old translations, which, by em- 
 ploying feminine words here, tell us at once that the 
 Bride is intended. And the Targum, as so often, fur- 
 nishes a clue, putting the words into the mouth of the 
 Canaanite nations, looking in wonder and awe at the 
 mighty people which came out of the wilderness into 
 the Land of Promise. Similarly too, most Christian 
 writers ascribe the words either to the Patriarchs of 
 the Jewish Church, the old possessors of the spiritual 
 Canaan, looking in wonder on the G-entile Church, 
 coming up out of the wilderness of heathenism, or else 
 to the citizens of a yet holier Land, the Angels, mar- 
 velling at the progress of the soul which clings to 
 Christ. If it be asked how she comes to be in the wil- 
 derness at all, Hosea gives the answer : " I will allure 
 her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak com- 
 fortably to her." Not unfitly, observes Tlieodoret, is 
 the devout soul said to be like the smoke of incense, 
 for she, as the Apostle saith, hath presented her mem- 
 bers a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, and 
 constantly offers the sacrifice of praise, and mortifies 
 her members which are on earth, and is buried together 
 with Christ, and presents herself as a whole burnt- 
 offering to God. And she is said to be 'perfumed with 
 myrrh mid franJcincense, with all powders of the mer- 
 chant, because she worships Christ's Manhood, signi- 
 fied by myrrh, and His Godhead, denoted by frankin- 
 cense; for she at once believes in the death of her 
 
III. 6.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 125 
 
 Bridegroom and in His eternal being. Therefore they 
 select for praise the myrrh Siudi frankincense out of all 
 the powders of the merchant. For she has other vir- 
 tues drawn from Holy Scripture as though from the 
 merchant's shop, but the myrrh and incense, the know- 
 ledge of God and of His dispensation, are chief among 
 them. The Church, or the holy soul, comments a ^- ^^^s- ^• 
 Latin Father, dwells in the loilderness in the world, 
 whilst it is an exile from the kingdom, and amongst 
 the wild beasts, that is, the evil spirits. Herein, 
 though she is not altogether deserted by her Spouse, 
 yet while she is in the flesh, she is not yet admitted to 
 the certain vision of Him, during her pilgrimage of 
 exile and temptation. Wherefore she always toils to 
 come up, in order to reach Him Whom she loves. For 
 there are some who care nothing for all visible things, 
 and lift up their hearts to the heavens, who strip them- 
 selves of their evil habits, despise this world's wealth 
 and desires, and aim in hope at the unseen. They are 
 well said to come up like a pillar of smoke, because 
 they have both the sweet perfume of fair fame, and 
 buoyancy of spirit. Myrrh denotes mortification of the 
 ^esh., fra^ikincense purity of prayer; for the one is, as 
 it were, applied to the body dead to the sinful plea- 
 sures of the world, and the other burned in the censer 
 of the heart, on the coals of virtue, with the fire of 
 God's love. And the other virtues are called powders, 
 to denote the way in which they are spread over every, 
 each, and all the good works of the faithful soul, not 
 lying here and there in lumps, but uniformly distri- s. Greg. m. 
 buted, and also because it is needful to grind all our in Ezek. 
 actions down in order to find if any evil thing lies hid Ri°""vict. 
 in them. And this grinding is contrition. 
 
 In mine own conscience then, as in a mortar, Francis 
 
 I'll place mine heart, and bray it there ; Quarles, 
 
 If grief for what is past, and fear School of the 
 
 Of what's to come, be a suflBcient torture, Heart, 14. 
 
 I'll break it all 
 In pieces small : 
 Sin shall not find a sherd without a flaw, 
 Wherein to lodge one lust against Thy law. 
 
 All the powders of the merchant also, because every Apomus. 
 virtue is united in the one fragrance of a holy life, 
 every nation is united in the one Catholic Church, in- 
 distinguishably sending up their blended perfume to 
 heaven. The wilderness, remarks Hugh of S. Victor, 
 
126 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [III. 6. 
 
 Hugo Vict, 
 de Erud. 
 Theol.i. Ill, 
 
 Beda. 
 Ps. Ixiii. 1, 
 
 Cocceius. 
 Corn, a Lap. 
 
 Card. Hugo. 
 
 S. Bernard. 
 Serm. 59, de 
 diversis. 
 
 S. Greg. M. 
 Horn. 22 in 
 Ezek. 
 Cassiod. 
 
 1 Chron. ix. 
 30. 
 
 denotes a good heart, far from noise and tumult, un- 
 trodden by tlie concourse of earthly thoughts, but 
 green and flowery, bringing forth the germs of holiness. 
 There is heard the voice of the turtle dove, the Holy 
 Ghost, but no sound of man, nor of aught pertaining to 
 man. This is the " barren and dry land" in which the 
 soul thirsteth after God, in which the only food is tlie 
 heavenly manna, the only drink is water from the 
 spiritual Hock. From this, no less than from that 
 other desert of the world, the Church and the faithful 
 soul ascend, as the fume of a sacrifice, as a cloud 
 drawn up towards heaven by the warmth of the sun, 
 and as part of the train of the ascended Saviour. 
 Like a pillar of smoke, slender by reason of poverty, 
 straight in right intention, buoyant because unweighted 
 by sin, rising through desire of heavenly things. ^ And 
 on the word pillars, they note that the word jmip^il 
 timerotJi, is derived from ^l^-T) tamar the palm, a 
 tree which, slender and straight below, spreads out a 
 wide crown of foliage, perennially green, amidst which 
 hang luscious fruits ; and, because it never bends before 
 the winds, it is a familiar type and ensign of victory. 
 So the Church, beginning with a mere handful of be- 
 lievers, shot up into stately height, spread abroad 
 in perpetual youthfulness and fecundity through the 
 world, and, unshaken by persecutions, stands now as 
 the memorial of Christ's triumph over the grave. 
 And the holy soul ascends from the wilderness, in re- 
 membrance of her sins, like a slender wand {virgula) in 
 holy confession of the same sins ; and that wand one of 
 smoJce, because as the fumes of a censer pass up in one 
 column out of the many orifices of the lid, so one act 
 of confession includes the acknowledgment of many 
 sins. There is myrrh there, in ^enxieme, franhijicense 
 in the intreaty for the Divine mercy and pardon, and all 
 the powders of the merchant in the minute sifting and 
 examination of conscience. The merchant is that same 
 One Who came seeking goodly pearls, and gave His 
 all for one pearl of great price, bought with His own 
 Blood, while He sells to us without money and without 
 price. The LXX. and Vulgate, however, looking ra- 
 ther to the context than to the original word /Dl rohel, 
 translate it ointment-malcer . Still it is the same. 
 " The sons of the priests made the ointment of the 
 
III. 7.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 127 
 
 spices," and He Who is both a Son and a Priest, alone 
 makes that unguent which can heal our wounds, that 
 " ointment poured forth" of which we heard in the 
 beginning of the Song. Only His powders, all those 
 graces and sufierings which He added in His Life and 
 Passion to His myrrh and frankincense, (as cinnamon, Exod. xxx. 
 and cassia, stacte and onycha, galbanum and calamus, Thrupp, 
 were blended with the holy oil and the incense of the 
 Temple,) only they are the perfume of the Church, be- 
 cause she puts no trust in herself or her works, but 
 only in the redemption which the Merchant purchased 
 for her at so vast a cost ; and she knows that if she 
 strive to ascend from the pillar of her carnal desire, of 
 her own will and presumption, the cold winds will soon Nic Argent, 
 drive its smoke back to earth, because its thick, gross 
 vapours are not light enough to ascend into the higher 
 and clearer air. The verse is also applied to the Assump- Pseudo- 
 tion of the Blessed Virgin, in a letter printed amongst p^^'j"^ ^t 
 the works of S. Jerome, in this wise : This festival is Eustoch. 
 peerless amongst the festivals of the Saints, as Blessed Ep- lo- 
 Mary is peerless amongst other Virgins, and it is a 
 marvel even to the Angelic powers. AVherefore in the 
 person of the heavenly citizens, the Holy Ghost saith 
 in the Canticles of her ascension : Who is this that 
 ascendeth through the wilderness as a slender wand of 
 smoke from spices ? E-ightly as a slender wand of 
 smoke, because slight and delicate, as worn with holy 
 discipline, and because kindled within, as a burnt- 
 offering, by the fire of devout love and the longing of 
 charity. As a slender wand. He saith, of smoke from 
 spices, doubtless because she was filled with the per- 
 fumes of many virtues, so that the sweetest fragrance, 
 grateful even to angelic spirits, flowed from her. The 
 Mother of God once ascended from the desert of this 
 world as a Eod sprung from the root of Jesse ; but 
 now the souls of the elect marvel, in very gladness, 
 who she might be that surpasseth the dignity of angels 
 in the holiness of her merits. 
 
 Heaven with transcendent joys her entrance gi*aced, Bishop Ken, 
 
 Next to His throne her Son His Mother placed ; Christian 
 
 And here below, now she's of heaven possessed, c "'!' ^^^,, 
 
 All generations are to call her blessed. Epiphany 
 
 7 Behold his bed^ whicli is Solomon's ; three- 
 score valiant men are about it_, of the valiant 
 of Israel. 
 
128 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [III. 7. 
 
 Tar gum. 
 
 Cassiodor. 
 
 S. Just, Org 
 Ps. cxxxii. 
 
 14. 
 
 S. Greg. M. 
 Philo Carp. 
 
 Avrillon. 
 
 The Targum sees here the sanctuary of Solomon's 
 temple, and the orderly array of priests, standing min- 
 istering and stretching out their hands to bless the 
 people, who derive from that blessing strength and pro- 
 tection, as it compasses Israel like a strong and lofty 
 wall. " The hed of Solomon,'" comments Cassiodorus, 
 " is the holy Church, because therein the Saints of 
 God, when the tumult of sin is hushed, delight in the 
 embrace of the true Prince of Peace. The threescore 
 valiant men are the Doctors, who either protect the 
 Church by their preaching, or desire to attain heavenly 
 bliss through contemplation. The number sixty is 
 made up of six and ten. The number six {senarius) 
 denotes the completion of work, because God finished 
 His work in six days. The number ten {denarius, the 
 Vulgate word for a penny) signifies the wages and 
 reward which shall be given to the elect at the end : 
 wherefore they who came into the vineyard are said 
 to have received a denarius. Moreover, these Doctors 
 who guard the Church are not only called valiant, but 
 of the valiant of Israel, that is, of all who believe in 
 Christ and love Him, Who is Israel, that is. Seeing 
 God." They are threescore for yet another reason. 
 The chosen guard of David consisted of thirty war- 
 riors, and David's kingdom denotes only the Jewish 
 Church. But our Solomon rules over Jews and Gen- 
 tiles together, and therefore His guard must needs be 
 double that of His Father's Saints of the old Law. 
 The Church is the bed of Christ, observes another, 
 because He rests there, as it is written : " The Lord 
 hath chosen Sion to be an habitation for Himself : He 
 hath longed for her. This shall be My rest for ever ; 
 here will I dwell, for I have a delight therein." The 
 bed of Solomon is, in this life, remarks a third in nearly 
 the same spirit, the peaceful conversation of the Saints, 
 withdrawn from worldly noises, which, by checking or 
 lulling the strife of sin, is a type of the happiness of 
 unending peace. Or you may take it, with S. Gregory 
 the Great and various others, to be the devout soul, in 
 which Christ is pleased to repose, when it is prepared 
 for Him by the removal of all worldly things, and 
 guarded by the teaching and example of those might}'- 
 men who, fulfilling the ten precepts of the moral law 
 in the six days of their earthly labour, are symbolized 
 by the number threescore. And this title of Solomon's 
 bed especially fits the soul after sacramental reception 
 
III. 7.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 129 
 
 of tlie Body and Blood of Christ in the Holy Eu- 
 charist, when He is pleased to dwell for a time with 
 His guest. Tlie sixty valiant men who then guard xres Patr. 
 the soul, are holy thoughts and resolutions armed with 
 the sword of tlie Spirit. They are sixty, because the 
 five senses, ruled and guided by reason, added as a 
 sixth and a supreme sense, are trained in obedience 
 to the ten precepts of the Law, so as to resist all snares 
 and terrors of the evil one. Yet again, the heel on which com. a Lap. 
 our Wise King lay down to His rest was the Cross, the 
 bride-bed of the Church, where is the true repose of 
 the Saints, which is also the standard of the battle, 
 round which the most valiant men are ranged as a 
 guard. The poet will tell us what are the tokens of 
 these valiant men whom the Wise King chooses as His 
 companions : 
 
 A glorious compfiriy, the flower of men, 
 
 To serve as model for the mighty world, Gumel^^e 
 
 And be the fair beginning of a truce. 
 
 I made them lay their hands in mine and swear 
 
 To reverence the King as if he were 
 
 Their conscience, and their conscience as their King, 
 
 To break the heathen and uphold the Christ, 
 
 To ride abroad redressing human wrongs, 
 
 To speak no slander, no, nor listen to it, 
 
 To lead sweet lives in purest chastity, 
 
 To love one Maiden only, cleave to her. 
 
 And worship her by years of noble deeds. 
 
 Another and especial bed of our Solomon was that Aponius. 
 wherein He was first cradled, the hallowed womb of JkSrcarth 
 His Virgin Mother, who was fenced about by the Pa- 
 triarchs, Kings and Prophets of her race, as one tells 
 us, and by a special guard of xingels, as another com- 
 ments, who did in truth watch around the manger 
 where He first lay after His Nativity. 
 
 And, to pass rapidly over such interpretations as Theodoret. 
 those which take the bed to be Holy Writ, or the ^^^^^\ j ^ 
 Manhood of the Word, or prayer, wherein the tried Phu"' carp^ 
 soul reposes with Christ, or the sepulchre round 
 which the Jews posted an armed guard, we may dwell 
 for a little on that last bed of which they tell us, the 
 eternal peace and bliss of heaven. That rest is called gg^ig 
 a bed, because therein is repose from all the unrest Ric. vict. 
 and toil of this life. They who toiled here for God, 
 repose in that rest, for "there" (as is read in Job,) jqj, ji; jg 
 " the weary be at rest, the prisoners rest together." 
 
 K 
 
130 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [III. 8. 
 
 Ric. Vict. 
 
 S. GreR. M, 
 Moral, xix. 
 29. 
 
 Serm. in 
 Cant. xvi. 
 
 There eternal quiet refreshes and rewards those whom 
 toil here in God's precepts and progress in virtue 
 wearied, and they who here were bound in the chains 
 of human infirmity, there breaking their bonds asunder, 
 sacrifice to God the offering of praise. 
 
 8 They all hold swords^ being expert in war : 
 every man hath his sword upon his thigh be- 
 cause of fear in the night. 
 
 Richard of S. Victor, in his comment on the pre- 
 ceding verse, bids us observe that the valiant men who 
 compass Solomon's bed in desire, do not ascend it, nor 
 sleep there, and that even to compass it in guard is not 
 for those who must still mourn for their sins and wash 
 the bed of sorrow with tears of repentance, for their 
 bed is a troubled one, and not the peaceful couch of 
 Solomon. But when they have been cleansed from 
 their sins by true repentance, and have been freed, 
 by daily combat, from evil passions, and have been 
 strengthened by grace, passing from fear and hope to 
 perfect love, then they may take their stand, and hope 
 one day to mount the bed themselves, and contemplate 
 the bliss of heaven. And their weapons, he adds 
 when discussing this verse, are Holy Scripture and 
 psalmody. Observe first, that it is not said, They 
 all have swords, but They all liold swords, because it 
 is no very wonderful thing to know God's Word, but 
 it is so to do it. He who is familiar with the Divine 
 Scriptures has a sword, but if he neglect to live in 
 accordance with it, he does not hold the sword, and is 
 therefore not eocfert in loar, because he knows not 
 how to wield his weapon or resist temptation. " Why 
 puttest thou thy hand to valiant deeds who art not of 
 the valiant men. f^" asks Gilbert of Hoyland, address- 
 ing ignorant, dull, and worldly preachers : " Why un- 
 dertakest thou a guard, who shakest not off" thy sloth ? 
 Why dost thou compass the bed, who hast no sword, 
 or if thou hast the sword of the Word, hast it in the 
 scabbard, not on thy tongue P Thou boldest not in the 
 hands of thy tongue the turning sword of the Word 
 of God. The Word runneth very swiftly, the Spirit 
 is fier}^ but I know not how it is that it, contrary to 
 its nature, becomes dull in thy hand. That which is 
 sharper and more piercing than any two-edged sword 
 is blunted and weakened in thy grasp. The Word 
 
III. 8.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 131 
 
 is not swift in tliy mouth, it runs not swiftly, it turns 
 not readily in thy hand according to varying needs, 
 though it is more than enough for all the wants of. 
 spiritual combat. Why undertakest thou an office of 
 which thou hast no experience ? All holding swords, 
 and expert in war. Thou with no reason carriest a 
 sword who hast no adequate acquaintance with war- 
 fare, or if thou hast learnt to combat, engagest thyself 
 in preference with worldly tasks rather than with 
 those of Christ . . . Thou who art an Evangelical,^ 
 speak altogether evangelically. Let thy sermon sa- 
 vour of the Law, the Prophets, the Apostles ; sharpen 
 thy tongue with their words. Borrow from them the 
 weapons of God, mighty to the pulling down of strong- 2 Cor. x. 4. 
 holds, casting down imaginations, and every high thing 
 that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God ? 
 Let the sword of the Spirit turn in thine hands, that 
 it may serve thee for every need, nor let the power of 
 sacred eloquence forsake thee when a casual and sudden 
 occasion demands it. Let the powerful and effectual 
 word be on thy lips, and not in the leaves of a book. 
 ' For the Priest's lips, — not his leaves — should keep Mai. n. 7. 
 knowledge.' Take thy purse of money with thee. 
 Let thy sword be at thy side, not out of sight, let it 
 be close to thee. Gird thyself with it upon thy thigh, 
 that thou mayest be mighty and ready, tjoth to exhort 
 in sound doctrine, and to convince the gainsayers." 
 Observe in the second j)lace, that the words seem, 
 though not necessarily, to imply the possession of ttvo 
 swords by each warrior. In Japan, at the present 
 day, two swords borne by one person are a mark of 
 superior rank ; in the later middle ages the usual wea- 
 pons of a noble were a sword and a long dagger, almost 
 a sword in dimensions, which was used, instead of a 
 target, to parry, while the sword was employed for 
 attack. So in explaining this, passage, we shaU do 
 well to recall that saying of the Gospel : " He that g. Luke 
 hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one. xxu. 36, 38. 
 And they said. Lord, behold, here are two swords. 
 And He said unto them. It is enough." And if we 
 take the two swords, as the commentators so often do, 
 to denote spiritual and temporal rule, then the sword pion. Carth. 
 in the hand will denote the active strife of the soul ^^^f{ ^^^- 
 against evil spirits, or zeal for passion and martyrdom, s. Greg:. Al- 
 and that upon the thigh the passive restraint of our ^- •^"^^- ^^f?- 
 ^ *' Vir evangelicus." 
 K 2 
 
132 A COMMENTARY ON [HI. 9, 10. 
 
 carnal passions, kept in check by temperance and mo- 
 
 Ric. Vict. desty. Or, ratlier, as Hicbard of S. Victor wisely 
 tells us, by tbe love of God, the only sufficient weapon 
 against tbe assaults of tbe flesb. So wearing tbe sword, 
 tbe valiant men are conformed to tbeir Leader, of 
 
 Ps. xiv. 4. Wbom is written, " Gird Tbee witb Tby sword upon 
 Tby tbigb, O Thou most migbty, according to Thy 
 worsbip and renown." Psellus gives a quaint expla- 
 
 Pseiius. nation of tbe verse, saying tbat tbe swords denote tbe 
 sign of tbe Cross, wbicb Christians employ against 
 tbe evil one. And it may be added, in illustration of 
 tbis view, tbat tbe Cross jit c/iee, (tbat is, witb tbe lower 
 limb ending in a point) borne still on so many shields, 
 is traditionally said to denote the cross-handled sword 
 of a Crusader, when set up in the ground before his 
 eyes as be lay wounded on the battle-field, to bring 
 the emblem of his salvation to his mind. Because of 
 
 s!^BnnuAsif^^^^ "^ ^^^^ nigM. That is, because of all the snares 
 of tbe devil, all the darkness and terror of adversity, 
 of ignorance, of the world's gloom. One sword miglit 
 be sufficient, did we fight in the day, and not against 
 powers of darkness ; but as we know not on which side 
 the attack will be made, there must be a sword ready 
 on tbe tbigb as well as one in tbe band. 
 
 9 King Solomon made himself a chariot of 
 the wood of Lebanon. 
 
 10 He made the pillars thereof of silver^ the 
 bottom thereof of gold, the covering of it of 
 purple, the midst thereof being paved with love, 
 for the daughters of Jerusalem. 
 
 Tbe word ]V")5^?' «Pi?^V/o«, here translated cAaHo^, 
 ought rather to be litter (LXX. (popelov, Yulg.ferculum.) 
 Targum. The Chaldee takes this, as well as the bed of the pre- 
 vious verse, to be the Temple, in tbe midst of which 
 was tbe Ark of the Covenant, wherein lay tbe stone 
 tables of tbe Law, more precious than fine silver and 
 than the purest gold, overlaid witb a veil of blue and 
 purple. And whereas the bed denotes night and rest, 
 tbe litter implies the royal pomp of a procession by 
 day, a notion partly borne out by the Arabic version, 
 which here reads throne. So, with the Christian in- 
 terpretation tbat tbe Church is here described, we see 
 it less as tbe refuge for tbe weary than as tbe trium- 
 
III. 9, 10.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 133 
 
 phal car of the Saints. As Christ made His own 
 human Body first to be the Utter in which the God- 
 head is borne, so He made the Church to be that 
 vehicle in which He, the Man-GoD, should be borne Phiio carp, 
 in procession among the people to whom He comes as 
 King and Conqueror. The woodwork of this litter is 
 of the wood of Lebanon, of incorruptible cedar from 
 the "white" mountain, denoting the holiness, incor- ^^^.^° ^'''<^- 
 rupt truth, and steadfast perseverance of the Saints ; 
 though one of themselves reminds us, not inaptly, that s. Greg, 
 as Lebanon is taken often to denote fierceness and Nyss. 
 pride, so that it is written, " The Lord breaketh the Ps. xxix. 5. 
 cedars of Libanus," we are to understand here that the 
 very framework of the Church is made up of sinners 
 and idolaters whom God has converted to the faith. 
 And one of the very earliest Christian comments on 
 the Song leads in the same direction, pointing out 
 that the Lord took His flesh from Gentiles as well as §_ Theopiiii. 
 from Judah, and that the toood of Lebanon, lying out- Antioch. 
 side the Hol}^ Land, in an idolatrous region, typifies \^q^^'^'"' 
 !Ruth the Moabitess, from whom He sprang : and si- 
 milarly, that we, who spiritually carry Him in our 
 souls, are of Lebanon too, for we were once the wood 
 of the gainsayer, but have been cut down by the axe 
 of the Word to be made a chariot for our Master. Poiychro- 
 The pillars of silver are generally taken to denote the "^^^• 
 Apostles and other principal Samts, as the stays and 
 props of the Church. So we read of " James, Cephas, Gal. ii. 9. 
 and John, who seemed to be pillars." They are silver, 
 not only to denote their purity of life and conversation, 
 but also because to them was intrusted the ministry of 
 that Word whereof is said, " The words of the Lord Ps, xii. 7. 
 are pure words, even as the silver, which from the 
 earth is tried, and purified seven times in the fire." 
 The bottom thereof of gold. The LXX, reading ai/a- 
 kXitov, the Vulgate, reclinatoriuyn, come nearer to the 
 meaning of the Hebrew, HTD"), rephidah, which J°'^''°'"^- 
 
 seems to denote the sloping back of the litter, against ^^4.^^"®" 
 
 which the rider leaned in a half-reclining posture. 
 
 They differ as to this. Philo of Carpasia, holding that Philo Carp. 
 
 as one class of Saints is denoted by the cedar- wood, and 
 
 a second by the silver pillars, takes the golden back to 
 
 be a third, and to mean the Martyrs. Till they came, the g ^^^^ .^^ 
 
 Son of Man had not where to lay His head, but now He 58. 
 
 has these, of whom is written, " As gold in the furnace 
 
134 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [III. 9, 10. 
 
 Wisd. iii. 
 Cassiod. 
 
 S. Greg. M. 
 Horn. 15 in 
 Ezek. 
 
 Hitzig. 
 Beda. 
 
 Aponius. 
 
 S. Venant. 
 Fortmiat. 
 The Hymn, 
 Vexilla Re- 
 gis. 
 
 Henry 
 Harphius. 
 
 Alanus. 
 
 Prov. ix. 1. 
 
 liath He tried them, and received tliem as a burnt- 
 offering." Cassiodorus, however, will have it that this 
 re dining -place denotes the everlasting rest promised 
 to the Saints in the Church, while S. Gregory in his 
 comment here takes it to be Divine contemplation ; 
 and in another place, that rest in charity which the 
 devout find even on earth. The coveting of it ofpuy^ple. 
 Here again the LXX. and Vulgate differ from the 
 A. V, reading. The going-iip {iiri^aaiv, ascensum,) while 
 modern critics take it to be the seat, with a purple 
 cushion or carpet laid upon it. The going-ujy isjpur2:>le, 
 tersely writes S. Beda, because no one can enter the 
 Church save by means of those Sacraments which 
 derive their power from the Loed's Passion, and are 
 purpled with His Blood. Aponius bids us see in the 
 litter the Cross of Calvary bearing the Crucified Re- 
 deemer, being itself that Cedar of Lebanon which is 
 the stateliest of trees, and carrying on it the silver 
 pillar of His most pure and spotless Body, which shows 
 the gold of His perfect Godhead, while the purple 
 denotes the precious tide which flowed there for us. 
 And we have all these tersely expressed in the world- 
 famous processional hymn : 
 
 Tree of beauty, Tree of Light, 
 Tree with royal purple dight, 
 Elect, on Avhose triumphal breast 
 Those holy limbs should find their rest. 
 
 Tree of Lebanon, having the heauty of fine silver, the 
 rich glov) of pure gold, and decked in its midst with 
 kingly purple. O most happy litter of the Cross, 
 wherein Cheist descended to our basest depths, that 
 He might draw us to His majestic height ! He made 
 this litter for Himself, because He voluntarily under- 
 went death for us. He made it of the wood of Lebanon, 
 a Gentile mountain, because He elected to die by a 
 Roman punishment, and not a Jewish one. He paved 
 it with love, because He gave Himself to be rejected, 
 and as it were, trampled under foot. Akin to this is 
 the interpretation, already indicated, which takes the 
 litter to be C heist's human nature, whereby He was 
 borne into the world. The silverpillars are the gifts 
 of the Holy Ghost wherewith He was endued, ac- 
 cording to that saying, "Wisdom hath builded her 
 house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars." The 
 golden slope is His most pure and holy soul. The 
 
III. 9, 10.] THE SOXG OF SOXGS. 135 
 
 purple, as before, is His Passion, and His Heart is 
 full of love, and that for the daughters of Jerusalem, 
 the Vision of Peace, because He gives to holy souls 
 those graces and virtues which bring the peace which 
 passeth all understanding. Now the holy soul is borne 
 on this litter unto God, this same litter whereby Elias 
 was taken up to heaven. This is the ladder of sinners 
 by which Christ drew all things to Himself, as He 
 foretold. We too may have our spiritual Cross, 
 gemmed with love at its summit, with obedience on 
 the right, patience on the left, and humility below. 
 The Cross of our body will be abstinence, even from 
 things lawful ; watchfulness ; and diligence in toil. 
 The Cross of our heart, the fear of God ; sorrow for 
 sin ; compassion on our neighbour ; and the Passion 
 of Cheist. The Cross of our soul, perpetual clinging 
 to Divine love ; ardent humiliation of self ; sincere 
 aflfection for enemies ; and perfect forgiveness of in- 
 juries. But a more frequent explanation of the litter 
 than either of these two, is that which takes it to be 
 the CHRisT-bearing soul. The Utter of Solomon, 
 writes Hugh of S. Victor, is a heart trained in the Hugo Vict 
 practice of virtue. It must needs be, in the first place, Erud.Theoi. 
 of the ivoocl of Lebanon, by purity, and incorrupt i- 6o- 
 truth ; of silver in precepts and promises. In the 
 whiteness of the silver is seen stainless conversation, 
 in its musical sound the sweet promise of God. It has 
 gold, too, by reason of heavenly wisdom, which rusteth 
 not for evermore, but is ruddy in love. It has purple, 
 when it preaches the Passion, and a going-iip to glory. 
 In the midst there is spread love for the daughters of 
 Jerusalem, love set before the feeble and infirm, that 
 they may win salvation. For who is so feeble that he 
 cannot love .P If thou canst do nothing else, at any 
 rate thou canst love, and so belong to Solomon's litter. 
 Others limit the reference somewhat by seeing here xres Patr. 
 the Doctors of the Church, by whom Christ is borne, 
 as in a litter, in their preaching. Their silver pillars 
 are the words of the Lord, their golden slope the 
 calmness of a peaceful mind, the purple ascent that 
 Heavenly Country where Christ robes the victor in 
 kingly raiment. And such a litter was Saint Paul, Theodoret. 
 that stately cedar cast to the ground and broken by Ghisierius. 
 God, silver in his preaching of Christ, golden in his 
 constancy and meekness, purple in his sufferings and 
 martyrdom. Taking the true sense of D^IDi merlcah, 
 
136 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [III. 9, 10. 
 
 to be seat, and not ascent, as the Vulgate, nor covering, 
 or ctirtain, as A.V., Syriac, and Arabic, we get tne 
 meaning that for all the Saints, as for Christ Himself, 
 the Passion is the only road to the throne of glory. 
 That seat is covered with purple, and with no other 
 tint. And then you may take the Saints of God to be 
 that central pavement, costly stones now laid low on 
 the ground, in the humiliation of the Church Militant, 
 Zech. i.\.i6. but soon, in the Church Triumphant, to be " as the 
 stones of a crown, lifted up as an ensign upon His land." 
 The most glorious Virgin, too, is aptly called the litter, 
 that is, the throne or royal seat of Solomon, the Sa- 
 viouE. He made it of the wood of Lebanon, holy and 
 uncorrupt in body and soul. He gave it silver pillars, 
 those seven pillars of the gifts of the Holy Ghost 
 which support the House wherein Eternal Wisdom 
 dwells. So S. Peter Damiani : 
 
 Cocceius. 
 
 S. Epiphan. 
 
 Hugo Card. 
 Dion. Carth 
 Cantacu- 
 zeue. 
 
 The Hymn, 
 
 Gaudium 
 
 mundi. 
 
 The Hymn, 
 Gaude Virgo 
 principalis. 
 
 2 Sam. xviii, 
 S3. 
 
 J . Beau- 
 mont, 
 Psyche, 
 xiii. 343. 
 
 Aula coelestis speciosa Regis, 
 Fulta septenis sophiae columnis, 
 Quern totus nequit cohibere mundus 
 Claudis in alvo. 
 
 Beaiitiful palace of the King of Heaven, 
 Reared on the pillars sevenfold of Wisdom, 
 Him AVhom the whole world faileth to encompass, 
 Thou art enshi'ining. 
 
 The golden slope was that most ardent love which pre- 
 pared her for the Conception of her Divine Son ; or, 
 as another hymn will have it, that holy breast on which 
 the Infant Savioue lay reclined : 
 
 Gaude sacrum pectus aui-eum 
 Vere reclinatorium 
 Salomonis. 
 
 Joy, sacred golden breast, 
 Truest Pillow, where in rest 
 Solomon is lying. 
 
 And the purple ascent was her sorrowful union in the 
 Passion of Jesus, wherein she was more than Martyr, 
 crying, like her royal forefather, " O my Son, would 
 God I had died for Thee, my Sou, my Son." 
 
 Heavenly Mother, never agony 
 
 Was more heroic than was this of thine ; 
 
 Excepting that of thy great Son, when He 
 
 His humble patience did prove divine. 
 
 Fitting it was that thou shouldst tread alone 
 The hardest steps of glory next thy Son. 
 
III. 9, 10.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 137 
 
 Also her heart, in the midst of her body, was strewed Hugo Card, 
 with tender love for all weak and suiferinsf souls, daugh- 
 ters of Jerusalem, but in Babylonian exile below. Car- 
 dinal Hugo bids us note the contrast between the chariot 
 of Pharaoh, touching earth always, and borne along with 
 rattling speed, and the silent litter of Solomon, raised 
 far from the ground, proceeding noiselessly, types of 
 the carnal and holy soul. There is another explana- Ricard.vict. 
 tion given of this passage by more tlian one author of s.^Beniard. 
 mark, by mistaking the force of the YwX^diieferculum, de Grad. 
 which is often used in classical Latin to denote a Hum. 
 dinner-tray or a dish of meat. This dish is, one tells 
 us. Holy Writ. The woodwork of its frame are the 
 inspired Seers and Apostles and Evangelists, cedars of 
 Lebanon, who have composed its several books. The 
 silver is the outer form of their words ; the gold the 
 inner sense ; the purple is the royal cloth of Christ's 
 Passion which covers the whole, and on which the food 
 is served up. That food is mingled of rare and costly 
 ingredients, peace, patience, long-suffering, joy in the 
 Holy Ghost, and the like, and the name of the dainty 
 so compounded is Love. 
 
 The midst thereof being paved toith love for the 
 daughters of Jerusalem. The extreme difficulty of this 
 passage calls for separate consideration, rather than 
 -for treatment with the remainder of the verse. First, 
 t>en, let us look at the various renderings of import- 
 ai ce. The LXX. has [He made] a stone pavement 
 tvithin it, love from (dnrb) the daughters of Jerusalem. 
 The Vulgate, He spread (or, carpeted, constravit) the 
 midst of it with love because of the daughters of Jeru- 
 salem. The Arabic reading is, And the interior of it 
 incrusted ivith jewels, and that for the daughters of 
 Jerusalem. Some of the older critics translate, The 
 midst of it kindled with love for, &c. ; the later 
 ones. The midst of it beautifully covered (sc. with ta- 
 pestry) by the daughters of Jerusalem. The general 
 meaning is plain, that the very innermost core of the 
 Church's being is not purity, nor beauty, nor preach- 
 ing, nor even the Passion itself; but the love of Christ 
 for us, and our love for Him. And now let us see g ^ 
 what they tell us, obscure though most of their com- Nyssen. 
 ments be. S. Gregory Nyssen holds that dedicated 
 virginity, the special offering of the daughters of Jeru- 
 salem to the Bridegroom, is set, as a tesselation of 
 jewels, in the midst of the Church. Others say that Tres Patr. 
 
138 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [III. 9, 10. 
 
 S. John xix 
 13. 
 
 Cassiodor 
 Beda. 
 
 S. Greg. M. 
 
 Cheist makes, with His example and teaching, a tes- 
 selation, wliich is love, in the hearts of the faithful, 
 beginning with His work in the souls of His first He- 
 brew converts, here called Daughters of Jerusalem. 
 And the LXX. version, XiQ6(TTpwTQv, pavement, applied 
 here to the love on which the throne of our righteous 
 Judge is reared, recalls that other Pavement of earthly- 
 power, the Gabbatha where the unjust judge Pilate set 
 his tribunal. Turning to the Vulgate reading, we find 
 the common explanation to be that Christ fills the 
 hearts of His faithful people with love for Him, in 
 return for the love which made Him lay down His 
 life for us. And on this S. Gregory the Great remarks, 
 " What shall we do, who have no merit, who see that 
 we have no place amongst the Doctors, or amongst the 
 Martyrs ? It follows : He spread the midst of it loith 
 love. Let us then have love, wherewith the midst of 
 Ps. cxix. 96. this litter is spread, which is therefore called a ' com- 
 mandment exceeding broad,' because it procures eternal 
 salvation for all who observe it. Let us hold effec- 
 tually to this, and we shall be saved by it, and that 
 because of the daughters of Jerusalem, for simple souls, 
 knowing themselves to have no strength ; which, the 
 more conscious they are of their own weakness, the 
 more eagerly desire to love their Saviour and Re- 
 deemer. " Another tells us that there are many ac- 
 tions of our lives which are middling, neither very bad 
 nor very good in themselves, but which, if done in a 
 loving spirit, become part of the ornaments of Christ's 
 own car. Aponius gives two lovely meanings here. 
 Love was the mean, the mid part of union between 
 the Godhead and Manhood of Christ, between God 
 and Man [through Christ. And He spread the 
 midst of the Cross with love by hastening the time 
 of His Eesurrection for the elect's sake, keeping the 
 letter of the prophecy of His three days' sojourn in 
 the grave, but rising in little more than thirty hours 
 from the Nones of Good Friday. This, he says, is 
 that love put under our feet, which " beareth all 
 things," and though trodden, yields not, but by the 
 example of its holiness, uplifts the fallen. The Abbat 
 Gillebert, preaching to Cistercian nuns, explains the 
 whole verse of the Eeligious Life. He bids them re- 
 member first, how Christ provides delights for them 
 even on the journey, and next that, precious as the 
 litter is for its material, it is yet dearer for its Maker's 
 
 Dion. Carth. 
 
 Aponius. 
 
 1 Cor. xiii. 7. 
 
 Gillebert. 
 
III. 9, 10.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 139 
 
 sake. It is but the vehicle to the bridal bed, and if 
 the Bride be carried on her way with such royal pomp, 
 what will her reception in the King's own palace be ? 
 Here, in the toil of earth. He gives His Bride a golden 
 reclining-place to rest her weary frame, what then 
 must be the glory and the utter tranquillity of Heaven ? 
 Virginity is the ivood of Lebanon, incorrupt, perennial, 
 fragrant, from the Mount of whiteness. The pillars 
 of the claustral life are knowledge and memory of the 
 divine law, faith and steadfastness. They are silver 
 pillars if trained in holy discourse, if not only at the 
 seven Hours of prayer Religious sing and make me- 
 lody in their hearts, but if their tongues speak often 
 of Christ in the words of Holy Writ. Let your 
 tongues, he says, be silver. Let no mass of lead be 
 cast into your mouth. That mouth is leaden which 
 utters nothing refined, nothing keen, nothing of hea- 
 venly things ; but is altogether relaxed, feeble, busy 
 with the meanest and, perchance, the most ungodly 
 things. For wickedness sitteth in the talent of lead. ^^^^- ^- 7- 
 The third grade, after purity of body and gravity of 
 speech, is the golden slope, where the unveiled Face 
 of the LoED is seen in kingly and golden majesty, and 
 this is a purified and bridled spirit. No need now to 
 cite that saying of the Gospel, " The Son of Man hath 
 not where to lay His head." Seest Thou not, O Lord 53. 
 Jesu, how many resting-places Thou hast here ? No- 
 where does Thy majestic Head more gladly lie than 
 on the golden bosom of virginity. Behold these virgin 
 breasts, breasts free for Thee. Here Thou reposest 
 oft, and restest at noon, in the golden stillness of Thy 
 radiance. Foxes have here no holes, nor do the birds 
 of the air make here their nests. These things are 
 hidden from the wise and prudent, and revealed unto 
 babes, who follow the lowly ascent, the purple ascent, 
 and advance in the traces of the Passion of Christ. 
 Then come the purple steps. If thou scornest, or 
 fearest these steps, remember that they are purple. 
 Lowliness accepted for Christ, bestows royal dignity. 
 Tread then. Bride of Christ, these purple steps with 
 innocent foot. The path whereon thy Beloved first 
 advanced is noble. How beautiful are those purple 
 steps, which Christ first marked out with His snowy 
 feet, with the track of His precious Blood ! Follow 
 then with eager zeal. Loose the fleshly shoe from ofi" 
 thy feet, for this is holy ground where thou essay est 
 
 S. Luke ix. 
 
140 A COMMENTARY ON [HI. 11. 
 
 to go up. Tread in these steps with bare and rapid 
 foot, that it may be dipped in the Blood of Christ. 
 And not thy foot alone, but dip thou thy hands and 
 thy head too, that thou mayst go up altogether purple, 
 altogether royal, and ennobled with the Passion of 
 Cheist. And there is something more. The gold 
 and purple would be dull and cold without love, and 
 there/ore, while coveting earnestly the best gifts, seek 
 the more excellent way. That is, Love in the midst 
 for the daughters of Jerusalem, the sisterly bond of the 
 cloister, the banishment of all spiritual envy, the desire 
 for mutual help, encouragement, affection, which train 
 the soul in that love which casteth out fear, so that 
 Cheist is to it the source of gladness, and not of 
 dread. This is the wedding-garment which even a 
 priest must wear, and how much more the Bride ! 
 
 11 Go forth, O ye daughters of Zion, and 
 behold king Solomon with the crown where- 
 with his mother crowned him in the day of his 
 espousals, and in the day of the gladness of his 
 heart. 
 
 The daughters of Sion are the same as the daughters 
 of Jerusalem, children of the Church, holy souls, citi- 
 zens of that city on high who with the angels enjoy 
 perpetual peace, and by contemplation behold the 
 glory of God. Go forth, the Bride says, O ye daugh- 
 ters of Sion, that is, pass out from the troublous con- 
 versation of this world, that you may with unburdened 
 soul look on Him Whom ye love. And behold Xing 
 Solomon, that is, Cheist, the truly Peaceful One, tvith 
 the crown ivhereicith His Mother crowned Him. As 
 though she said : Consider Cheist, clothed for you in 
 flesh, wliich flesh He took from the flesh of His Virgin 
 Mother. For she calls that flesh which Cheist as- 
 sumed for us a crotvn, wherein dying He destroyed 
 the empire of death, in M'hich rising again He be- 
 stowed on us the hope of Resurrection. Of this crown 
 Heb. ii. 9. the Apostle saith : "We see Jesus, by tlie suffering 
 of death, crowned with glory and honour." And His 
 Mother is said to have croioned Him, because the 
 Virgin Mary gave Him the substance of His flesh 
 from her own. In the day of His espousals. That is, 
 in the time of His Incarnation, when He united the 
 
 Cassiodor. 
 
III. 11.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 141 
 
 Church to Himself, not having spot or wrinkle, or 
 when God was united to Man. And in the day of 
 the gladness of His heart. For the joy and gladness 
 of Christ is the salvation and redemption of mankind, 
 according to His own saying in the Gospel when He 
 saw many flocking to the Faith. " At that time Jesus s. Mat. xi. 
 answered and said, I thank Thee, O Father, Lord 25. 
 of Heaven and earth, because Thou hast hid these 
 things from the wise and prudent, and revealed them 
 unto babes." And in the Gospel parable, when the 
 sheep was found. He gathered His friends together, g. Luke xv. 
 saying, " Rejoice with Me." S. Gregory the Great, 6- 
 giving exactly the same explanation, notices the ob- 
 jection that a crown is the mark of glory and honour, 
 whereas the Incarnation of Christ was His humilia- 
 tion. And he replies by saying that the crown and s. Greg. m. 
 glory are ours, because He is our Head, and that 
 which was His humbling is our boast, and pride, and 
 exaltation. 
 
 Next, to cite Cassiodorus again, all this verse may Cassiod. 
 simply and literally be referred to the Passion of 
 Christ. For Solomon foreseeing in the spirit that 
 Passion, warned long before the daughters of Sion, 
 that is, the people of Israel, saying. Go forth, and be- 
 hold King Solomon, that is, Christ, with the croivn, 
 the wreath of thorns, tvherewith Sis mother the Syna- 
 gogue crowned Sim in the day of Sis espousals, that 
 is, when He wedded the Church to Himself, and in 
 the day of the gladness of Sis heart, when He rejoiced 
 that the world was redeemed by His Passion out of 
 the power of the devil. Go forth, then, that is, pass 
 out from the shades of unbelief, and behold, that is, 
 understand in soul, that He Who suffers as Man, is 
 Very God : or even go forth beyond the gates of your 
 city, that ye may see Him crucified on Mount Gol- 
 gotha. And in this sense more than one hymn takes 
 it, as thus : 
 
 Daughters of Sion see your King ! IS^v^E 
 
 Go forth, go forth, to meet Hun ! j^^ 
 
 Your Solomon is hastening 
 
 Where that dear tiock shall greet Him ! 
 
 The sceptre and the crown by right 
 
 He wears, in robe of purple dight. 
 
 It glitters fair, His diadem, 
 But thorns are there entwining, 
 
Eusebius. 
 Gen. xii. 1 . 
 
 Hugo Card. 
 Ricard. Vict. 
 
 Isa. Ixii. 3. 
 
 S. Ambros. 
 in Ps. cxix. 
 S. Greg. 
 Nyss. 
 Theodoret. 
 Hugo Vict. 
 Erud. Theol. 
 
 142 A COMMENTARY ON [HI. 11. 
 
 And from the Red Sea comes each gem 
 
 That in its wreath is shining : 
 Their radiance glows like stars at night, 
 With precious blood-drops are they bright. 
 
 Go fortli from fleshly tliouglits, and behold the crown of 
 living stones which is the Church itself, set on the head 
 of Cheist by love. Like Abraham, " Get thee out of 
 thy couDtry, and from thy kindred, and from thy fa- 
 ther's house, unto a Land that I will show thee." 
 Others take the days of the espousals and gladness to 
 be different, and expound the latter of the Eesurrec- 
 tion or the Ascension. Go forth, O ye daughters of 
 Sion, from carnal desire, from evil habits, from blind- 
 ness of heart, and behold the Glory of our King, the 
 bliss of His celestial gladness, that ye may be drawn 
 on by its sweetness and delight, and advance so far, 
 as to go forth from your very selves. When ye suffer 
 adversities, go forth from your imperfection and im- 
 patience, so as to bear readily the sorrows laid upon 
 you, and behold your King suffering for you, and by 
 His Passion crowned with glory and honour. Think 
 on that which is eternal, and cheerfully bear that which 
 is momentary ; think on the exceeding weight of glory, 
 and then the affliction will be light, which is accom- 
 panied by so great a reward. When ye suffer, look 
 upon that crown, and it will become a diadem for you, 
 wherewith you shall be crowned in the day of festival 
 when you go forth from the body, or when ye pass 
 from the bridal of the Church Militant to the bridal 
 of the Church Triumphant. Therefore, O ye daugh- 
 ters of Sion, O ye wise Virgins, get your lamps ready, 
 prepare the oil of good works, and the flame of love, 
 and so go forth to meet the Bridegroom and the Bride. 
 Then shall ye be " a crown of glory in the hand of the 
 LoED, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God." 
 And thus comes His last bridal crown, that glorious 
 diadem made up of Saints, living jewels, set in purest 
 gold, which the Church still places on the head of 
 Jesus at the marriage- supper of the Lamb, more per- 
 fect than the crown of Love which Judea, unawares, 
 gave Him in His martyrdom, or than that of righteous- 
 ness, gemmed with joy, love, fear, and sorrow, which 
 Mary placed upon the brow of her Son. 
 
IV. i.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 143 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 1 Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, 
 thou art fair ; thou hast doves' eyes within thy 
 locks : thy hair is as a flock of goats, that ap- 
 pear from mount Gilead. 
 
 The Bridegroom here begins the praise of His Bride's 
 beauty, and, as has been aptly observed, not like the 
 maidens in Ps. xlv., by dwelling on the richness ofQ^j.^^ ^^ 
 her attire, but on the graces of her person. And 
 thus the mystical import is the enumeration of those 
 special tokens of perfection and holiness which are 
 to be sought in every pure Church and every faithful 
 soul. 
 
 Doubly fair is she, in faith and in works ; doubly phUo carp. 
 fair in body and soul, in knowledge of God and know- s. Just. Org. 
 ledge of herself; fair in passive abstention from evil, Hugo Card, 
 fair in active performance of good. Fair in that con- 
 templation of divine glory which is claritas; fair in ^io"- Carth. 
 that zeal for God's honour, the good of her neighbour, 
 and her own humiliation, which is charitas. Pair by 
 nature, fair in grace, fair in the practice of holiness, 
 fair in preaching the Word. And the doves' eyes de- 
 note, as we saw before, purity, simplicity, the enlight- 
 enment of the Holt Ghost, steadfast contemplation 
 of things divine. But now comes a difficulty. The 
 A.V. adds loitJiin thy lochs, or tresses arranged over 
 the face, which is also the view of Kimchi. And if R- Kimchi. 
 we take this rendering, we shall find its mystical sense ^grg^^*^"" 
 by noting that loosened and uncovered hair was a token Ainsworth. 
 of mourning and captivity. But the Bride, freed by ^^^- ^^^'"- 2- 
 her Spouse from the dominion of sin, has her tresses 
 orderly disposed and bound, in token of peace and of 
 subjection to Him. Her calm, pure eyes are in keep- 
 ing with the rest of her external mien, and look liappily 
 and peacefully on Him. But this is not the interpre- 
 tation given by the old versions, nor yet that of several 
 modern critics. The literal sense of "^HZS^/ Ty3P 
 m'lhhaad letzammatheh, seems to be out from withm 
 thy binding, or, restraint, from, the root D^V, tzamam. 
 
144 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [IV. 1. 
 
 S. Ambros. 
 in Ps. cxix. 
 Serm. xvi. 
 
 De Imit. 
 Christi, 
 19. 
 
 Tres Patr. 
 
 Philo Carp. 
 
 Tennyson, 
 In Memo- 
 riam, xxxii. 
 Heb. xiii. 20. 
 
 " he tied up ;" and the LXX. translate, tvifJiout [mak- 
 ing mention of] thy silence ; while the Arabic, a little 
 more full, is besides the beauty of thy silence. That is, 
 as they variously explain, devout silence is an addi- 
 tional grace, which increases the beauty of holiness. 
 It is said of the holy soul, remarks S. Ambrose, Thou 
 hast doves' eyes, besides thy silence, because she sees 
 spiritually, and also knows the time to speak and the 
 time to be silent, that she may utter her discourse in 
 due season, and not incur the risk of sinning by im- 
 portunate speech. I would, says Thomas a Kempis, 
 that I had oftener been silent, and not been in com- 
 pany. Why are we so ready to speak and talk with 
 one another, when we so rarely return to silence with- 
 out some wound on our conscience ? And again : No 
 man speaks safely, unless he who is silent gladly. The 
 Three Fathers go deeper than this, and explain the 
 phrase of the silent and hidden meditation of thfe soul 
 on those divine mysteries which are unspeakable, but 
 which she beholds with her dove-like eyes. And Philo 
 takes us yet further, reminding us of that secret 
 and unspoken praj^er which goes up from every soul 
 which is rapt in contemplation and kindled with long- 
 ing after God. And of every such soul may be said 
 in the words of a modern poet, but with deeper mean- 
 ing : 
 
 Her e5es are homes of silent prayer, 
 Nor other thought her mind admits 
 But, He was dead, and there He sits, 
 
 And He that brought Him back is there. 
 
 The Vulgate, however, is quite different. It reads, 
 without that ichich lies hid withiii. That is, without 
 the glory of that heavenly reward which thou shalt 
 
 Cassiodor. receive at the end of the world ; which lies hid within, 
 though thou contemplatest it now by faith ; for it can- 
 not be seen in this world, but shall be perfected in that 
 which is to come. It is a noble and beautiful thing, 
 
 s. Greg. M. observes another, to dwell in simplicity amongst men, 
 to feel no wish for any of those temporal things which 
 she sees before her eyes. But it is far nobler and 
 more beautiful that she is striving to keep her heart's 
 desire unspotted, and that she shares in her soul the 
 glory of everlasting bliss. The outer beauty of the 
 
 Ricard.vict. soul may be seen, comments Hichard of S. Victor, by 
 moderation in food and dress, by rejection of super- 
 
IV. 1.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 145 
 
 fluities, by repose in demeanour and language, by 
 friendliness, courtesy, harmlessness, honesty, sympa- 
 thy, and helpfulness ; by a cheerful face, ears which 
 do not itch, eyes not boldly lifted nor prying, an in- 
 structed tongue, checked from light and useless talk, 
 uttering good and wholesome words. Further orna- 
 ments are freedom from anger, impatience, and spite ; 
 aversion from quarrels, detraction, or judgment of 
 others, and even from listening to those so engaged. 
 The soul is fair also when fervent in good works, in 
 God's service, in brotherly love : when active, zealous, 
 and discreet in all her doings. Yet there is an inner 
 beauty which surpasses all this ; which is purity of in- 
 tention, lowliness of mind, and that spirit which ever 
 prompts her to do great things and yet look down upon 
 herself, that perfect humility which walks hand in 
 hand with the love of Cheist. But the true meaning R. Jona. 
 of the passage appears to be, TMne eyes are like doves' Rosenmui- 
 eyes, from behind thy veil. The very word which is Hitzig. 
 translated silence here by the LXX., is rendered by 
 them veil in Isaiah xlvii. 2, where the A. V. again 
 reads " locks." The veil may be, as many will have 
 it, that of the Bride's flowing tresses, but it seems iCor. xi. 15. 
 better to take it of that covering which maidens put 
 on when in the presence of their betrothed husbands, 
 as did Eebecca : "AYhatman is this that walketh in Gen.xxiv. 
 the field to meet us ? And the servant said. It is my ^^• 
 master ; therefore she took a veil, and covered herself." 
 The wearing of the veil, then, denotes not merely that 
 modesty and reserve which TertuUian urges as the De Veiand. 
 fittest graces of Christian maidens, but is a token of Virgm. 
 the Spouse's submission to her Bridegroom, and fur- Cocceius, 
 ther implies the duty of keeping herself for and to 
 Him alone, because " He is to thee a covering of the Qen. xx. 16. 
 eyes, unto all that are with thee, and with all other." 
 Not unfitly, then, shall we see here a special reference 
 to the delight of Christ in the purity of the Religious 
 Life, the doves' eyes behind that veil which conse- „ . , 
 crated Virgins have worn since the infancy of the ^^ L^g. 
 Church. And thus runs the ancient English form for virg. 
 bestowal of this veil at the profession of a nun : " Re- 
 ceive, Virgin of Christ, the veil, a token of virginity Pontif. 
 and chastity, whereby may the Holy Ghost come ^-''°"- 
 upon thee, and the power of ths Highest overshadow 
 thee against the heat of evil temptations, through the 
 help of the same our Lord Jesus Christ." And the 
 
 L 
 
146 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [IV. 1. 
 
 S. Ambros. 
 S. Just. Org, 
 
 S. Greg. 
 
 S. Ambros. 
 Horn. 16, in 
 Ps. cxix. 
 
 response was from the office of S. Agnes : " The Lord 
 hath clad me in a robe wrought with gold, and hath 
 decked me with priceless jewels." 
 
 Thy hair is as a jioch of goats. As the eyes of the 
 Church are sometimes taken to denote her greatest 
 teachers, Prophets, Apostles, and Doctors, who give 
 light to the rest of the body, so too the hair, close to 
 the head, and its most comely ornament, is explained 
 of those more perfect members of the Church who are 
 nearest to Cheist their Head. And as hair in itself 
 is insensible and dead, so too those who have come 
 nearest to Cheist by following His counsels of perfec- 
 tion, and by adopting the Religious Life, are dead to 
 the world and its desires. Moreover, the Saints are 
 compared to a Jloch of goats, because of their love for 
 ascending to lofty heights. " Let not these animals 
 seem vile to thee," observes a Saint ; " thou seest that 
 this flock feeds in lofty places, to wit, on a mount. 
 Therefore, where there are precipices for others, there 
 is no peril for the goats ; there is the food of this flock, 
 there their provender is sweeter, their pasture choicer. 
 They are seen by their herdsmen, hanging from the 
 wooded cliff", where can be no attacks by wolves, where 
 the fruitful trees minister abundant produce. There 
 they may be seen bending anxiously with milk-laden 
 udders over their tender young : and therefore the 
 Spieit chose them as a comparison for the assembly of 
 Holy Church. And, that you may hear the mystical 
 import, the hair denotes the exaltation of the Woed, 
 and a certain loftiness of righteous souls, because the 
 understanding of a wise man is in his head. For wis- 
 dom, no doubt, lies in the exaltation of human thought. 
 And whereas goats are shorn that they may cast off" 
 their superfluous covering, so too Holy Church has 
 her flock of shorn souls, that is, the virtues of many 
 such souls, in which flock you can find nothing insen- 
 sible, nothing superfluous ; because faith hath made 
 them wise, and spiritual grace hath purged them from 
 all taint of superfluity. Fitly then are the souls of 
 the righteous revealed (LXX.,) and revealed from 
 Mount Gilead, that is, from the ' passing over of wit- 
 ness,' because the Heavenly Witness hath passed from 
 the Synagogue to the Church. In this mountain 
 spring frankincense, balm, and other perfumes. These 
 perfumes, which merchants, gathered by faith and de- 
 votion from the Gentiles, have brought, the Church 
 
IV. 1.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 147 
 
 possesses." And similarly another Western Doctor § Q^gg ^^^ 
 comments : " Tlie hair of the Bride is said to be as a ' 
 flock of goats, because the peoples of the Church, while 
 chewing the cud of the Law's commandments, con- 
 template heavenly things in faith, are clean animals, 
 and feed on high. And Gilead is interpreted, ' The 
 heap of witness,' denoting the Martyrs, who, holding 
 steadfastly to the faith of Cheist, maintained the wit- 
 ness of the truth even by their death. Thus the 
 flock of goats ascends (Vulg.) from Mount Gilead, be- 
 cause the people of the Church go up with readier 
 faith towards eternal things according as they know 
 that the holy Martyrs have more boldly borne witness 
 to that same faith." A Greek Father bids us extend P^iio Carp, 
 the meaning of Gilead further, so as to include all the 
 Prophets and Apostles who, by word and deed, have 
 borne faithful witness to Cheist. 
 
 A second view of the passage, looking rather to the 
 multitude of hairs in the tresses of the Bride than to 
 their height from the ground, sees denoted here the 
 whole body of professing Christians, rather than the 
 more eminent Saints. !For thus saith the Apostle, " If ^^^^^ ^^^p- 
 a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her, for her i Cor. xi.i5. 
 hair is given her for a covering." Wherefore the hairs 
 of the Bride of Cheist are assemblies, gatherings, and 
 congregations of peoples who worship the One God, 
 the true ornament of the Bride herself, and the joy of 
 jEsrs Cheist, Who is the Head of the Bride and the 
 Creator and Redeemer of all mankind, according to 
 that saying of the Prophet, " As I live, saith the Loed, j^^ ^^ jg_ 
 thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, as with an ' ' ' 
 ornament, and bind them on thee, as a bride doth." 
 And then they are called a flock of ffoats, because the xheodoret. 
 bulk of the Church is made up of converted sinners, 
 who feed on Mount Gilead to obtain there wholesome 
 herbs which may cure all the disorders of sin. Or 
 again, the whole body of the laity is implied, as busied ^^^^* 
 in worldly cares and occupations, with which sin is, for 
 the most part, mixed up. Cheist Himself is the Heap 
 of Witness on which the multitude of the faithful rests, 
 themselves living stones, clinging to that True Stone, 
 of which Peter saith, " To Whom coming, as unto a i s. Pet. 
 living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of "-4. 
 Got), and precious, ye also, as lively stones, are built 
 up." Therefore the flocks of goats go up from Mount 
 Gilead, because the multitudes of the Saints ascend to 
 l2 
 
148 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [lY. 2. 
 
 Theodoret. 
 
 Aponius. 
 
 Tres Patr. 
 
 Cassiod. 
 
 Ricard. Vict. 
 
 Ps.lxviii. 15, 
 LXX. and 
 Vulgr. 
 
 the heights of holiness, and aim to follow Cheist's 
 teaching and commandments in all things. 
 
 Again, as the hair is a superfluity of the body, life- 
 less, and not essential to life, it may be taken to denote 
 all those purely human cares and occupations in which 
 the Church cannot help being engaged, which are no 
 help to her spiritual life, but in which she can so de- 
 mean herself as to make them a grace and beauty, and 
 a proof of loftiness of soul. And somewhat in this 
 sense Aponius takes the phrase to denote wealthy 
 Christians, surrounded by luxury, and not self-denying 
 enough to adopt Apostolic simplicity of living, but 
 yet useful and ornamental to the Church by reason of 
 their faith and almsdeeds. 
 
 Yet another explanation is that which sees in the 
 hair, springing out of the head, a type of the holy 
 thoughts and words of the devout soul, dead to the 
 world and the flesh, and brought out of the darkness 
 of sin, ignorance, and ungodliness, to truth, knowledge, 
 and piety, by means of the Gospel, revealed from 
 Mount Gilead, the invisible hill of Divine testimony. 
 The thoughts of the Saints are like goats, because they 
 never rest from climbing higher and higher even in 
 those very temporal things to which bodily necessity 
 compels their attention. They go up from Mount 
 Gilead which is Cheist, that Mount of God, that fat 
 mountain, where are the richest pastures, because 
 every holy meditation comes from Him as its true 
 source. He nourishes them in our hearts, makes them 
 arise, and ascend, and that by the way of prayer. 
 
 2 Thy teeth are like a flock of sheep that are 
 even shorn, which came up from the washing; 
 
 whereof every one 
 barren among them. 
 
 Targtim. 
 
 S. Greg. 
 
 Nyss. 
 
 S. Greg. M. 
 
 Cassiodor. 
 
 bear twins, and none is 
 
 The Targum, while explaining the hair, as many 
 Christian expositors do, to be the whole congregation 
 of God's people, takes the teeth to denote the Priests, 
 who eat of the hallowed flesh, tithes, and first-fruits, 
 who are white, and pure from violence and rapine. 
 And the general scope of patristic comment is nearly 
 the same. Thus S. Gregory JSTyssen, followed by many 
 others, inclusive of S. Augustine, explains these teeth 
 to be the Doctors of the Church, who grind, as it were. 
 
IV. 2.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 149 
 
 the hard sayings and dogmas of the Faith down so as 
 to fit them for reception by the body of Christians j 
 and who are themselves, as it were, shorn, that is, bare 
 of all clogging matter, come up from the washing of 
 conscience, clean from all pollution of the flesh and 
 spirit, and advancing ever in holiness, hearing, as twins, 
 calmness of soul, and purity of bodily life, and never 
 barren in producing virtues. S. Augustine's comment De poet, 
 is nearly the same, except that he refers also to the xxTe. ^^"* 
 teachers of the Church cutting away their converts 
 from their former superstitions, as the teeth separate 
 a piece of food from the whole bulk, that he takes the 
 washing to denote Holy Baptism, and the twins to be 
 the love of God, and of one's neighbour. And the 
 upper and lower rows of teeth wherewith this work of 
 incorporating sinners into the body of the Church is 
 effected, are, says Aponius, the books of the Old and Aponius. 
 New Testament. The righteous preachers of the 
 Church, comments S. Albert, who are the teeth whereby s. Alb. m. 
 men are incorporated into her body, should not decay ^"^ ^^- *"• '^' 
 through luxury, but be white with innocence, joined 
 in charity, even in justice, firm in constancy, bony in 
 vigour, biting into sin with doctrine and truth. Of 
 such is written, " Thy teeth are as a flock of sheep that 
 are even shorn, which come up from the washing." 
 S. Bernard accommodates the metaphor of teeth with s. Bernard, 
 much boldness and ingenuity to the Eeligious life, ^f^^^fg*. 
 As the teeth are whiter than the rest of the white 
 body, so Religious are the purest members of the 
 Church, because of their more self-denying and devout 
 life. Teeth have no flesh, like other bones ; and Ee- 
 ligious, while in the flesh, have forgotten it, hearing the 
 Apostle say, " Ye are not in the flesh, but in the spirit." Rom. viii. 9. 
 They have no skin ; and so true monks do not suffer 
 even a trifling scandal or obstacle to abide amongst 
 them. They are cloistered by the lips, as Eeligious 
 are by the walls of their convent. They should not be 
 seen, save in occasional mirth, and so Eeligious ought 
 only to appear when intending to do some deed of 
 charity, which will bring a smile of cheerfulness to 
 the sad. They have to masticate food for the whole 
 body, and Eeligious are bound to pray for the whole 
 estate of the Church, both for the living and dead. 
 The teeth taste no savour from the dainties they chew, 
 and so, true Eeligious take no glory to themselves for 
 any good thing they effect. Teeth do not easily con- 
 
150 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [IV. 3. 
 
 Ric. Vict. 
 
 Theodoret. 
 S. Bernard. 
 
 S. Epipha- 
 nius. 
 
 Theodoret. 
 Josh. ii. 8. 
 
 sume away, and perseverance is a quality of the cloistered 
 life. They are ranked in fixed and even order, and no- 
 where is there so much orderliness of rule and life as in 
 the convent. They are upper and lower, as monasteries 
 have their dignitaries and ordinary members, united in 
 harmonious toil. And even when the lower ones are 
 moved, the upper remain still, denoting the calmness 
 with which Superiors should rule, even when there are 
 disturbances in the lower ranks of their community. 
 
 Again ; the teeth are explained to denote the ope- 
 rations of the soul, whereby it gradually assimilates 
 divine truth, or discerns the spirits, to ascertain 
 whether they be good or evil. While the devout 
 mind ponders and discusses all matters, notes the Prior 
 of S. Victor, it does as it were crush and grind them 
 with the teeth of discernment. These are the teeth of 
 the Bride, which are likened to flocks of shorn sheep, 
 for the shearings are innocent meditations, which cut 
 away outer things, that is, the love of earth, and the 
 desire of possessing worldly wisdom. Shorn in this 
 wise, they more readily take hold of spiritual things 
 and discern them. They come up from the washing, 
 to wit, that of compunction and penitential tears. 
 They are even, not because every Christian is equally 
 given to practising every virtue alike, but because 
 all virtues spring from one common source, which is 
 charity, so that each merit that can be observed is this 
 same charity under one form or other. They produce 
 twins, as one tells us, because they develop both con- 
 templation and action ; or, as another will have it, be- 
 cause they teach others by precept and example. 
 
 3 Thy lips are like a thread of scarlet, and 
 thy speech is comely : thy temples are like a 
 piece of a pomegranate within thy locks. 
 
 By the thread of scarlet He reminds the Bride of 
 Rahab, the harlot, who was a type of her in the Old 
 Testament. The Bridegroom beholds this sign in the 
 mouth of the Bride, as in a window, and saith, Thi/ 
 lips are like a thread of scarlet, and thy speech is comely ^ 
 for it hath received its tint from My Blood, and brings 
 forth the words of truth, wherewith the hearers are 
 caught and bound, as with a cordj for thy comely 
 speech soothes, and persuades them, nor suffers them 
 to depart, but compels them to abide by thy lips. The 
 
IV. 3.] 
 
 THE SONG OF SONGS. 151 
 
 scarlet colour denotes preaching of the Passion, but Cassiod. 
 the thread is love. Scarlet is also the colour of fire, 
 and thus the words denote that ardent preaching of the Beda. 
 Apostles which they derived from the tongues of flame 
 which came down upon them at Pentecost. It denotes s. Ambros. 
 the blood of Martyrs too, as well as that of Christ, and 
 therefore preachers persuade their doubting hearers by 
 the example of those who died for the Faith, showing 
 what must haA^e been the prize for which they so strove. 
 The Latin commentators dwell much on the Yulgate Aponius. 
 word vitta, which means properly Si fillet or head-hand. 
 For the Doctors of the Church, by their eloquent preach- Cassiodor. 
 ing, bind the multitude of the faithful, like the tresses ^^^- ^^<=*- 
 of a head, into one orderly body in the Church. And 
 the holy soul, too, binds and restrains her many 
 thoughts with the discipline of the fear of God. She PseUus. 
 does more, for she practises silence, which the cord on 
 the lips denotes, though she can speak too, when needful, 
 in comely fashion. Therefore the lips of the Bride are ^^^' ^^'^*- 
 not compared to every sort of fillet, but to one of scar- 
 let, which is more precious, because her restraint of 
 her speech is the higher and nobler, since it comes 
 not from human wisdom, nor natural temperament, but 
 from divine love. Thy speech is comely, is pleasant, 
 and edifying, because it springs from charity, and flows 
 out of the fount of grace, for it tastes how sweet the 
 LoED is, and gives out again that sweetness which it 
 experiences, and breathes that fulness which it enjoys. 
 Its words are sweet also, because the conscience is 
 cleansed from the bitterness of sin, and the dregs of 
 fleshliness. And thus they have no savour of rancour, 
 indignation, wrath, envy, or any hurtful thing, but 
 only of kindliness, meekness, patience, humility. 
 
 Thy temples are Wke a piece of pomegranate. The 
 old versions, taking the word Hp^ raJckah in its 
 widest meaning, translate Thy cheeks. And these, as the 
 seat of blushes, resembling the ruddy tint of the pome- Theodoret. 
 granate, denote the modest shamefastness of the Bride, PseUus. 
 and that, as before with her gentle ejes,from within her 
 veil. Therefore this praise denotes the Virgins of the 
 Church, imitators of the ruddy Passion of Christ the ^ ^^j^^g 
 Virgin-born, white, like the grains of that fruit, in §, Greg.* 
 purity, and that in a life as hard and austere as the Nyss. 
 rind of the pomegranate. Some, however, less hap- H'Se^^^'^M. 
 pily, see here as in the preceding verse, a reference to s. Just! Org. 
 preachers of the Word, and others, somewhat better, ^eda. 
 
152 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [IV. 4. 
 
 Ricard.Vict. 
 
 prefer to take it as applying to the Martyrs, reddened 
 with their own life-blood without, and white within, 
 like the Virgins, in their purity. The penitent soul, 
 which blushes for its sins, and guards all the good 
 things it contains with the rind of humility, is lovely 
 in the eyes of God. And it is not said to be like a 
 whole pomegranate, but a piece of one, because as a 
 piece of the fruit partly discloses and partly hides its 
 grains, so the Saints try to hide their virtues so that 
 only God may know them, but cannot altogether con- 
 ceal them from men. When the rind is torn open by 
 adversity, the virtues appear ; patience in peaceful en- 
 durance of wrong, humility in cheerful acceptance of 
 contempt ; obedience, charity, with love of God. A 
 piece, too, because the most suflPering amongst them 
 has never borne the like of Cheist's sorrow. Eupert, 
 who explained the previous verse of the burning love 
 which made the lips of the Blessed Yirgin break out 
 in the Magnificat, so that the words, " i'ull of grace 
 are thy lips," are especially true of her, takes this one 
 to denote the perfection of her modesty, and the yet 
 higher graces that lay hid %oithin. (Vulg.) S. John 
 Chrysostom, dwelling on the LXX. translation, besides 
 thy silence, singularly explains this whole passage of 
 secret almsgiving, doubtless because the pomegranate, 
 embracing many grains in one fold, is typical of 
 charity. 
 
 4 Thy neck is like the tower of David builded 
 for an armoury^ whereon there hang a thou- 
 sand bucklers,, all shields of mighty men. 
 
 They agree, for the most part, in explaining the nech 
 of the Church to denote her Prelates and Doctors, but 
 differ widely in the reasons assigned for this view. 
 The most obvious one, that the prelacy occupies the 
 highest place, under the Head, in the body of the 
 Church, and is the link of union between Christ and 
 the corporate assembly of the faithful, is given by only a 
 few expositors. The other reasons alleged for the simile, 
 are that the neck transmits food to the body, just as 
 preachers are the channel of the Word, and that as the 
 s.Ans Laud, neck is stretched out when we are on the watch against 
 s. Greg. M. enemies, and see them coming from a distance, so the 
 Doctors are the sentinels of the Church, posted on high 
 to keep a look-out against our spiritual foes. They are 
 
 Rupert. 
 
 Ps. xlv 
 
 S. Chrysos. 
 Horn. 8 in 
 S. Mat. 
 
 Cassiodor 
 Aponius. 
 Ric. Vict. 
 
lY. 4.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 153 
 
 like the tower of David, ^rst, by reason of their strength, g^^^^^'^^'^" 
 because they are stablished in Cheist ; next, by reason rjc. vict. 
 of their height, because they soar upward in their aim 
 after heavenly things ; and thirdly, because they are 
 foremost in the brunt of battle. They are no common 
 tower, but David's, for the strength they possess is not 
 their own, but derived from Cheist, of Whom David 
 is but the type. When the tower falls, observes Car- Hugo Card, 
 dinal Hugo, it is not for its own ruin alone, but for 
 that of the entire city ; for if the tower be taken or 
 razed, the whole city is easily stormed. So, when the 
 assembly of the Doctors falls into sin, the city of the 
 Church lies exposed and defenceless before its enemies. 
 That they may be the better guarded against any such 
 peril, it is added, builded for an armoury. Truly so, 
 says Aponius, (taking for the moment the true sense of Apomus. 
 the passage, though following the Vulgate,) for as King 
 David built his tower in the citadel of Sion for his 
 armoury and guard, so the true David, the Woed of 
 the Fatheb, when He ascended into heaven, stored up 
 for us in our Sion, the Church Militant, our true sup- 
 plies and weapons, the strength of our souls. His Cross, 
 His Body, and His Blood. But the Vulgate reading cassiodor. 
 is, builded with its outioorhs {propugnaculis.) And s. Greg-. M. 
 these outworks or bastions are variously interpreted. gP^^^^Laud 
 One explains them of the mysteries of Holy Scripture ; Ric"vict. 
 another, of the gift of miracles ; a third, more happily, 
 takes them to be the examples given us of love, mercy, 
 patience, and other virtues, in the life of Cheist ; and 
 the view that chosen sentences of Scripture are in- 
 tended is maintained by more than one. The LXX. 
 rendering is different. It simply transliterates the 
 Hebrew word for armoury, and reads huilded to Thal- 
 pioth. The Greek Fathers, accordingly, have fallen 
 back on the reading of Aquila, iirdx^^is, which is prac- 
 tically the same as the Vulgate ; or upon that of Sym- 
 machus, which is v^t], heights. The tower of David, 
 observes one of them, to which the holy Doctors are 
 likened, is Cheist, sprung from David according to 
 the flesh. And if any one desire to know the height of 
 that tower, he must not look at it only in its human phiio Carp, 
 building in Mary, the Mother of God, but pray that 
 he may likewise behold it above the heavens, set on 
 the right hand of the Fathee. 
 
 Whereon there hang a thousand bucklers. That f^^^' *^^"- 
 shields were hung in this wise as ornaments on the 
 
154 A COMMENTARY ON [IV. 4. 
 
 outer walls of fortresses, we liave learnt from the bas- 
 reliefs of Nineveh. And a similar custom existed many- 
 ages later, when the sides of the war-galleys of the 
 Norse Sea-kings were adorned in the like manner. 
 
 s. Greg. These bucklers, high in air, are taken by S. Gregory 
 
 yssen. J^ygsen to denote the Angel-guards of the Church, a 
 
 view which he believes enforced by the succeeding 
 
 words, all darts (LXX.) of the mighty ones. And he 
 
 Lxx^^'^' ''' ^^^^^ *^® Psalmist, " The Angel of the Lord shall camp 
 round about them that fear Him, and shall deliver 
 them." A commoner opinion is, that Christian virtues 
 are intended, the fences of the soul against assaults of 
 
 s. Greg. M. sin. These are a thousand in number, to denote uni- 
 
 Ric. Vict, versality and perfection, and they are supplemented by 
 all the armour of the mighty ; every example of holi- 
 ness given us by Saints of old. And we may not un- 
 reasonably assume the blazoning of some device on 
 each such shield, by which its owner may be known, 
 his own especial bearing and motto, as a rallying-point 
 for his followers in the battle. The keys of S. Peter, 
 the sword of S. Paul, the various instruments of tor- 
 ture by which the Martyrs went to their crown, mot- 
 toes such as Humilitas, the chosen badge of S. Carlo 
 Borromeo, and the like, recall the valiant deeds of these 
 captains in God's host to the thoughts of the mere 
 rank and file in that great army, nerving them to 
 
 Aponius. similar daring. But of all the glorious escutcheons 
 hanging on that tower which rises from the valley of 
 weeping up to the Mount of Paradise, there is none 
 like the King's own shield, on which the Cross is 
 blazoned. " Safe under the shelter of that buckler, 
 the Saints fear no darts of the evil spirits, but say, as 
 
 14^ • VI. 7, Pai_il clid with smiling pride, ' Let no man trouble me : 
 for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.' 
 And again ; ' God forbid that I should glory, save in 
 the Cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, by Whom the 
 world is crucified to me, and I unto the world.' These 
 are those true and strongest arms which can keep 
 Christ's soldier unhurt as he fights against the cohorts 
 of the powers of the air, which war daily with the 
 faithful, hurling at them the missiles of sins. But a 
 soldier of this kind is valiant, to whom a glorious life 
 of victory is promised by the Prophet, saying, 'A 
 
 Ps. xci. 7. thousand shall fall beside thee, and ten thousand at 
 thy right hand.' This is the armour wherewith all 
 the world was rescued, with which the Martyrs routed 
 
lY. 4.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 155 
 
 the kings and princes of tlie earth, and all the legions 
 of evil spirits." And so a poet of our own : 
 
 And on his brest a bloodie Crosse he bore, Spenser, 
 
 The deare remembrance of his dpng Lord, Queene i. 
 
 For Whose sweete sake that glorious badge he wore, 1,2. ' ' 
 
 And dead, as living, ever Him adored : 
 
 Upon his shield the like was also scored, 
 
 For soveraine hope, which in His help he had. 
 
 Again, some take the towering neck of the Church to „ his 
 be Holy Scripture, hung round with the bucklers of s."just"org. 
 testimony. And, not dissimilarly, it has also been ex- 
 plained of preaching the Gospel, as the neck is the 
 channel whence the voice comes from the chest to the 
 lips. Upon this neck of the Church, that is, in her 
 preaching of Holy Writ, which for strength and height g ^^ -^ 
 is likened to the tower of David, hang a thousand Hom. 15 m' 
 bucklers, because as many as are the precepts therein, ^^ek. 
 so many are the fences for our breasts. For, behold, 
 as we hasten bravely to the fight against the powers of 
 the air, we find in this tower the arms of our soul, that 
 we may take thence the commandments of our Maker, 
 the examples of our forerunners, whereby we can be 
 invincibly equipped against our adversaries. And note, 
 that it is said to be built with its outworks, for the 
 outworks are of the same use as the shields, because 
 both shelter the combatant : but there is this difference 
 between them, that we can move the shield at our 
 pleasure for defence, while we cannot move the out- 
 works, though we may be defended by them. The 
 shield is in our hand, but we do not lay hold of the 
 bastion. What is then the difference between these 
 two, save that in Holy Writ we read both of the won- 
 derful deeds of our forerunners, and of the power of 
 good works ? How truly they spake of God, their 
 miracles testify ; for they could not have done such 
 things through Him, unless they spake truth concern- 
 ing Him. And their works testify how gentle, how 
 lowly, how kindly they were. What then are their 
 miracles, iave our bastions ? since we can be guarded 
 by them, and yet have them not in the hand of our 
 will, because we have no power to do the like. But 
 the shield is in our hand, and defends us, because the 
 virtue of patience, the virtue of mercy, through fore- 
 stalling grace, is in the power of our will, and guards 
 us from peril of adversity. 
 
156 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [IV. 5, 6. 
 
 S. Ambros. 
 Horn. 4, in 
 Ps. cxix. 
 
 Rupert. 
 
 Hugo Card. 
 
 Joann. 
 
 Carmel. 
 
 The holy soul has her tower-like neck too, lifted up 
 to God, and fitted for the yoke of Cheist, bent by no 
 curve towards the allurements of earth, as it is the 
 royal tower of Christ, on which Nebuchadnezzar 
 cannot impose his yoke, for David, strong in battle, 
 built that tower, and set battlements upon its walls 
 for a defence and a glory, for a defence, because it 
 discovers and repels the enemy ; for a glory because 
 it soars up not only amongst lowly buildings, but even 
 amongst lofty ones. And it is thus for a defence or a 
 glory if it have in it the doctrines of the Word, as 
 though its jewelled necklets, and also have the darts 
 of the mighty prophets, which are hurled with the 
 sinews of faith against every high thing that lifteth 
 Corn, k Lap. j^^ggjf ^^p Again, not only constancy, as here, but 
 prayer, may be taken as the neck of the Church, 
 through which her voice goes up in petition, and 
 wherein, as in a tower, are stored her surest weapons 
 against all her enemies. A third wall have it that 
 humble obedience is intended, since the neck is the part 
 which bears the yoke. And others again hold that 
 charity, which is our true link of union with our Di- 
 vine Head, is denoted by the neck. It is a tower, 
 because the loftiest of all virtues, and the strongest 
 too. Its bastions are the Evangelical counsels of chas- 
 tity, poverty, and obedience ; its shields, humility and 
 patience, multiplied a thousand-fold. 
 
 5 Thy two breasts are like two young roes 
 that are twins^ which feed among the lilies, 
 
 6 Until the day break and the shadows flee 
 away. 
 
 The two breasts of the Church, whereat her children 
 are fed with milk, are the two Testaments, and the 
 Prophets and Doctors of the Circumcision and the 
 
 Phiio Carp, uncircumcision, who teach the faithful, who are likened 
 to two young roe* because of their clear vision in divine 
 
 Theodoret. mysteries and their swift speeding in their daily course 
 to reach their Lord, and which feed among the lilies 
 of a pure conscience and holy life, until, when the 
 day breaks and the shadows flee away, they attain 
 
 s. Greg. M. the prize which He has prepared for them. They 
 are twin roes, because of the perfect accord between 
 the Old and JS^ew Testament, the one being rich in 
 
IV. 6.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 157 
 
 type, and tlie other in fulfilment. Another view sees Aponius. 
 in the two breasts the precepts of love to God and 
 love to our neighbour, while Psellus stands alone in his Pseiius. 
 explanation that they denote the Blood and Water 
 which flowed from the crucified Saviour. The outer 
 and inner man, united in one sentient being, visible 
 and invisible, is, S. Gregory Nyssen alleges, the basis s. Greg, 
 of the comparison here, whether applied to the whole Horn". 7. 
 Church or to the individual soul, but no other Father 
 has followed him. Richard of S. A^ictor, after assent- Rj^ard vict 
 ing to the view that the teachers of the Church are 
 designated by her breasts, and dwelling on the tests of 
 motherly tenderness, proceeds to distinguish the two 
 breasts into the contemplative and active, both yielding 
 the same spiritual nutriment. Again, the two breasts „ 
 denote the building up of faith, and the training in holi- "^° 
 ness ; the shunning of evil and the practice of good. 
 They are twins, because they are born at one time, 
 that is, the time of grace, of one and the same Father, 
 which is Cheist, and one Mother, the Church. They 
 feed among the lilies, in the flowery pastures of the 
 Scriptures, until the day break which has no evening. 
 They feed therefore among the lilies until the day ^ . 
 break and the shadows flee away, because the preach- 
 ing and doctrine of holy teachers is needful only in the 
 present life, for in the life to come, so soon as the ever- 
 lasting day has appeared and the night of this world 
 has ended, there will be no need to teach any one, for 
 all shall with open face behold the glory of the Lord. 2 Cor. iii. is. 
 Therefore the Lord saith also by the prophet Je- 
 remiah, "And they shall teach no more every man Jer.xxxi.34. 
 his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, 
 Know the Lord, for they shall all know Me, from 
 the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the 
 Lord." 
 
 There is also a moral exposition, according to which ^enr. 
 the breasts of the Bride are her fellowship m joy and ^^'P^^^^- 
 sorrow with those who rejoice and those who mourn. 
 These are likened to young roes, because in compas- 
 sion there should be quickness and cheerfulness of help, 
 and in congratulation there should be clear-sighted 
 acuteness to guide us aright in knowing what things 
 ought to be subject of rejoicing. 
 
 6 Until the day break, and the shadows flee 
 
158 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [IV. 6. 
 
 away, I will get me to the mountain of myrrh, 
 and the hill of frankincense. 
 
 Theodoret. 
 
 The majority of the commentators take the first 
 clause of this verse with the preceding words, as de- 
 noting the time during which the young roes feed 
 amongst the lilies. But the Masoretic pointing reads 
 it with the succeeding clause, and it will be convenient 
 to consider it in this connection. And it is no marvel 
 that the great mass of comment on the verse sets be- 
 fore us the Passion of Christ as the mystery hidden 
 under the types here set down. " The Bridegroom," 
 comments Theodoret, " having eulogized the beauties 
 of His Spouse, saith, ' I will go for Myself (LXX.) 
 to the mountain of myrrh and to the hill of frankin- 
 cense.' Seeing thou art so fair, so lovely, so bright 
 in comeliness, and so wounded with love of Me, I ac- 
 cept death for thy sake, and will go of Myself to the 
 Tnoimtain of myrrh. But I will rise again, and return 
 to the hill offranJcincense. We said above that myrrh 
 denotes death, and frankincense the Divine nature. 
 There is need therefore to ask why He speaks of a 
 mountain, when referring to His death, and of a hill, 
 when to His Divinity. And the reason is, because it 
 is so great, unspeakable, and unsearchable a thing that 
 He Who was in the form of God, and thought it not 
 robbery to be equal with God, should have humbled 
 Himself, and taken the form of a servant, and be found 
 in fashion as a man, and be obedient unto death, even 
 the death of the Cross. But for Him to return to His 
 own glory, and to be glorified with that glory which 
 He had before the world was made, was no great or 
 toilsome thing, rather it was most easy. Wherefore He 
 saith, a mountain of myrrh and a hill of frankincense, 
 showing thereby that one of these things was light for 
 Him, but the other very hard because of His Man- 
 hood. So, when He draws near to His Passion, He 
 saith, ' Now is My soul troubled,' and ' Father, if it 
 be possible, let this cup pass from Me.' And yet 
 again He added, ' And what shall I say ? Father, save 
 Me from this hour, but for this cause came I unto 
 this hour.' This is what He means here in saying, 
 / loill get Me to the mountain of myrrh and the hill 
 of frankincense. For I do both willingly, not con- 
 s. John X. 17. strained nor compelled by aught. ' Because I lay down 
 
 Phil. ii. 
 
 S. John xii 
 
 27. 
 
 S. Mat. 
 
 xxvi. 39. 
 
IV. 6.] 
 
 THE SONG OF SONGS. 
 
 159 
 
 My life, that I might take it again. No man taketh 
 it from Me, hut I lay it down of Myself. I have 
 power to lay it down, and I have power to take it 
 again.' " Or hy the mountain of myrrh may not in- 
 aptly he understood the human Body of the Bride- 
 groom, which He offered voluntarily to death. For 
 that is the mountain of which is read : " A stone was phiio Carp, 
 cut out without hands, and smote the image, and be- Dan. ii. 34, 
 came a great mountain." It is of myrrh, because of 35. 
 that Joseph by whom the mountain was anointed and 
 laid in the tomb. To this mountain of myrrh and 
 hill of frankincense the Bridegroom willingly came, 
 not only that He might die and be buried for the 
 Bride, but that He might rise again immortal, and 
 therefore His Flesh is likened to a lull of frankincense, 
 because after His Eesurrection it was to give forth 
 living tongues, that is. Saints. And it is to be noticed 
 that the Chaldee suggests a connection of ideas be- 
 tween this mountain of myrrh, "Hl^n "In, har ha- 
 mor, and that Mount Motnah, n^nl^H "iH' har 
 ha-Moriali} whereon the typical sacrifice of Isaac took Targum. 
 place, and whereon Solomon built that Temple which 
 foreshadowed the true Tabernacle wherein the Word of 
 God tarried amongst men. Thither the Bridegroom 
 betook Himself till the dawn of the Besurrection morn- 
 ing, till the shadows and types of the Law vanished 
 along with the dark cloud of sorrow which had settled 
 upon the mourning hearts of His Mother and His Apos- 
 tles. And still, evermore, till the dawning of the 
 Great Day, when all the shadows and unrealities of 
 earth shall flee from the rays of the Sun of Bighteous- 
 ness, or, for each soul, till the evening of life close in, 
 the Bridegroom comes to the mountain of myrrh and 
 the hill of frankincense. For myrrh denotes mortifica- 
 tion of the flesh or endurance of suffering for Christ's 
 sake, and frankincense implies the devotion of holy 
 souls. The mount and hill, then, are the souls of the 
 Saints, lofty in contemplation. The Bridegroom there- Cassiodor. 
 
 ^ The Targum therefore takes 
 these latter words as if mean- 
 ing, Mount of the myrrh of the 
 Lord. There is a similar play 
 of words in niilVn ny23, cjibeath 
 ha-lebonah, "hill of frankin- 
 
 cense," which suggests the 
 name of Mount Lebanon, |i3lb 
 the " white" hill. And so, as 
 will be seen presentlj', it has 
 been taken by an old commen- 
 tator. 
 
160 A COMMENTARY ON [lY. 6. 
 
 s. Greg. M. ^^re promises that He will come to tliis mountain of 
 myrrh and hill of frankincense, because He vouchsafes 
 to bless with His visitation those souls which mortify 
 Gal. V. 24. their members with their affections and lusts, and 
 which offer themselves a sacrifice acceptable unto God 
 Hugo Vict. t)y zeal in devout prayer. One expositor, admitting 
 de Anima the truth of this view, differs so far as to suppose the 
 fib°ii^^' Bridegroom to speak, not to the Bride, but to Himself, 
 because of the delight He takes in what He is about 
 to do. / will go for Myself. He goes for Himself, 
 because His singular love admits no partner of its 
 secret. He goes for Himself, because He will have 
 no companion in His journey, any more than He suffers 
 any one to share His love. Myrrh, which is bitter to 
 the taste, and preserves the bodies of the dead from cor- 
 ruption, signifies mortification of the flesh, T,ihanus} 
 which name is by interpretation " whiteness," signifies 
 purity of the flesh. This then is the way by which 
 the Bridegroom comes to the Bride, the mount of 
 myrrh and the hills of Lebanon, because He first slays 
 concupiscence by abstinence of the flesh, and then 
 cleanses the ignorance of the soul by purifying the 
 heart. And observe too, that we know in another way 
 that such must be the preparation of the Bride before 
 she is ready for the King, for it is written, " Now 
 Esth. ii. 12. when every maid's turn was come to go in to King 
 Ahasuerus, after that she had been twelve months, ac- 
 cording to the manner of the women, (for so were the 
 days of their purifications accomplished, to wit, six 
 months with oil of myrrh, and six months with sweet 
 odours, and with other things for the purifying of the 
 women ;) then thus came every maiden unto the 
 King." And note, says Cardinal Hugo, that He calls 
 Hugo Card, the bitterness of repentance a mountain, and the devo- 
 tion of prayer a hill, because penitential sorrow sur- 
 passes devout prayer as a mountain does a hill. Not 
 Eccius. without cause does Wisdom say, " I yielded a pleasant 
 xxiv. 15. odour like the best myrrh," which perfumes not only 
 the Church, but all Paradise. Whence is written, 
 s. Luke XV. " Joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repent- 
 7. eth, more than over ninety and nine just persons which 
 
 need no repentance." And it should be known that 
 there is a valley of myrrh, and also a plain, a hill, and 
 a mountain of myrrh. The valley of myrrh is repent- 
 
 ' He reads, "hills of Libanus." 
 
IV. 6.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 161 
 
 ance for sins, whicli are a deep valley ; whence the 
 Psalmist, " Out of the deep have I called unto Thee, 
 O LoED." The plain of myrrh is the endurance ofPs-cxxx. i. 
 bitterness in defence of one's country, and in zeal for 
 justice, which is compared to a plain because of the 
 level of equity. The hill of myrrh is the endurance of 
 bitterness for the protection of one's own innocence. 
 The mountain of myrrh is the endurance of bitter- 
 ness through longing for the Heavenly Country. And 
 to all these the Bridegroom promises to go when 
 He says, I will get Me to the mountain of myrrh. 
 For there is no getting to a mountain save by the 
 valley, the plain, and the hill. So too there is a valley 
 of frankincense, and also a plain, a hill, and a moun- 
 tain of it. The valley of incense is prayer for the 
 remission of sin, as, " Forgive us our trespasses." 
 The plain is prayer for the bestowal of grace, " Give 
 us this day our daily bread." The hill is prayer for the 
 gift of perseverance, " Lead us not into temptation." 
 And the mountain of frankincense is prayer for the 
 bestowal of glory, which is, "Thy kingdom come." 
 And He significantly says, I toill get Me to the hill, 
 not to the mountain, of frankincense, because the Lord 
 gives us the three first by coming to us in this present 
 life, but He will give the fourth in the next world to those 
 who come to Him. Wherefore He will say, " Come, ye s. Mat. xxv. 
 blessed of My Father, inherit the Kingdom." 34. 
 
 Another interpretation sees here the calling of the 
 Jews and Gentiles. I loill go, in the person of My Gloss, 
 preachers, and therefore they must go. To the moun- 
 tain of myrrh, thdit i^, to nations in bitterness, salted 
 with no salt of doctrine. And to the hill of franJcin- 
 cense, to the Jews who keep to the incensings of the 
 Law. And in the Church, I will go to the Martyrs, 
 who endure the bitterness of death, and to the Con- 
 fessors, who offer devout prayers ; bestowing patience S.Ans.Laud. 
 on the first, and perseverance on the second. 
 
 It is to be noted that some commentators ascribe the 
 words to the Bride, but the mystical meaning is the 
 same, whether she gets to the mountain, there to meet 
 her Lord in prayer, or He comes to it, because He 
 knows He will find her waiting for Him. " O happy Qiiiebert. 
 is the mountain to which Thou goest, good Jesu, to serm. 28.' 
 which Thou comest, which Thou traversest, wherein 
 Thou dwellest, yea, and inhabitest for ever, wherein 
 Thou dwellest alone, and that to its utmost bounds. 
 
A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [IV. 7. 
 
 Beda. 
 
 Eph. V. 27. 
 
 Phineas 
 Fletcher, 
 Purple Is- 
 land, xii. 6 
 
 Rev. xxi. 11 
 
 Come, Jestt, begin to possess this mountain. Let no 
 man question Thee, let no man say. Wilt Thou dwell 
 in this mountain alone ? A fertile mountain, a great 
 mountain, an abundant mountain, a mountain flowing 
 with unguents. These unguents cannot be exhausted, 
 for great is the plenty of them in the mountain of 
 myrrh. They will not fail therein, and therefore he 
 who goes to the mountain of myrrh will lack no un- 
 guents, nor shall he lack perfumes who goes to the 
 hills of Lebanon. For the frankincense of Lebanon 
 will not fail. Come, good Jesu, to these hills, that 
 the incense may flow down before Thy Face. O what 
 smoke of incense goes up from these hills, when kin- 
 dled with Thy fire, yea, with Thyself. Thy fire hath 
 abundant matter to feed on, and great fuel of incense. 
 This incense will not be quickly consumed, its smoke 
 will not readily vanish. Its plenteous abundance can- 
 not be grasped in the hand, nor held in a censer, no 
 vessel can contain it, it knows not measure, because it 
 knows not intermission. Come then, good Jesu, to 
 the hills of frankincense, for the mountains which Thou 
 touchest, send up the copious incense of prayer." 
 
 7 Thou art all fair, my love ; there is no spot 
 in thee. 
 
 These words cannot, in the fullest sense, be spoken of 
 the Church Militant here on earth, compassed with weak- 
 ness, and stained with the sins of her children. But they 
 hold good of the Church Triumphant, that " glorious 
 Church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing," 
 
 The fair Eclecta,^ who with widowed brow, 
 
 Her absent Lord long mourned in sad array, 
 Now silken linen clothed as white as snow, 
 
 "Whose silver spanglets sparkle 'gainst the day; 
 This shining robe her Lord Himself had wrought, 
 While He her love with thousand presents sought, 
 And it with many a wound, and manj' a torment bought ! 
 
 And thus arraj'ed, her heavenly beauties shined, 
 
 (Drawing their beams from His most glorious face,) 
 Like to a precious jasper, pure refined, 
 
 Which, with a crystal mixed, increase his grace ; 
 The golden stars a garland fair did frame. 
 To crown her head ; the sun lay hid for shame 
 And yielded all his beams to her more glorious flame. 
 
 1 The poet is referring to the 
 "Elect Lady" of the Second 
 Epistle of S. John, by whom 
 
 many commentators under- 
 stand the Church. 
 
IV. 7.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 163 
 
 But even the Churcli Militant is all fair in her Bride- s. Just. Org. 
 groom's sight, fair in all the ranks and orders of her 
 Saints, great and small ; not only in her Martyrs, 
 Confessors, and Virgins, but in her temperate, alms- 
 giving, and penitent members. There is no spot in Phiio Caxp. 
 her, because she keeps herself free from mortal sin, 
 and washes away with daily penitence those stains of 
 venial guilt which she has contracted through her 
 frailty. She is all fair, remarks a later commentator, 
 fair with the beauty of the Gospel Law ; fair with the 
 knowledge of God, and of true faith and worship ; fair Com. a Lap. 
 in the outward beauty of her Sacraments and stately 
 rites ; fair in the grace and righteousness of her mem- 
 bers ; fair in the holy deeds of her Saints. 
 
 And spoken of the holy soul, it is true that the words Theodoret. 
 cannot have their highest and noblest application dur- 
 ing her probation here, but only when she has come 
 close to her Bridegroom, and so has received the blaze 
 of all His splendours, being made radiant by Light it- 
 self. Still she may be all fair even on earth, in mind, 
 and soul, and flesh. In flesh, because purged by action -^j-gg pg^^ 
 from all passions, and adorned with the practice of 
 holiness ; in soul, as parted from all evil concupiscence, 
 and decked with the words of the Commandments ; 
 and in mind because set free from frivolous thoughts, 
 and made glorious and Godlike by grace in the Holy 
 Ghost. There is no perfect beauty without colour, 
 observes Eichard of S. Victor, and a pale face lessens R^c. Vict, 
 the charm of lovely features, and the fairness of the 
 Bride is completed by the blush of penitence for her s. Greg. M. 
 sins, as she washes away those sins by daily confes- 
 sion and contrition. And it is especially true, observes 
 S. Ambrose, of those who live a life of virginal conse- ^e vSgin!* 
 oration. For what greater loveliness can one fancy nb. i. 
 than her beauty who is loved by the King, approved 
 by the Judge, dedicated to the Loed, consecrated to 
 God ? Ever a bride, ever unwedded, so that love 
 has no ending and modesty no peril. This is true 
 loveliness, which lacks nothing, which alone merits to 
 hear from the Loed, Thou art all fair, My love; 
 \there is no spot in thee. And, above all, it is true of 
 •her, of whom the Church exclaims in the Greater An- 
 'tiphons of Advent, "O Virgin of Virgins, how shall Brev.sarisb. 
 this be ? For neither before thee was any like thee : 
 nor shall there be any after;" of whom the Doctor of 
 Grace, when dwelling on man's universal sinfulness, 
 M 2 
 
164 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [lY. 8. 
 
 S. August. 
 De Nat. 
 Grat. 36. 
 
 S. Joh. Dam. 
 Canon for 
 Christ. Day, 
 Ode vi. 
 
 Horologion. 
 Little Comp. 
 
 Hugo Vict. 
 Instit. Men. 
 Serm. ix. 
 
 Donne, 
 Divine 
 Poems, 
 
 Words- 
 worth, Eccl. 
 Sonnets. 
 
 Tertull. c. 
 Marcion. 
 iv. n. 
 
 observes, " Excepting the Holy Virgin Mary, touch- 
 ing whom I would raise no question, for the honour of 
 GoD, when treating of sins. For we know that abun- 
 dant grace was given to her to overcome sin in every 
 wise : to her, who merited to conceive and bear Him, 
 Who, it is certain, had no sin ;" 
 
 For from that sin which could not touch Himself, 
 He kept His Virgin Mother undefiled. 
 
 And so the Holy Eastern Church heaps up all epithets 
 of purity in her praise : " Stainless, immaculate, spot- 
 less, unblemished, holy Virgin, Bride of God, Our 
 Lady." Thou art all fair, exclaims Hugh of S. Victor, 
 preaching on the Feast of the Conception of the Blessed 
 Virgin, fair without and within, in heart and body. 
 Ruddy with charity, white with purity, graceful with 
 humility ; fair by nature, fairer by grace, fairest of all 
 by glory. There is no spot in thee, for, as we read, 
 
 In that, Queen of queens, thy birth was free 
 From that which others doth of grace bereave, 
 "When in their mother's womb they life receive, 
 God, as His sole-born daughter, loved thee. 
 
 Nor does her praise cease down the centuries, as poet 
 after poet hands the torch on to a successor in the race. 
 Let us hearken again : 
 
 Mother ! whose virgin bosom was uncrost 
 With the least shade of thought to sin allied ; 
 "Woman ! above all women glorified, 
 Our tainted nature's solitary boast ; 
 Purer than foam on central ocean tost ; 
 Brighter than eastern skies at daybreak strewn 
 "With fancied roses, than the unblemished noon 
 Before her wane begins on heaven's blue coast. 
 
 8 Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse, 
 with me from Lebanon : look from the top of 
 Amana, from the top of Shenir and Hermon, 
 from the lions' dens, from the mountains of the 
 leopards. 
 
 " Cheist, in the person of Solomon, summons the 
 Bride to Himself, by the calling of the Gentiles. For 
 thou hast read. Come, My spouse, from Lebanon. The 
 name of Mount Lebanon is appropriately introduced, 
 for the word is in use amongst the Greeks to denote 
 incense. For He will betroth the Church to Himself 
 
IV. 8.] 
 
 THE SONG OF SONGS. 
 
 165 
 
 from idolatry." So wrote an ancient Father, vrlien 
 three of the Ten Persecutions had yet to run their ^ ^^^^^ 
 terrible course, and when Paganism still ruled with synops. " 
 all but undisputed sway in every province of the Em- 
 pire. The LXX. reads instead of, Look from the top of 
 Amana, thus, Thou shalt pass over from the beginning 
 of faith} On this Theodoret observes that the verse Theodoret. 
 accords with that passage in the Psalms, " Hearken, O ^|- ^^v- ^^' 
 daughter, and consider, incline thine ear : forget also 
 thine own people, and thy father's house. So shall the 
 King have pleasure in thy beauty, for He is thy Loed 
 God, and worship thou Him." He calls her then from 
 Lehation, which, lying outside the Land of Promise, 
 typifies Gentile idolatry, and also from Shenir and 
 Sermon, which denote the Law. Shenir, observes 
 Theodoret, means the "path of lanterns,"^ and denotes 
 that light which illuminated the night-season, before 
 
 1 This curious variant, where- 
 by the mystical sense is denot- 
 ed, requires some explanation. 
 In the first place, though the 
 wording of the A. V. implies 
 that Amana is a mountain, yet 
 the Chaldee takes it to be a 
 river, and the " top" is there- 
 fore its fountain-head, and 
 beginning. Next; the word 
 n:n« (derived from the root 
 ]D«, "he stablished," "he was 
 faithful," and akin to Amen, 
 "verily,") is used twice as a 
 common noun in Nehemiah, in 
 X. 1, (ix. 38, A. V.) to denote 
 a " covenant," and in xi. 23, a 
 *' sure ordinance" (A.V. marg.) 
 The meaning given by the LXX. 
 is thus tenable, but it seems 
 better to explain it as a sum- 
 mons to the Church to pass not 
 only from Gentilism, but from 
 Judaism, the Old Covenant, as 
 is practically done by some of 
 the commentators. 
 
 2 Theodoret apparently de- 
 rived I'iilJ from the root HD'©, 
 splenduii, but the etymon now 
 accepted is "uiiJ he clashed, 
 spoken of the sound of wea- 
 pons, and the name Shenir is 
 
 diversely explained as "cata- 
 ract," from the noise of falling 
 water, or as "breastplate," 
 from its form and glittering 
 appearance. Sermon, ^io'^n, 
 a part of the same range, and 
 sometimes used for the same 
 mountain (Deut. iii. 9,) is also 
 variously explained as mean- 
 ing simply " lofty hills," or 
 else as the "devoted" or "ac- 
 cursed" place, akin to Hormah 
 (Numb. xxi. 3,) from the Hi- 
 phil nnnn (" devoted by curse 
 to destruction,") of the root 
 Dnn, he shut up from common 
 use, or dedicated. The mys- 
 tical force will then be a sum- 
 mons to pass from the earthly 
 Jerusalem, a bondwoman, en- 
 compassed with strife and the 
 clash of arms, and doomed to 
 utter overthrow, unto the hea- 
 venly Jerusalem, the "Vision 
 of Peace," free, tranquil, and 
 etenial, which the Bride be- 
 holds spread out before her view 
 as she stands on the summit of 
 those mountains which she is 
 called on to abandon, seeing it 
 as Moses beheld Canaan from 
 Pisgah. 
 
166 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [lY. 8. 
 
 S. August 
 in Ps. 67. 
 
 S. John 
 xvii. 24. 
 
 Cassiodor. 
 S. Greg. M. 
 S. Just. Org 
 
 the Sun of Righteousness arose with the glory of day. 
 And Hermon is the mountain of which the Psalmist 
 Ps. cxxxiii. speaks, mentioning " the dew of Hermon which fell 
 ^' upon the hill of Zion," denoting the precepts of the 
 
 Law. From these, and from the lions' dens of fierce 
 and persecuting Jews, as well as from the mountains 
 of the leojyards, the subtle and deceitful sophists of the 
 Gentiles, the Bride is urged to hasten away. She must 
 Philo Carp. com.e from, the beginning of faith, observes one Father, 
 because her earliest training was in the rudiments of 
 the Law, from which she is to pass into the fuller light 
 of the Grospel ; she must come thence in another sense, 
 remarks a second, because faith must be her own be- 
 ginning ere she can undertake the work of converting 
 the world ; then she will pass over, as the Chariot of 
 God, amidst rejoicing thousands, out of this world to 
 the Fathee, that her Bridegroom's words may be ful- 
 filled in her : "I will that they also, whom Thou hast 
 given Me, be with Me where I am." The Latin Fa- 
 thers take Lebanon, "whiteness," to be the laver of 
 Baptism, as the starting point of the Church's career. 
 Besides the occurrence of the title Spouse here first in 
 the Song, the Vulgate has two peculiarities to be no- 
 ticed. First, the invitation to come is thrice repeated, 
 thus, Come from Lebanon, My Spouse, come from Leba- 
 non, come} Next, the following clause runs : Thou 
 shalt he croioned from the head of Am ana. This triple 
 calling is variously explained. It denotes, says one, 
 that the Bride must be perfect in thought, word, and 
 deed. Come, first, by faith ; come, freed from the 
 body, to receive a heavenly reward ; come, at the 
 general E-esurrection, taking that body again, to be 
 crowned with double glory. Come, another takes it, 
 in faith, hope, and charity. Come, from merit to re- 
 ward, from faith to sight, from the chariot to rest, from 
 time to eternity, from the struggle to the prize, from 
 the way to the country, from peril to safety, from 
 misery to salvation. Come, renouncing the devil, come, 
 renouncing the world, come, renouncing thyself. Come, 
 in the Name of the Father, Who made thee, come, in 
 the Name of the Son, Who redeemed thee, come, in 
 the Name of the Holy Ghost, Who sanctifieth thee. 
 Come, to the crown of that blessedness which is three- 
 
 Cassiodor. 
 
 S. Greg. M. 
 
 Dion. Carth. 
 
 Honorius. 
 Ric. Vic. 
 Nic. Argent. 
 
 1 Eeading ^m, the fern, imper. from nn«, 
 *riM, with me. 
 
 came, instead of 
 
IV. 8.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 167 
 
 fold, in vision, in fruition, in perpetual security. Not pj^^ ^ 
 only so, but come and be crowned in this world too, by Beda. 
 the conversion of kings and rulers, of persecutors and 
 heretics, typified by the mountains and the wild beasts, 
 now become thy children and thy crown, according to 
 that saying of the Wise Man, " Children's children ^''°^- '^^"• 
 are the crown of old men." Not less does the verse 
 apply to the devout soul, which is summoned from Le- 
 hanon, and from Shenir and Hermon, whence the 
 Jordan flows, to pass on from the baptismal flood Nyss!^^" 
 wherein she was cleansed, away from the sins and pas- 
 sions of her unregenerate life. Go forth, cries S. Am- 
 brose, go forth from the body, and strip thyself com- detsaacT* 
 pletely, for thou must not be with Me, until thou art 
 a pilgrim from the body, because they who are in the 
 flesh, are pilgrims from the kingdom of God. Come, 
 He saith. Come, fitly repeating it, because whether 
 present or absent, thou shouldest be at hand and please 
 the LoED thy God. Come present, come absent, 
 though thou be still in the body, for all are present 
 with Me whose faith is unto Me. He is with Me, who 
 goes forth from the world. He is with Me, who thinks 
 of Me, looks at Me, hopes in Me, whose portion I am. 
 He is with Me who is absent from himself; he is with 
 Me who denies himself. He is with Me who is not 
 within himself, for he who is in the flesh is not in the 
 spirit. He is with Me who goes forth of himself. He 
 is close to Me, who is without himself. He is safe and 
 sound with Me, who for My sake hath lost his life. 
 Therefore, come. My Spouse, thou shalt pass over, and 
 throughly pass over from the beginning of faith. She 
 passes over and throughly passes over others who ar- 
 rives at Cheist. She passes over by the merit of faith 
 and brightness of works, who shines like Shenir and 
 Hermon, that is, who passes by the way of the lantern, 
 conquering the temptations of the world, and over- 
 coming spiritual wickedness, seeking the crown of a 
 lawful contest, and therefore attains the glory of praise 
 from Cheist the Judge. She comes from the lions' dens, ^ ^ ^^ 
 from the palaces of earthly kings, all the temptations of ' ^^^ 
 rank, power, and wealth ; she comes from the moun- 
 tains of the leopards, from her variegated and powerful 
 sins, to the poverty of Cheist, to the snowy pureness 
 of a holy life. And as " a man is not crowned, except 2 Tim. ii. 5. 
 he strive lawfully," so the crown promised to the Bride ciiiebert. 
 must be won by victory over the world, and over all Ric vict. 
 
168 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [IV. 8. 
 
 Dion. Carth. 
 
 Rev. xii, 1. 
 
 Hear. 
 Harph. 
 
 S. Pet. Dam. 
 TheRhythra, 
 Ad perennis 
 vitcB fontem. 
 
 S. Ambros. 
 de Virgin. 
 Hb. 3. 
 
 Rupert. 
 
 evil spirits and bad passions, denoted by Shenir, the 
 place of strife, and Hermou, the place accursed, and 
 by the lions and leopards. And this crown of life 
 promised to them who are faithful unto death, is of 
 twelve stars. They are the twelve joys of heavenly 
 bliss, to wit, radiance, surety, sweetness, calm, bright- 
 ness, impassibility, subtilization, swiftness, renewal 
 unspeakable, loving fellowship, gladness in the Man- 
 hood of Christ, joy ineffable in the goodness of God, 
 On all these Henry Harphius dilates with deep fer- 
 vour, but at too great a length for citation. What 
 he has said in the terms of mystical theology, has been 
 said before him by a Christian poet in the more ac- 
 ceptable form of verse. 
 
 To their first estate return they, freed from every mortal sore, 
 And the Truth, for ever present, ever lovely, they adore, 
 Drawing from that living Fountain, living sweetness evermore. 
 
 And they drink in changeless being as they taste those waters 
 
 clear, 
 Bright are they, and swift, and gladsome, no more perils need 
 
 they fear, 
 There the youth can know no ageing, never cometh sickness near. 
 
 Thence they draw their life unending, passingneas hath passed 
 
 away, 
 Thence they grow and bloom, and flourish, freed for ever from 
 
 decay. 
 Now that deathlessness hath swallowed up the might of death for 
 
 aye. 
 
 They know Him Who knoweth all things, nothing from their ken 
 
 may flee, 
 And the thoughts of one another in the inmost heart they see, 
 One in choosing and refusing, one are they in unity. 
 
 This summons, and this crown, belong especially to 
 virgin souls. And therefore one, who trained many 
 such, speaks to them : " Dedicate the first-fruits of thy 
 vigils to Christ, sacrifice to Christ the first-fruits of 
 thine actions. Thou hast heard that He called thee, 
 saying. Come from Lebanon, My Spouse, come from 
 Lebanon, thou shalt pass over : and throughly pass 
 over from the beginning of faith. Thou shalt pass over 
 as a creature into the world : thou shalt throughly 
 pass over to Christ, triumphing over the world. Thou 
 hast heard that He hath parted thee from the attacks 
 of lions and leopards, that is, from all spiritual wicked- 
 nesses." And finally, the verse has been applied to the 
 Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, and is used as an 
 
IV. 9.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 169 
 
 Antiphon on that feast in some Frencli Breviaries. ^'^^^; 
 " I will open my mouth," exclaims the Eastern Church s."johan!^^" 
 on the same festival, " and will breathe a word to the Damasc. 
 Mother Queen. And I shall be seen praising her glo- ^ug.^i^'. 
 riously, and will sing with exultation her E-epose. O 
 youthful virgins, with Miriam the prophetess, uplift 
 now the Song of Exodus, for the Virgin, the only Mo- 
 ther of God, passes unto her celestial heritage. The di- 
 vine tabernacle fitly received thee, all-holy One, thyself 
 a living heaven ; and thou tookest thy stand, gloriously 
 adorned, as a spotless Bride, beside thy GrOD and King." 
 She is thrice called, says Vieyra, the Father calls vieyra, 
 His Daughter, the Son calls His Mother, the Holy ^"^■^' ^^ 
 Ghost calls His Spouse, to her crown. Thrice was she Gra9"a. ^ 
 crowned even on earth ; in the Incarnation of her Son, 
 in His Passion, and in His Hesurrection. 
 
 9 Thou hast ravished my heart,, my sister, 
 my spouse ; thou hast ravished my heart with 
 one of thiue eyes, with one chain of thy neck. 
 
 Ravished. That is, as the margin reads, taJcen aioay 
 mine heart. The Loed's words are more true of Him- 
 self than of any other, that where a man's treasure s.Mat.vi. 
 is, there will his heart be also, that while His bodily '^^■ 
 Presence is in Heaven, the longings and affections of 
 His human Heart are on earth amongst His kindred. 
 And the especial way in which the constraining force of 
 His love compels Him to abide within the faithful soul, 
 is beautifully typified in the legend of a Virgin Saint, 
 of whom is told that He appeared to her once in vision, 
 and took her heart from out of her side, replacing it Jeiiens^**^' 
 with His own : so that she, whose daily prayer there- Acta siinc- 
 tofore had been, " My Loed, I commit my heart to tomm, 
 Thee," thenceforward said, " My Spouse, I pray Thee ^^' ^^' 
 to guard Thine own Heart :" in accordance with the 
 prophecy, " And it shall be at that day, saith the Loed, ^^^ ^j jg 
 that thou shalt call Me Ishi (my Husband) and shalt 
 call Me no more Baali (my Lord.)" But the Vulgate, 
 agreeing substantially with the Chaldee, reads, Thoic 
 hast wounded my heart. They refer it, generally, not 
 only to the love which Cheist bears to the Church, 
 but to the proof of that love which He gave by suffer- 
 ing Himself to be pierced upon the Cross. " Hence," 
 observes the Hluminate Doctor, " appears Cheist's 
 
170 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [IT. 9. 
 
 Tauler, 
 Be Vita 
 Christi, 
 c. 53. 
 
 boundless love to us, in that He gave Himself wholly 
 for us. What more could He do than He has done ? 
 He unlocked His Heart for us as His most secret 
 chamber, to bring us in thither as His elect Spouse. 
 For His delight is to be with us, and to rest with us 
 in silent calm, in peaceful silence. He gave us His 
 Heart, sorely wounded, that we might abide there, 
 until, thoroughly purged, cleansed, and conformed to 
 that Heart, we might be fit and worthy to be drawn, 
 together with Him, into the Divine Heart of the Eternal 
 Father. He gives us then His Heart, that it may be 
 our dwelling, and asks for ours in turn, that it may be 
 His abode. He bestows His Heart on us as a bed 
 decked with the ruddy roses of His purple Blood ; and 
 requires instead our heart, a bed adorned for Himself 
 with the white lilies of good works." There is yet ano- 
 ther sense of the word "^,]jn^37 Uhhahtini, which is 
 simply " to hearten," exactly represented by the word 
 here coined by the LXX., iKapSiwcras, (although most 
 Greek Fathers accept the idea of wounding) and turned 
 by the Syriac strengthened, made confident, as though 
 giving a double heart, or as denoting the trust and 
 reliance Christ has in the love and fidelity of the 
 Church to Him, asking her, as it were, in the words of 
 Jehu to Jonadab, " Is thine heart right, as My Heart 
 is with thy heart ?" 
 
 My sister, My spouse. Wherefore does He call her 
 both spouse and sister ? A bridegroom generally does 
 not give the name sister to his spouse. That name, 
 however. He bestows here, in order to show that it is 
 before no carnal bridechamber that the marriage-song 
 is here being chanted. In calling her spouse. He 
 means that the Word has wedded to Himself the 
 human soul ; in styling her also sister. He witnesses 
 that He Himself has worn our flesh. Again, as kings 
 and queens entitle one another brothers and sisters, so 
 here the Bridegroom uses the name sister to denote 
 the royal station of His Bride, that she is no mere 
 inferior companion, but one decked, as Esther was, with 
 the crown and title of a queen. Thou hast icounded 
 My heart. It is said twice, of the Jewish Church, be- 
 cause she wounded Him living with the nails, and 
 dead with the spear. It is said of evil Christians, be- 
 cause they wound Him daily with their sins ; it is 
 said of the faithful Church, for whose sake He was 
 
IV. 9.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 171 
 
 wounded in His Passion and in His compassion, yieyra 
 Every wound, every blow He suffered was twofold, for serm. deias 
 hate smote Him in His Body, and love in His Heart, chagas de 
 With one of thine eyes, ivith one chain of thy neck. ' '^^"'^'^'^°' 
 The Targum explains the eye to be even one of the Targum. 
 least amongst the righteous, the chain or tress of the 
 neck to be one of the princes of the House of Judah, 
 wearing the kingly diadem. And the Christian inter- 
 pretation of this will be the direct personal love which 
 Christ bears to each faithful soul in particular, as 
 well as to the whole Church corporately. But the 
 commentators adopt a different view. The eye whose xheodoret 
 glance has attracted the Bridegroom is, as the Greek 
 Fathers allege, the faculty of Divine contemplation, '^^^^ ^**^' 
 the tress lying on that neck which bears the yoke of 
 God's commandments, is active performance. The 
 right eye is that which looks at heavenly things, the 
 left that which is fixed on earth, and therefore the 
 spiritual jS'ahash (by interpretation " serpent,") the s. Ambros. 
 enemy of our souls, desires to pluck out our right eye, luc"aWj ^ 
 even if we voluntarily yield ourselves as his slaves. 
 But the Lord, on the other hand, tells us, " If thine s. Mat. vi. 
 eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light." ^'^• 
 With this single eye, that is, with the sole and undi- 
 vided contemplation of thy salvation, of My love, and 
 of its fruition, thou woundest My Heart, and also with 
 one tress of thy neck. The neck joins the head and Ri^ard.vict. 
 members. Thou art a neck to Me, when thou strivest 
 to convert souls and unite them unto Me. The one 
 tress of thy neck is the single thought and fixed in- 
 tention wherewith thou toilest for this end. In this 
 twofold care, that for thine own salvation and for the 
 salvation of others, thou winnest My peculiar love for 
 thyself, and makest thy way unto the depths of My 
 Heart. S. Jerome takes the two eyes to denote the 
 virginal and the married lives. " I reject not marriage, s. Hieron. 
 thou hast a left eye, which I have given thee because inJo\iu. 
 of their weakness who see not aright ; but the right eye ^ ' ^' 
 of virginity is dearer to Me, which, if blinded, leaves 
 the whole body in darkness." Spare not, O Bride, to Giiiebert. 
 aim at thy spouse with such weapons as these. Use 
 thy loving glances as darts. Be not slack in this 
 matter, be not content to wound thy Beloved once 
 only, but smite Him with wound on wound. Happy 
 art thou, if thy shafts be fixed in Him, if thy love 
 wars in Christ, if thine eyes be steadfastly fastened 
 
172 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [IV. 10. 
 
 S. Luke viii, 
 44. 
 
 Cassiod. 
 S. Greg. M. 
 Beda. 
 
 upon Him. Good is the wound out of wliicli power 
 goes. A woman touched the hem of His garment, and 
 Chkist perceived that power had gone out of Him. 
 How much more, when His Heart is not lightly 
 touched, but wounded, does He cause grace to flow from 
 Him ! That wound is not insensible. Therefore aim 
 the darts of a pure glance at Him, count Him as a 
 mark set up for such arrows. He receives them gladly, 
 because He hurls the like Himself. He looked on 
 Peter, and smote his heart, and pierced him to repent- 
 ance. Tears give signs of a wounded heart. And 
 then with His merciful glance He wounds the heart 
 which He urges to any holy affection. Would that 
 He might multiply such wounds in me, from the sole 
 of my feet to the crown of my head, that there might 
 be no soundness in me. For that is an evil sound- 
 ness where are none of those wounds which the loving 
 glance of Cheist inflicts. 
 
 The commoner explanation, however, of the Latin 
 Fathers, is that the eye denotes the Doctors and 
 preachers of the Church, and the tress, bound toge- 
 ther, and not left dishevelled, the multitude of the 
 laity. One eye, because of unity of doctrine ; one 
 tress, because of unity of fellowship, in the Catholic 
 Church, for which Church the Bridegroom was content 
 to be wounded unto death. 
 
 10 How fair is thy love, my sister, my 
 
 spouse ! how much better is thy love than 
 
 wine ! and the smell of thine ointments than 
 all spices ! 
 
 For love the LXX. and Vulgate read breasts. But 
 the LXX., reading the second clause, Thi/ breasts are 
 fair from wme, give rise to a peculiar treatment of the 
 verse by the Greek Fathers. Explaining the breasts 
 to be the doctrine of the Church, they for the most 
 part agree in saying that these breasts no longer yield 
 milk for babes and imperfect believers, but the im- 
 mortal wine of the Saints, the fuller teaching which is 
 reserved for those of full growth. Philo of Carpasia, 
 Phiio Carp, however, gives a better interpretation of the same 
 reading, by saying that it is wine which the Bride has 
 drunk which makes her breasts fair and plenteous, and 
 that wine is the Blood of Cheist, which fills the two 
 
 S. Greg. 
 Nyss. 
 Theodoret 
 Psellus. 
 
IV. 10.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 173 
 
 breasts of the love of God and the love of man with g Q^gg j^^ 
 the milk of charity, the gift of the Holy Ghost. 
 The Three "Fathers, also taking the wine to be the Tres Patr. 
 efficient cause of the loveliness of the breasts, explain 
 them to be the active and contemplative states in the 
 Church. But the Vulgate reading is more consonant 
 with the Hebrew, and implies comparison. The more Cassiodor. 
 usual Western interpretation is that the breasts are ^eda. 
 the Doctors of the Church, who supply spiritual nou- 
 rishment to her children, giving them in the form of 
 milk that which they themselves have received in the 
 form of heavenly Bread. And this milk is better than 
 the wine of the ceremonial Law, which wine failed at 
 the mystical marriage of the Church, and was replaced 
 by Cheist with a more generous vintage. Eichard of 
 S. Victor, applying the words to the faithful soul, Ricard.Vict. 
 takes the two breasts to be spiritual and corporal com- 
 passion, whereby the sufferings of all, whether in soul 
 or body, are shared by the true follower of Cheist. 
 And He is better pleased in this manner than with the 
 loine of rigorous judgment, because it is written : 
 " Mercy rejoiceth against judgment ;" and mercy flows s. James ii. 
 from the breasts of heavenly wisdom and knowledge of ^^• 
 God, the fairest ornament of the Bride. They note Dion. Carth. 
 further that the Vulgate uses two distinct words in Henr. 
 this verse to represent breasts, mammcs and uhera. ^^ ^"^' 
 The former is used of mothers, feeding their children 
 at the breasts ; the latter word is of general applica- 
 tion. MammcB, then, observes Aponius, denotes the ^^^ ^^ih. 
 blessing of fruitfulness, ^lhera the glory of virginity. 
 With these the Church is shown to be fair at the time 
 of Cheist's appearing, in that she daily conceives, daily 
 brings forth, daily suckles, and is yet a virgin. And 
 that is an unhappy man who does not believe that 
 God does by the Church what He did by the Virgin • 
 Mary. 
 
 And the smell of thine ointments than all spices. So 
 the Vulgate, but the LXX. read the smell of thy gar- s.Greg. 
 ments. And these garments they take to be the works Nyss. 
 of mercy wrought by the Church, or the graces with ^^^^ p^tr. 
 which she is decked, under the Gospel, as sacrifices to 
 God, more pleasing to Him than the incensed obla- 
 tions of the Law, because they are perfumed with 
 Cheist Himself, Who is, indeed, according to Theo- Theodoret. 
 doret, not merely the fragrance of these garments, but 
 Himself the raiment of the Church, which saith of 
 
174 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [IV. 11. 
 
 Isa. Ixi. 10. 
 
 Cassiodor. 
 
 Beda. 
 
 S. Just. Org. 
 
 S. Greg. M. 
 
 Ricard.Vict, 
 
 Aponius. 
 Hugo Card. 
 
 Ex. XXX. 23, 
 
 Theodoret. 
 
 Cassiodor. 
 
 Beda. 
 
 Him, " He hath clothed me with the garments of sal- 
 vation, He hath covered me with the robe of righteous- 
 ness." The Western expositors differ little from this, 
 taking, as they do generally, the words to denote the 
 grateful perfume of the virtues and good deeds of the 
 Church, spread over the world by the preaching of 
 the Gospel, and superior in diffusion, number and fra- 
 grance, to the observances of the Law, the lore of 
 philosophy, and the vanities of the world. And that 
 because they spring out of charity, which is lacking in 
 mere earthly virtues, but which gives them that es- 
 pecial odour which is a sweet savour unto God. They 
 are called ointments, moreover, because they are de- 
 rived from the unction of the Holy Ghost, and they 
 were typified under the Law by the compound " oil of 
 holy ointment" made of four principal spices mingled 
 with olive-oil, and designed for the consecration of the 
 priests and the furniture of the Sanctuary. 
 
 11 Thy lips, O my spouse^ drop as the honey- 
 comb : honey and milk are under thy tongue ; 
 and the smell of thy garments is like the smell 
 of Lebanon. 
 
 As the honeycomb. This denotes the Doctors of 
 the Church, who bring forth her holy teaching, and 
 have as it were the combs of bees upon their lips, 
 which drop honey. And they have not only honey, 
 but milk also, providing for each his proper food, 
 as well that which suits infants, as that which befits 
 the perfect. And the honeycombs which are borne 
 on the lips of teachers are the Divine Scriptures, con- 
 taining bees which make wax as well as honey, that is, 
 the sacred Prophets and Apostles, who, flitting over 
 the meadows of the Holy Ghost, and, as it were, 
 framing the cells of Holy Writ for us and filling 
 them with the honey of instruction, confer their benefit 
 on us. The letter is like wax, and the meaning hidden 
 in it like honey. This dro2ys, because as the honey 
 drips from the comb when it is too plentiful to be re- 
 tained in the cells, so Holy Scripture has manifold 
 senses, and is diversely explained, sometimes literally, 
 sometimes allegorically, sometimes morally, and some- 
 times by anagoge, which is the highest sense of all. 
 And these four senses are exemplified in the fourfold 
 
lY. 11.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 175 
 
 meaning which Jerusalem bears in Scripture. Liter- 
 ally, it is the earthly city in Judaea ; allegorically, it is 
 the Church throughout the world ; morally, it is any 
 Christian soul which has become the city of God ; 
 anagogically, it is the heavenly Jerusalem, the Church 
 Triumphant. The preachers of the Church are com- s. Greg. M. 
 pared to honeycombs also for another reason, because 
 the sweet doctrines of the Gospel come from men them- 
 selves weak and frail as the waxen cells of the bee, ac- 
 cording to that saying of the Apostle, " We have this 2 Cor. iv. r. 
 treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the 
 power may be of God, and not of men." This honey- ^ic- "^'i^t. 
 comb the soul gathers from divers flowers of Scripture ; 
 she seeks them out, settles on them, and draws from 
 them the sweetness of spiritual delights. She puts 
 aside and despises the knowledge that puffeth up, 
 and seeks rather for edification ; she chooses fragrant 
 texts, not ornate eloquence. She searches also for the 
 examples of the Saints and their spiritual sayings, and 
 ponders them in her mind, for the Saints were flowers 
 too, and flourished like the palm-tree. And as their 
 life was holy, so what they produced or taught was 
 sweet and pleasant. She flies then to these flowers, 
 and draws from them spiritual honey, but above all 
 from that especial flower which came forth from the 
 stem of Jesse, the flower of the plain and not of the 
 garden. And the perfume of this flower is as the 
 smell of a field which the Loed hath blessed. This is 
 the field wherein the fulness of the Godhead dwells, 
 wherein are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, 
 wherein the righteous flourish and bring forth fruit in 
 sanctity of life as well as in holiness of knowledge. 
 This is that flowery field wherein are as many blossoms 
 as there are righteous ones bringing forth fruit in good 
 works, and outside which there is no flowering, but 
 only withering. To this flowery and abundant field 
 the Bride flies like the prudent bee : she runs after the 
 perfume of this Flower, speeds to It longingly, clings 
 to It in love and faith, sucks the honey of grace from 
 It with the importunity of prayer, receives graces from 
 its plenteousness, grace so difiused upon her lips that 
 they breathe forth the savour of heavenly sweetness, 
 and offer it to others that they too may quaff*. And Beda, 
 there is no inconsistency between the epithet here ap- 
 plied to the lips of the Church, and that a little 
 before, when they were compared to a scarlet thread. 
 
176 A COMMENTARY ON [IV. 11. 
 
 For tlie same teachers are cords in salutary precepts 
 and honeycombs in heavenly promises : cords, when 
 they bridle us from giving way to the glow of carnal 
 pleasures ; honeycombs, when they offer us the gifts 
 of celestial joys. They are cords also when they teach 
 openly what has to be done or avoided ; honeycombs, 
 when they disclose the majesty and salvation which 
 
 Hugo Card. Jig ^^{^ in typical words and action. And observe 
 that they are said to drop, not to pour, because the 
 teaching of the Doctors and preachers of the Church 
 should be carefully proportioned to the capacity of 
 their hearers, and not all poured out at once, according 
 
 Prov. XXV. to that warning of the Wise Man : " Hast thou found 
 honey ? eat so much as is sufficient for thee, lest thou 
 
 Phiio Carp, be filled therewith, and vomit it." Philo reminds us 
 that honey is food, and wax gives light, and both are 
 to be found in Holy Scripture. Another most beau- 
 
 ErmhTheoi *^^^^ interpretation is that which sees in the honey- 
 
 i. 15. * ' comb dropping from the lips of the Church, Him Whose 
 Name is ever in her mouth in prayer and praise, in 
 the pure virgin wax of Whose most pure Body, taken of 
 the Blessed Mary, is stored the golden honey of the 
 Godhead, ever pouring forth its grace and giving to 
 each according to the measure of that grace. 
 
 JToney and milh are under thy tongue. That is, re- 
 freshment for the robust, and comfort for the little 
 ones, solid food for the perfect, and the milk of easy 
 doctrine for the weak. For she had a foretaste of the 
 sweetness of the life to come, where souls are refreshed 
 with the fruition of Christ's Godhead, and with the 
 milk of His Manhood. She had a foretaste of that 
 
 Job XX. 17. blessedness, because she is refreshed with " the rivers, 
 the floods, the brooks, of honey and butter," which the 
 wicked and the hypocrite shall not see, that is, under- 
 stand or taste. This twofold sweetness, as the rivers 
 
 Ps. xlvi. 4. of a, flood, makes glad the City of God on high, but it 
 visits with its brooks the righteous who are still exiles 
 and pilgrims, and gently bathes and refreshes them. 
 ^' Under thy lips, not merely on them, but coming from 
 
 the depth of the heart. For false preachers carry 
 honey on their tongue which they have not under their 
 tongue, who preach of heavenly joys, while they are 
 yearning after mere temporal benefits with all their 
 might. But not so they who imitate the Great 
 Teacher, Whose inner love was as perfect as His out- 
 ward words and deeds, and of Whom His own Virgin 
 
 Ric. Vict. 
 
IV. 11.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 177 
 
 Martyr said, " I have received honey and milk from Mart. s. 
 His mouth, and His Blood hath adorned my cheeks." s^^mbros " 
 And it is not only the Doctors of the Church who can 
 have the honey and milk under their tongues, but every de Vkgin!" 
 faithful soul which utters prayers and praises to God lib. i. 
 in simplicity and sweetness of heart, with devout af- 
 fection, and with meditation on the simple doctrines of 
 the Faith. Say then evermore most earnestly, " Thou ps. u. is. 
 shalt open my lips, O Loed, and my mouth shall show 
 Thy praise." It is to but little or no profit for me to 
 open wide the lips of my mouth, unless Thou open 
 these lips of my heart. Open these lips of mine, O 
 LoED, and then they shall drop, like the honeycomb, 
 Thy sweet praise. Open these lips of mine, O Loed, 
 and then honey and milk shall be under my tongue. 
 So that becomes true which the heathen poet said : 
 
 rb crrSfia S' -fiv iraKTus yXvK€pct)Tepov' iK (TTOfxaTuv 5e Theocrit. 
 
 e^p^ee ixoi (pcava yAvKepwTepa ^ /teAt Kr]pw. itlyU. xx. . 
 
 Sweeter than milk-curd is my mouth, and from my mouth 
 
 there wells 
 A voice more sweet than honey is from out the waxen cells. 
 
 That is but a feigned sweetness which does but sound seJU^J^J; 
 
 on the tongue, and is not felt under it. That is but 
 
 scanty, which is all on the lips and tongue, and not the 
 
 greater x^art of it underneath. Some have only honey 
 
 under the tongue, and no milk ; others have only milk, 
 
 and no honey. But both honey and milk are under 
 
 the tongue of the Bride. iNor does the honey flow, 
 
 but rather drops. For she does not commonly and 
 
 recklessly pour forth the august and hidden meanings 
 
 of the heavenly secrets and mysteries of the Godhead, 
 
 nor offer milk when there is no pleasure in the draught. 
 
 She, imder whose tongue are honey and milk, is 
 
 ready to speak sweet things. Blessed is the tongue 
 
 which drops as the honeycomb, and is full of milk like 
 
 the breast given to babes. All crying, and bitterness, 
 
 and blasphemy is banished far from lips like these. 
 
 Nor is there ungodliness and vanity under this tongue, Ps. x. 7. 
 
 but honey and milk. " The lips of a strange woman prov. v. 3. 
 
 drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than 
 
 oil." But there is no honey and milk under her tongue, 
 
 nor in her heart, nor yet in her last end, for " her end 
 
 is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword." 
 
 But of a virtuous woman is said also in Proverbs, 
 
178 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [IV. 11. 
 
 ProT. xxxi. 
 25. 
 
 S. Greg. 
 
 Nyss. 
 
 Theodoret. 
 
 Cassiodor, 
 
 Rev. xix. 8. 
 Job xxix. 14 
 
 Hugo Card. 
 
 Prov. X. 12. 
 1 S. Pet. iv. 
 
 Ps.cxxxii.g, 
 
 Rev. xvi. 15 
 1 Kings i. 1 . 
 Lev. xxi. 10, 
 
 " Strength and honour are her clothing, and she shall 
 rejoice in time to come. She openeth her mouth with 
 wisdom, and in her tongue is the law of kindness." 
 Her mouth is even now bringing forth that spiritual 
 and blessed rejoicing, and its sweetness is lying hid 
 under her tongue. And the honey and milk now there 
 shall burst forth in full exultation at the last day. 
 
 A7id the smell of thy garments is liJce the smell of 
 Lebanon. So the LXX., but the Greek Fathers prac- 
 tically agree with the Vulgate in taking the last word 
 to be incejise. That is, as S. Gregory Nyssen observes, 
 the holy acts of the Church in the devout soid imitate 
 the divine blessedness itself, and their fragrance is like 
 that of the frankincense burnt in honour of God. And 
 he dwells at some length on the fitness of garments as 
 a simile for a holy life, because the cloth of which they 
 are made is composed of countless threads crossing and 
 re-crossing each other, and so holiness of life does not 
 consist in a single virtue or a single good deed, but in 
 the union of a multitude of them woven together in 
 the daily course of existence. Theodoret, as noticed 
 already, declares that Christ Himself is the only true 
 covering and vesture of His Church, and that the in- 
 cense denotes His Godhead. The garments of the 
 Church, says a Western Father, are the ornaments of 
 good works, as S. John saith in the Apocalypse, " the 
 pure linen is the righteousness of Saints ;" and it is 
 said in Job, " I put on righteousness, and it clothed 
 me ; my judgment was as a robe and diadem." And 
 by incense the beauty of holy prayer is denoted. 
 Therefore the garments of the Church are compared to 
 incense, because all her works are of the nature of 
 prayer. And observe : that good works are called 
 garments for three reasons : first, they cover sins, as 
 it is written, " Love covereth all sins ;" and again, 
 " Charity shall cover the multitude of sins ;" next, 
 they give spiritual heat, when done to help others ; 
 thirdly, they are marks of honour and distinction, and 
 80 it is said, " Let Thy priests be clothed with righ- 
 teousness." He who does not bring forth fruits meet 
 for repentance does not clothe himself as he ought, 
 and of this is said, " Blessed is he that watcheth and 
 keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked." Of the 
 second, when there is no true charity, we read, " They 
 covered him with clothes, but he gat no heat." And 
 of the third is written, " He that is the High Priest 
 
IV. 12.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 179 
 
 shall not rend his clothes." These good works, acutely 
 observes Beda, as being external and done by men, ^^*^*- 
 are compared to incense, itself made of spices ; but of 
 the inner anointing of the Holy Ghost, whereby the 
 will to do these works is given us, is said, " How much ver. lo. 
 better is the smell of thine ointments than all spices !" 
 The incense smells sweetly in the garment of outward Giiiebert. 
 abstinence. And that is in truth a seemly garment, ^^^^' ^'^' 
 when the soul is not so much clothed with flesh as with 
 fasting from carnal things and restraint in pleasures. 
 Virginal purity is a seemly garment, and sends forth 
 a pleasant odour of incense as well to the Beloved as 
 to her who loves Him. For it cannot be that what is 
 ofi'ered with love should not yield delight to her who 
 offers it. What then is the perfume of these garments. 
 Is it not incense ? So the heavens are clad in radiant 
 light, but the heavens declare, not their own glory, 
 but the glory of God. O happy me, if but one or 
 other of my garments could give forth the pure frag- 
 rance of incense, not marred by any foreign admixture ! 
 Por I hold that none liath yet attained to this measure, 
 that every garment should smell like incense, who hath 
 not yet merited to be ranked in the bridal lot by the 
 LoED Jesus, the Bridegroom of the Brides. 
 
 It is enough to say of the A. V. reading, that it seems 
 to denote two things, the perfume of the incorrupt ce- 
 dars of Lebanon, and that of the wine produced from Hos. xiv. 7. 
 the mountain grapes, strong and fragrant, denoting the 
 mingled purity and zeal, the contemplative and active 
 states, which are the "vesture of gold wrought about Ps. xiv. 10. 
 with divers colours," that decks the queenly Bride. 
 
 12 A garden inclosed is my sister, my spouse ; 
 a spring shut up, a fountain sealed. 
 
 Inclosed, that Satan may not enter, but ever open to s. Epipha- 
 the Bridegroom. The Church, once His handmaid, now '""^* 
 His sister, and betrothed to Him as His Spouse with 
 the dower of the Holy Ghost, is a (/arden, because 
 she brings forth the buds of spiritual virtues, which, Cassiodor. 
 in a subsequent passage, are called by the name of 
 spices. This garden is inclosed, because the Holy 
 Church, fortified by the protection of her Loed and 
 Hedeemer, and fenced by the guard of the angelic 
 hosts, lies not open to the snares of evil spirits. This 
 same Church is also a fountain sealed. A fountain, be- 
 N 2 
 
180 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [IV. 12, 
 
 Beda. 
 
 ) Cor. iii. 
 
 Philo Carp. 
 S. Greg. M. 
 S.Ans.Laud, 
 Hugo Vict. 
 
 S.Ans.Laud, 
 Hugo Vict. 
 
 Gen. xxix. 2 
 Dan. vi. 1". 
 
 Athenseus, 
 ii. 45. 
 
 Philo Carp. 
 Aponius. 
 S. August, 
 in Crescon. 
 ii. 15. 
 
 cause she flows with the streams of heavenly doctrine, 
 wherewith she washes all believers in Cheist from 
 their sins, and gives them the knowledge of truth to 
 quaff. This fountain is sealed, because the word of 
 the Gospel creed is protected with the seal of truth, so 
 that neither heretics nor evil spirits may be able to 
 violate or break in upon the Catholic Faith. And so 
 the Apostle saith, " I planted, ApoUos watered, but 
 God giveth the increase." I planted the spices of 
 virtues, as in the garden of God, Apollos watered, as 
 from the sealed fountain of heavenly teaching, but the 
 LoED helped His labourers, lest they should toil in 
 vain. Others severally take the flowers of the garden 
 to be various orders of Saints, and the wall which in- 
 closes the garden to be charity, or the union of faith 
 and works, or, again, the discipline of the Church. 
 And whereas the A. Y . translates in the second, clause, 
 A spring shut ujp, following the received text 7i!, gal, 
 all the old versions with one voice accept the variant 
 ]!, gan, (found in more than fifty MSS.) and repeat, 
 A garden inclosed. It is said twice, as one will have it, 
 because the garden of the Church was first made of the 
 Jews, and then of the Gentiles. It is, remarks another, 
 because of its faith and works, and its division into the 
 active and contemplative lives. A fountain is sealed 
 when covered with a stone, and that stone marked 
 with the signet of the owner, that no stranger may 
 approach to draw water from it, but that it may be 
 kept for its lord alone, as the water of the Choaspes 
 was for the kings of Persia.^ 
 
 The seal of this fountain is said by some Fathers to 
 be the sign of the Cross impressed at Holy Baptism, 
 but S. Augustine, writing against the Donatists, com- 
 bats this view on the ground that the fountain is within 
 the one inclosed garden of the Church, whereas Bap- 
 tism is common to heretics as well as Catholics, and 
 observes : " To this peculiar fountain, of which no 
 
 ' I know not whj^ Mr. Thrupp 
 defines a sealed fountain to 
 mean one diverted by a subter- 
 ranean channel to a place dif- 
 ferent from that in which it 
 springs. Such is the case, no 
 doubt, with Solomon's pools 
 near Bethlehem, to which he 
 refers, following Maundrell and 
 
 Hasselquist, hut he does not 
 add that there is a local tradi- 
 tion that they were literally- 
 closed by the king's signet, and 
 that Maundrell states that the 
 very small size of the opening 
 makes it quite possible that 
 they were so closed. 
 
IV. 12.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 181 
 
 stranger partakes, to this sealed fountain, that is, to 
 the gift of the Holy Ghost, whereby the love of God 
 is shed abroad in our hearts, none of them draws near, 
 unless changed, so to be throughly cleansed, that he 
 may be no more a stranger, but thus a sharer in hea- 
 venly peace, a partner in holy unity, and, full of un- 
 divided love, a citizen of the City of the Angels." 
 
 The holy soul is a garden inclosed, because in put- g q ^ 
 ting forth virtues, it gives birth to flowers, and in re- 
 freshing itself with the gladness which those virtues 
 yield, it guards the fruits it has produced. The garden 
 is called inclosed, because it hedges itself round with 
 holy resolve, as it hides its own good things with that 
 resolve for eternal life, and altogether despises the 
 praise of men, so that the ancient enemy cannot break 
 in to plunder its hidden treasures. It is also called a 
 fountain, because while constantly pondering heavenly 
 things, and ever gathering knowledge of Scripture in 
 the storehouse of memory, the holy soul ceases not to 
 produce living waters within itself, to give to its thirsty 
 neighbours for their refreshment. Whence it is written 
 that the Loed said, " Whosoever shall drink of the s, John iv. 
 water that I shall give him, shall never thirst ; but the '4. 
 water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of 
 water springing up into everlasting life." Yet why Theodoret. 
 is that fountain said to be sealed, save because the 
 spiritual sense is hidden from unworthy souls ? But 
 in the case of a faithful man the Loed saith, " The s. John m. 
 Spieit bloweth where He listeth, and thou hearest the s- 
 sound thereof, but canst not tell whence He cometh 
 and whither He goeth." 
 
 The soul is a garden wherein the plants of virtue 
 
 and the seedlings of spiritual pursuits are cultivated. „. , ,,. ^ 
 mi • J • J 1 • J. J • 'i. J Ricard.Yict. 
 
 This garden is dug, when vices are rooted up in it, and 
 
 the habits of life are turned over. And it is dug yet 
 deeper when a man strives to learn the nature and 
 cause of his sins. For no lukewarm labourer, ignorant 
 of the nature of sins, can successfully mortify his vices. 
 It must then be dug with the memory of the Loed's 
 Passion, and those nails wherewith the ungodly pierced 
 His hands and feet pierce it too, when we remember 
 those things, and sorrow with His sorrow. This gar- 
 den is inclosed with the lock of silence, and with bars 
 set to both sight and hearing, lest aught evil should 
 enter by them. It is inclosed even from praise, and 
 it is a fountain sealed with the signet of the Holy 
 
182 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [IV. 12. 
 
 Ghost, and the precepts of Scripture, and walled 
 with the examples of the Saints. 
 
 And it may well be asked. Who can be a fitting gar- 
 dener for such a garden as this ? S. Mary Magdalene 
 gives us the answer, " She, supposing Him to be the 
 Gardener." And He had one peculiar garden, wherein 
 He abode, inclosed for Him alone, sealed with His own 
 signet, and fenced by the overshadowing Spirit, His 
 s. Just. Org:. Q^j^ j^Qgi- i^iessed Mother. In the first garden He 
 Phihpp. planted He put a Virgin, yet sin entered, and she fell ; 
 but into this garden none entered save Himself : 
 
 S. John XX 
 15. 
 
 Rupert. 
 
 Harveng. 
 
 J. Beau- 
 mont, 
 Psyche, vii. 
 103. 
 
 Paradise, how poor a soil art thou 
 To the rare richness of this virgin bed ! 
 
 That Tree of Life which in thy heart did grow, 
 Itself but as the shade of this was spread : 
 
 Here is the Garden where the noble Tree 
 
 Of everlasting Life would planted be. 
 
 Dion. Carth. That princely Lady is the sweetest, most blooming, 
 and most fruitful Garden of the Lord, wherein are 
 planted all manner of spiritual trees, wherein rested 
 the Tree of Knowledge, wherein all virtues were 
 planted, all divine graces blossomed ; where the Sun of 
 Wisdom poured His brightest rays, wherein no winds, 
 nor rains, nor floods of sin could ever find a place, 
 which brought forth Him Who is the Maker of all 
 things, and bare the Saviour of the world ; and which 
 was inclosed and sealed evermore with the signet of 
 inviolable virginity ; which is the fountain of grace, 
 and, after God Himself, the source and author of all 
 blessings bestowed on us. Accordingly, this verse 
 formed the Antiphon at the First Vespers of feasts of 
 
 Brev.sarisb. the B.V.M. in the old English Use. And what holds 
 of the Virgin of virgins, holds also, in its degree, of 
 
 Ps. xiv. 15. the maidens of her court, which be her fellows. So, 
 following the clear leading of the Targum, many of the 
 Fathers have delighted to tell us. For the Chaldee 
 paraphrase runs thus : " And thy women, who are 
 wedded to husbands, are honourable spouses, and as a 
 pleasant garden, to which no man hath entrance save 
 the righteous whose souls are sent thither by the hands 
 of the Angels. And thy virgins are hidden, and clus- 
 tered within, and sealed like a fountain of living waters, 
 which springs beneath a tree, and is divided into four 
 river-heads, and unless it were sealed in the great and 
 holy Name, it would go forth, and flow, and inundate 
 
 Targum. 
 
IV. 13] THE SONG OF SONGS. 183 
 
 the world." And similarly that great Saint who ruled «, . , 
 the convents of Milan : " Thou, O virgin, art a garden de iS.'^"^' 
 inclosed, preserve thy fruits, let no thorns arise in Virg. c. 8. 
 thee, but let thy grapes flourish, let not any take from 
 thee the fence of thy modesty, for it is written, ' AVhoso Eccies. x. 
 breaketh a hedge, a serpent shall bite him.' Thou ^' 
 art a sealed fountain, O virgin, let no one defile or 
 trouble thy waters." And again, the same Saint ob- 
 serves : "A virgin is as a garden inaccessible to thieves ; g Ambros 
 she has the perfume of the vine, the fragrance of the de virg. i.' 
 olive, the glowing beauty of the rose ; as religion grows 
 in the vine, peace in the olive, and the modesty of holy 
 virginity in the rose. Gird thyself then, O virgin, and 
 if thou desire that thy garden should yield thee such 
 odours, inclose it with the counsels of the prophets. 
 Set a watch before thy mouth, and keep the door of 
 thy lips." So too, S. Jerome, writing to the Abbess s. meron. 
 S. Eustochium, tells her that consecrated virgins ought Ep, 22, ad 
 to be shut up and sealed, not given to leave their home de Cust?^^* 
 and wander, not even to seek their Bridegroom in the virg. 
 streets, lest they fall like Dinah, though she had pa- 
 triarchs for her brothers and Israel himself for her 
 father. 
 
 That all this is no mere fanciful treatment of the 
 words appears from the exact coincidence of idea in a 
 heathen poet, by no means of an ascetic turn. Hear 
 CatuUus : 
 
 Ut flos in septis secretus nascitur hortis, r t u ixii 
 
 Ignotus pecori, nullo contusus aratro, 39^ "^ " 
 
 Quern mulcent aurse, fiiiuat sol, educat imber, 
 
 Multi ilium pueri, multae optavere puellse. 
 
 Idem quum tenui carptus defloiniit ungui 
 
 Nulli ilium pueri, nullee optavere puellse, 
 
 Sic Virgo, dum intacta manet, turn cara suis est, 
 
 Quum castum amisit pollute corpore florem, 
 
 Nee pueris jucunda manet, nee grata puellis. 
 
 As a hid flower within closed gardens grows. 
 By plough uninjured, and by herds unknown. 
 And fed by winds, sun, rain, in beauty blows. 
 Till youths and damsels wish it for their own : 
 And yet, if it be lightly plucked, and fade, 
 No youths nor damsels wish for it again ; 
 So, dear and honoured is a spotless maid, 
 But if she lose her virgin bloom through stain, 
 On her no youths are bent, for her no damsels fain. 
 
 13 Thy plants are an orchard of pomegra- 
 
184 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [IV. 13. 
 
 nates, with pleasant fruits; camphire, with 
 spikenard. 
 
 14 Spikenard and saflfron ; calamus and cin- 
 namon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh 
 and aloes, with aU the chief spices. 
 
 Cassiodor. 
 Corn, a Lap, 
 
 Philo Carp. 
 
 S. Greg. M. 
 Luc. Abb. 
 
 Origen. 
 
 Theodoret. 
 
 Hugo Vict. 
 
 S. Greg. 
 
 Nyss. 
 
 S. Ambros. 
 
 Beda. 
 
 Ricard.Vict 
 
 Rupert. 
 R. Ishaki. 
 
 GUlebert. 
 Serm. 34. 
 
 Thy 'plants. More exactly, tJiy shoots, and accord- 
 ingly the LXX. and Vulgate read thy sendings-forth 
 {aiTocrroKaXy emissiones.) Further, the word translated 
 orchard in the A. V. is D'Tl^, paradise, and is rightly 
 so rendered by the old versions. The apostolates, then, 
 or emissions of the Bride, are her augments of faith 
 and spreading of preaching, that is, her planting local 
 Churches throughout the world, each of which is a 
 paradise, resembling that first and central one which 
 is their source and model. Or you may take them to 
 be the Apostles themselves, ruddy, like the pomegra- 
 nates, with the blood of martyrdom, and bringing forth 
 many spiritual children to Cheist by their toils and 
 sufferings, answering to the grains within that fruit. 
 S. Gregory takes the sending s-forth to be the holy 
 words and works of the Church, whereby she produces 
 offspring, and trains up some for martyrdom, and 
 others for holy continuance in life. And another view, 
 which takes the emissions to denote the flow of irrigat- 
 ing water, sees here all the devout baptized. How- 
 ever the word be explained, there is much depth in tlie 
 thought of some Greek Fathers, that this sending-forth 
 does not barely denote emissions, but the gifts and 
 offerings which the Bride sends to her Spouse at the 
 time of her betrothal, in token of her love and faith, 
 and especially the Saints she presents to Him. 
 
 Spoken of the holy soul, tliey take, for the most part, 
 her sending s-forth to be all the words she utters for 
 God's glory. But a fuller interpretation is that of 
 Hichard of S. Victor, who sees here all the virtues of 
 devotion, putting forth their shoots and sending up 
 their fragrance to Heaven, and that especially in the 
 case of her who was that Paradise wherein God put 
 the Man Whom He had formed to dress it by His 
 labours and to keep it by His grace and power. The 
 words of Gilbert of Hoyland, who follows some Eab- 
 bins and also Aponius in taking the word emissiones 
 to denote irrigating waters, merit citation. After 
 
IV. 13.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 185 
 
 dwelling on the sealing of the fountain as denoting 
 the partial concealment of Divine mysteries even from 
 those who dwell in the garden, he adds : " That foun- 
 tain is sealed indeed, but not dried up, whose sendings- 
 forth are so gracious. The fountain of wisdom is 
 sealed, but you may know it by its sendings-forth. 
 ' In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the Zech. xiii. i. 
 house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem 
 for sin and for uncleanness.' The one is open, the 
 other sealed ; the one washes, the other waters ; the 
 one cleanses sins, the other produces pleasant things ; 
 the one belongs to many, the other is the Bride's alone. 
 There are remissions, here emissions. Yes, good Jesu, 
 yes, it is even so. Her sendings-out are Thy send- 
 ings-in, sent in by Thy good Angels. She would never 
 send forth such pleasant things unless Thou sentest 
 forth within her the delightsome waters of life. Thou 
 hast both, — a paradise inclosed, and a paradise sent 
 forth. The one is in pure aifection, the other in lov- 
 ing actions. The one is inward, the other comes forth 
 from it, and proves its existence." 
 
 So much, in brief, for the general scope of interpre- 
 tations. But the various fruits and spices enumerated 
 have given rise to a garden, not less various, of mys- 
 tical exposition, and it will therefore be needful to enter 
 into somewhat fuller detail. 
 
 Pomegranates. Spoken of the Church, these, as ob- phiio Carp, 
 served before, denote martyred Apostles, containing in 
 them the seeds of many faithful souls won to God by 
 their toils, or other martyrs endowed with many inner 
 virtues. Again, the pomegranate, with its thorny ^* ^^®^' ^' 
 branches, and the hard and bitter rind in which its Nyss!^^" 
 fruit is inclosed, that fruit itself being red with white Ricard.vict. 
 seeds, denotes an austere and mortified life, ruddy with Theodoret. 
 suffering, white with purity and good works. Or, once Hugo Card. 
 more, it signifies, as noted previously, charity, because 
 uniting many seeds in one receptacle. Especially does 
 it signify the fraternal union of the members of one 
 E-eligious order or house. Would, exclaims a Cis- GUiebert. 
 tercian Abbat, that we imitated these seeds, agreeing 
 together in unity of heart, as though in the inclosure 
 of an Order. The seeds of this fruit cling to one ano- 
 ther with a nearly unbroken surface, and their difference 
 is rather that of separate number than of aspect. Let 
 us in turn learn to differ from one another in number, 
 not in mind. These seeds do not quarrel with each 
 
186 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [IV. 13. 
 
 Ps. cxxxiii. 
 1. 
 
 Tres Patr. 
 
 Cassiod. 
 
 Hugo Card. 
 
 Luc. Abb. 
 
 Cassiod. 
 Philo Carp. 
 Luc. Abb, 
 Angelomus. 
 Parez. 
 
 other, tliey do not murmur against the rind, they do 
 not strive to break through it, they patiently bear 
 being inclosed within it, so that they almost seem to 
 say, " Behold, how good and joyful a thing it is, bre- 
 thren, to dwell together in unity." And does not 
 the ruddy colour glow in this our Order, brethren, 
 through imitation of Cheist, as within the rind of the 
 pomegranate ? And they are like the seeds of this 
 fruit, who think it natural to be restrained by the 
 outer discipline of the Eule, and count themselves not 
 oppressed thereby, but protected. 
 
 Pleasant fruits. Here the LXX. and Vulgate are 
 directly at variance. The former reads ij.^ra Kapirov 
 aKpodpvcou, shelly fruits or nuts ; the latter has cum 
 fr-uctibus pomorum, which properly denotes all fruit 
 with a soft rind, though it may sometimes be used more 
 widely. The Greek Fathers pass lightly over the 
 phrase, but from coupling it, as they do, with the pome- 
 granates, they show that their view is that the nuts 
 denote souls guarded by rigid external discipline, which 
 shelters them from all outward troubles, and keeps 
 them safe till they are fully ripened by the Sun of 
 Bighteousness. The Latins take the fruits as something 
 of less note than the pomegranates, sweet, indeed, and 
 fragrant, but not ranking with the Martyrs, and rather 
 denoting the less exalted Saints who busy themselves 
 in good works. Or again, the slightly acid and astrin- 
 gent flavour of the pomegranates, contrasted with the 
 sweeter taste of apples, denotes the austerer Christian 
 virtues of justice and temperance, compared with the 
 softer and gentler ones, mercy and loving-kindness. 
 Another, and the truest, way of regarding the latter 
 clause, 'pleasant fruits, is that it is meant to include 
 all the productions of the garden, and that the cata- 
 logue which follows is not additional, but explanatory 
 of what these divers fruits are, denoting either various 
 classes of Saints, or various spiritual graces. 
 
 Coming from the fruits to the spices, the LXX. and 
 Vulgate, both reading Lebanon where the A. V. has 
 frankincense, count up exactly seven aromatic plants, 
 the mystical number. And accordingly, the Fathers 
 see here the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost, the seven 
 Sacraments, the seven virtues, three of them theolo- 
 gical, faith, hope, and charity, and four cardinal, jus- 
 tice, prudence, fortitude, and temperance, and the 
 seven orders of Saints in the Church. 
 
IV. 14.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 187 
 
 Of camp hire, or henna, it has been already observed 
 that it denotes propitiation or atonement (chap. i. 14,) 
 but this is not a view put forward here by any of the 
 elder commentators. Cassiodorus, stating that the Cassiod. 
 plant has seeds like coriander, white and semi-trans- 
 parent, takes it as a type of the manna, and thus as ^j^"'^' ^^'^" 
 denoting heavenly grace, the more that it was used in 
 the chrism for anointing kings. For this latter cause S-Ans.Laud. 
 another writer sees here those Saints who bring forth 
 good works wherewith God is, as it were, anointed ; 
 while a third understands it of the gift of ruling, and Hugo Card, 
 therefore as denoting all Prelates and rulers in the 
 Church. Philo, who takes it to signify faith, rests on pj^^^Q Qa,rp. 
 the lowliness of the plant and its white clustering Hugo Card, 
 blossoms as bearing out his view. And others hold HonOT^^ug 
 this whiteness to denote purity, as the first of graces, 
 especially as manifested in the Religious life. 
 
 Sjnkenard. Because this was the chief ingredient s.Johnxii.3, 
 of the ointment wherewith Cheist was anointed just ^.^^ggj^^j 
 before His Passion, the plant in the garden of the 
 Church denotes thankful remembrance of that Passion, . 
 and all it has obtained for us. Another, referring to ^^^' ^^^' 
 the same anointing, draws the difi'erent conclusion that ^^^^^ ^^"^P- 
 the spikenard signifies the unction of God's love in the Luc. Abb. 
 heart, whereby we are refreshed, and strengthened for 
 the combat. Philo takes it to be hope, because it is 
 warm, fragrant, and medicinal, and it is twice mentioned, 
 coupled first with camphire and then with saffron, be- 
 cause hope is the link between faith and charity. 
 
 Saffron, because of its golden hue, denotes charity, 
 for charity is among the virtues what gold is amongst Cassiodor. 
 metals. And others dwell on its elasticity when tram- carm!' 
 pled under foot (a cause assigned by some for calling Phiio Carp, 
 it humility,) and the custom of mingling it with wine 
 as additional arguments for the sense. And as the 
 golden stamens of the plant, which alone are used 
 for flavour and perfume, are three in number, they 
 signify the threefold love of the devout soul for the 
 Persons of the Blessed Trinity, and the fulfilment of 
 its triple duty to God, to its neighbours, and to itself. Com. a Lap. 
 One more circumstance, on which they do not dwell, ' ° ^^""P" 
 may be added, that it was an ancient custom to sprinkle 
 a bridal couch with saffron wine, or with the flowers J^s^°" 
 of the plant. 
 
 Conscia jam Veneris nova serta parate Napaeae, Martian us 
 
 Crocumque lecto spargite. Capella. 
 
188 A COMMENTARY ON [IV. 14. 
 
 Prepare fresh wreaths that know the Lesbian queen, 
 And strew the couch with saffron. 
 
 And, as is more familiarly known, the bridal veil of 
 ancient Eome was of saffron hue. Wherefore we may 
 add that the mutual love of the Bridegroom and Bride 
 
 Theodoret. ^^ denoted in this place. Finally, several dwell on the 
 
 Cassiod. ' real or supposed effects of saffron as a cooling febri- 
 fuge, and take it to be justice, or the Divine grace 
 wliereby the desires of the flesh are quenched. 
 
 isa. xiiii. 24. Calamus, the " sweet cane" of another book of Holy 
 Writ, from being the same word as the reed or pen in 
 
 Ps. xiv. 2. ^]^g verse, " My tongue is the pen of a ready writer," 
 
 Theodoret. is taken by Theodoret to denote the Doctors of the 
 Church, whose writings are full of sweet instruction. 
 Other Greek divines dwell on the slenderness and lofti- 
 
 Tres Pair, ness of the reed, as a type of the virtue of temperance, 
 which lightens the soul of much of the burden of the 
 body, and uplifts it to spiritual things. Again, the 
 straight uprightness of the reed, and its use as the 
 sceptre of Christ, make it a type of justice. The 
 hard bark and inner sweetness of the calamus have 
 led also to its being taken here as a type of religious 
 
 Nic. Argent, poverty, or of the contemplative claustral life. Cas- 
 siodorus and some others, mistakenly identifying cala- 
 mus with cassia, a totally different plant, give further 
 explanations which need not be detailed. 
 
 Cinnamon, because of its outer ashen-grey bark 
 . which incloses the inner brown spice, denotes those 
 
 Ricard. Vict. Saints who are lowly and penitential in their outward 
 conversation, while warm within through the heat of 
 
 Tres Patr. Divine love. Others in this same warmth see forti- 
 
 Cosm. Dam. tude, and also loving-kindness, because of the fragrant 
 
 and penetrating odour of the plant. And the ashy tint 
 
 10. rgen . j^^ ^^^^ explained of obedience, whereby the self-will 
 
 GiUebert. of man is consumed into dust and ashes. Gillebert, 
 contrasting the tall calamus with the lowlier cinnamon, 
 observes, applying the whole verse to Christ, Who 
 suffered as our propitiation in the camphire, was buried 
 with the spikenard, rose again in golden beauty like the 
 crocus, and ascended like the reed, that the cinnamon 
 when broken gives forth a gush of fragrance. That, 
 he says, was Jesus, when He took bread, brake, and 
 gave it. The Bride is like the calamus when she goes up 
 towards God in prayer from the waters of weeping ; she 
 is like the cinnamon, when she humbles herself for the 
 
IV. 14.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 189 
 
 sake of man. The ascension is beautiful, but take care ciiiebert. 
 that the descent be like to cinnamon ; when any reason- Serm. 36. 
 able cause calls thee back and restrains thee from that 
 ascension and going forth, be like the cinnamon. Let 
 thy conversation, thine ordinary life breathe grace. If 
 thou be sometimes turned aside from thine own will and 
 resolve, and that will be bent, and as it were broken 
 at the bidding of an elder, let there be no murmuring, 
 no complaint. Be cinnamon, give forth a breath of 
 grace, not a complaint of injury. 
 
 With all trees of franMncense. That is, since in- s. Greg, 
 cense is offered to God only, all those Saints who in ^y^^- 
 every part of their lives aim at likeness to Him and 
 conformity to His will. Others, dwelling on the stately Cassiodor. 
 trees of Lebanon, explain it of the more eminent Saints, s.Ans.Laud. 
 compared to the cedars for strength and beauty. Or, 
 remembering that Lebanon means whiteness, you may Hugo vic- 
 take it of the Virgins, pure in snowy chastity and *°""- 
 rising boldly up towards heaven. 
 
 Myrrh and aloes. At once we recall that " mixture s. Greg. 
 of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight," s!^joiin xix 
 which Nicodemus brought for the burial of the Loed, 39. 
 and are taught hereby the need of being conformed 
 to the likeness of His death, before we can share in Theodoret. 
 His Resurrection and glory. Myrrh, as noted before, 
 is mortification ; aloes, yet more bitter, the pain of cassfock)T^' 
 trial and temptation. Others see two degrees of suf- Hugo vic- 
 fering, as martyrdom and confessorship, or two degrees ^°^'^- 
 of temperance, as continence and abstinence. 
 
 With all the chief spices. That is, as they for the Tres Patr. 
 most part explain, the spiritual gifts of the Holy Hugo'vS'^*' 
 Ghost. Or, with S. Gregory Nyssen, all the great torin. 
 doctrines of the Church, pure from any heresy or adul- 
 teration. Or, yet again, as Cassiodorus aptly puts Cassiod. 
 it : " After myrrh and aloes fitly come the chief spices, 
 because after continence of the flesh comes that true 
 love which is God Himself, and whereby God is loved 
 above all things. For they who are changed by the 
 love of the world, that is, who still delight in pleasures 
 and allurements, cannot be partakers of this love." 
 
 And having gone through the list of the chief plants 
 in that Paradise of God, let us hear how S. Bernard 
 applies the whole parable to the Eeligious Life : " Count de Co*nvers'. 
 not this paradise of inner delight to be any tangible place, ad ciericos, 
 Not the feet, but the affections enter here. It is no *^^i?" ^^• 
 orchard of earthly trees which is set before thee, but 
 
190 A COMMENTARY ON [lY. 15. 
 
 a sweet and lovely park of spiritual virtues. A garden 
 inclosed, where the sealed fountain is parted into four 
 heads, and from one source of wisdom virtue goes forth 
 in a fourfold stream. There the glittering lilies bloom, 
 and when the flowers appear, the voice of the turtle is 
 heard. There the spikenard of the Bride sendeth forth 
 its most fragrant smell, and the other spices flow out, 
 as the south wind breathes, when the north has fled 
 away. There, in the midst, is the Tree of Life, that 
 apple-tree of the Canticles, fairer than all the trees of 
 the wood, whose shadow refreshes the Bride, whose 
 fruit is sweet to her taste. There the whiteness of 
 continence and the gaze on truth undefiled irradiate 
 the eyes of the heart, and the soft voice of inward 
 consolation gives joy and gladness to the hearing. 
 There the pleasant odour of that rich field which the 
 LoED hath blessed reaches the nostrils of hope. There 
 the peerless cates of love are eagerly tasted, and there 
 the soul, anointed with the unction of mercy, rests 
 happily with a clean conscience, when the briars and 
 thorns, which once pricked her, have been cut down." 
 And in the same spirit runs that mystical old Dutch 
 hymn, written by one of those Brethren of the Com- 
 mon Life who sat at the feet of Thomas a Kempis. 
 
 The Hymn, Oui' IMaster hath a garden which fair flowers adorn, 
 Heer Jesus There will I go and gather both at eve and morn ; 
 heeft een Nought's heai'd therein but Angel-hymns with harp and lute, 
 
 Ho/ken. Loud trumpets, and bright clarions, and the gentle soothing 
 
 flute. 
 
 The lily white that bloometh there is Purity, 
 The fragrant violet is surnamed Humility. 
 
 The lovely damask rose is there called Patience, 
 The rich and cheerful marigold Obedience. 
 
 One plant is there with crown bedight, the rest above, 
 With crown imperial, and this plant is Holy Love ; 
 
 But still of all the flowers the fairest and the best 
 
 Is Jesus Christ, the Lord Himself, His Name be blest ; 
 
 Jesu, my chief good and sole felicity, 
 
 Thy little garden make my read)^ heart to be ; 
 
 So may I once hear Angel-hymns with harp and lute, 
 Loud trumpets, and bright clarions, and the gentle soothing 
 flute. 
 
 15 A fountain of gardens, a well of living 
 waters, and streams from Lebanon. 
 
IV. 15.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 191 
 
 They agree, for the most part, in explaining this 
 fountain to denote, first, either Holy Scripture itself, 
 or the Church as the preacher and expoundei: thereof. 
 It is a fountain of gardens, because it irrigates not 
 only the various local Churches which are derived from 
 the one centre, but also all holy souls, which are 
 Gtod's pleasances. It is a fountain, again, by reason s.Ambros. 
 of its ready accessibility, because its stream of love tie Isaac. 4. 
 breaks out so freely that man can drink of it as he 
 stoops, or can turn its fertilizing channels among the 
 beds of his garden to water his fruits. But it is also 
 a icell, because of its profound depth and the hidden 
 mysteries it contains, which have to be searched out 
 with toil, and drawn forth with humility. For Holy pjjjiQ ^^^^.p 
 "Writ is a stormy sea to the proud, and a fordable river 
 to the humble, and sometimes appears as the tiniest 
 rill to water the unlearned and simple, while it is, 
 nevertheless, deepest in the spots which seem to mark 
 the easiest fords ; so, as a Saint has truly said, an s. Greg. M. 
 elephant needs to swim where a lamb can ford easily. 
 It is a fountain of living waters, because it flows Cassiodor. 
 from the perennial source of Divine wisdom, not like 
 the teaching of heretics, stored in tanks of human 
 construction, and sure to dry up when the sun is 
 hot. Of these the Prophet saith, " They have for- Jer. ii. 13. 
 saken Me the fountain of living waters, and hewed 
 them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no 
 water." But of him who hearkens to the voice of the ^ *' 
 Lord Jesus is said: "Whosoever drinketh of thes, johniv. 
 water that I shall give him shall never thirst ; but the i4. 
 water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of 
 water springing up into everlasting life." This is He 
 of whom the Psalmist saith : " Thou shalt give them 
 drink of Thy pleasures, as out of the river. For with ^" ^^^^^' ' 
 Thee is the well of life : and in Thy light shall we see 
 light." And as He, the Eternal Wisdom, is the Source 
 of both well and fountain, they are rightly called 
 streams from Lebanon. He is Lebanon, the mountain 
 which fills the earth, the stone cut out without hands, ^^^' ^^^' 
 "whiteness" in His absolute holiness and purity, "in- Ricard. Vict, 
 cense" in His atoning Sacrifice and perpetual inter- 
 cession. His Bride is Lebanon too, washed white by 
 Him in His own Blood, and from her pour down those ^^^^° °^' 
 waters of Baptismal grace and Apostolic teaching, 
 which descended with irresistible power upon the |e^^^^" ^^' 
 earth, so that the rivers of the flood thereof make glad ps. xivi. 4. 
 
192 A COMMENTARY ON [IV. 15. 
 
 the city of God. And observe the gradual magnifying 
 
 of the one idea, how the fountain deepens into a well, 
 
 and the well widens into streams, denoting the continual 
 
 Cocceius. growth and advance of God's grace in the Church and 
 
 in the soul, so that the latter things are greater than 
 
 Eccius.xxiv. the former. And so it is written, "I also came out as 
 
 30. a brook from a river, and as a conduit into a garden. 
 
 I said, I will water my best garden, and will water 
 
 abundantly my garden bed : and lo, my brook became 
 
 a river, and my river became a sea." This is what 
 
 Ezekiel beheld in vision, when the waters issued from 
 
 Ezek. xlvii. the temple eastward and grew into a mighty torrent 
 
 1—12. swarming with fish, and bordered with green and 
 
 fruitful trees. 
 Ricard.vict. The devout soul is a fountain which glides and flows, 
 and which ever springs up anew, because it is renewed 
 in God. It never ceases to bubble forth, and break out 
 in love for Him, to swell for its own needs, and to 
 expand itself in affection for its neighbour. It is also 
 a well of living waters, because it contains the deep 
 grace and knowledge of the Holy Spieit, enough to 
 supply itself and to pour forth again for others. This 
 is the third well which Isaac dug, and which he called 
 Gen. xxvi. " Room," because the Lord has spread it over the 
 22- earth. For man is spread over the earth when he 
 
 arrives at the perfection of grace, and having passed 
 over servile fear, ascends from the beginning of love to 
 the affection of a son. Man digs the first well when he 
 casts earth, that is, earthly sins, out of himself through 
 fear of punishment. He digs the second when he avoids 
 sin not only through fear, but also through love of 
 good. He digs the third when he abandons evil and 
 does good from love alone. And while digging the 
 two former ones, he endures the slanders and enmity 
 of the herdsmen of Gerar, that is, the evil spirits who 
 behold our " sojournings," while we are strangers and 
 pilgrims on earth, and who strive to encourage carnal 
 passions in us. But when we attain to perfect charity 
 and spiritual fervour, the inner struggle and the outer 
 attack of evil spirits cease, because they are no longer 
 a match for us in the fight. Then the soul expands 
 so much in love and grace, and is so enriched with 
 their fulness, that it can pour forth its streams on 
 others also. 
 
 They take the Eeligious Life also to be the fountain, 
 Hugo Card, watering the garden of many a famous Order, Bene- 
 
ly. 16.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 193 
 
 dictines, Cistercians, Dominicans, Franciscans, and the 
 like. And each such Order in its turn is a fountain ciiiebert. 
 watering the gardens of the various devout souls ga- serm. 37. 
 thered in them. Each Society is one garden, because 
 of its unanimity, many gardens by reason of the vary- 
 ing gifts and graces of its members. And note, that 
 before any one member can be truly called a garden, 
 he must cultivate more than one grace or virtue, for 
 that is no garden which contains but one flower, how- 
 ever lovely. " Follow, then, after the wells of hea- 
 venly delights, the wells of faithful and of living 
 waters which pour in a flood from Lebanon. Be a 
 flower in the garden, and that garden inclosed, that 
 thou be not plucked, and thou shalt see how the Lord 
 will make fountains and streams spring up for thee. 
 Dwell in the garden, that thou too mayest perchance 
 become a well, and out of thy belly living waters may 
 flow. O that one would give me these waters for 
 my little garden, the well of gladness to my heart. 
 ' Cleanse me, O Loed, from my secret faults, keep ps. xix. 12. 
 Thy servant also from presumptuous sins.' Make me 
 to be Lebanon, ' Wash me, and I shall be whiter than ps. u. 7. 
 snow.' ' So shall I be undefiled and innocent from Ps. xix. 13. 
 the great offence. Let the words of my mouth and 
 the meditation of my heart be alway acceptable in 
 Thy sight.' Make me Lebanon, and I shall ever pour 
 these streams forth to Thee." 
 
 And finally, they take the verse to denote the Blessed Rupert. 
 Virgin, as the earthly source or fountain, whence the Aianus. 
 Divine Eiver of Mercy (as the Holy Eastern Church ord. 01. 
 calls her Eternal Son,) went forth to water the earth, sanct. ' 
 parted into the four sacramental channels of His omiiei. 
 Incarnation, Passion, Resurrection, and Ascension, Parv. 
 without the confession of which our paradise can- 
 not exist, without which the world cannot be saved. 
 And yet she is not the first source of these sacred 
 waters. They flow from a height far above her lowly 
 garden, from Lebanon itself, the mysterious height 
 of GodJiead, pure, majestic, awful, clothed in shadowv cantacu- 
 darkness. 
 
 16 Awake, O 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 pleasant fruits. 
 
194 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [IV. 16. 
 
 Theodoret. 
 Isa. xiv. 13. 
 
 Jer. i. 14; 
 
 iv. 6. 
 
 Joel ii. 20. 
 
 Hab. iii. 3. 
 
 S. Greg. 
 
 Nyss. 
 Horn. 10. 
 
 Ps.cxlvii.il 
 
 S. Paulin. 
 S. Just. Org 
 
 S. Ambros. 
 in Ps. cxix. 
 
 Througliout Holy Scripture, tlie north, as the region 
 of darkness and cold, is typical of the powers of evil, 
 according as it is written of Lucifer, " Thou hast said 
 in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt 
 my throne above the stars of God, I will sit also upon 
 the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the 
 north." And twice in Jeremiah, " Out of the north 
 an evil shall break forth upon the inhabitants of the 
 land ;" and again, " I will bring evil from the north, 
 and a great destruction." So too, when the Lokd 
 promises mercy. He saith, " I will remove far off from 
 you the northern army." And accordingly a frequent 
 exposition of this verse by the Fathers is that it is a 
 summons to the powers of evil to begone from the 
 garden, and a prayer to the Holy Spieit, denoted by 
 the moist and warm south wind, to enter in instead. 
 For it is said in Habakkuk, " God came from Teman," 
 which is " the south." S. Gregory Nyssen reminds us 
 also that the north is on the right hand of him whose 
 back is towards the east, and who is journeying west- 
 ward, and so Satan is friendly to those only who turn 
 away from the Day-spring from on high, and set them- 
 selves towards the sunset, where the powers of darkness 
 prevail. Also, the second clause, the prayer which 
 was answered when the rushing mighty wind came 
 down on the disciples at Pentecost, notes the great 
 change which then passed over the Church of God, 
 when the prophetic streams of waters of the Old Testa- 
 
 . ment, of which we read, " He bloweth with His wind, 
 and the waters flow," were changed into the more 
 glorious streams of fragrant spices, diffused throughout 
 the world in such channels as the mighty S. Paul, or 
 the Evangelist S. John, both of them a good odour of 
 Cheist. 
 
 Others, however, take both winds to be diverse ope- 
 
 , rations of the same Holy Spieit, the north bringing 
 coolness to the fevered, the south softening the hard 
 and frozen. And because these two are but one Spirit, 
 the verb is singular, not plural. Again, the north and 
 south may be taken to denote the nations of different 
 parts of the earth, alike invited to enter the garden 
 inclosed, and the north, signifying the more distant 
 lands, is therefore bidden to awake from its sleep, to 
 arise from the dead, that Cheist may give it light. 
 Further, they take the two winds to be various forms 
 of trial, for which the Church prays, that she may be 
 
IV. 16.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 195 
 
 tested for her Lord. For when the virtues of the Cassiodor. 
 Church have been counted up under the name of 
 spices ; the Lord, Who is the Bridegroom and Re- 
 deemer of His Church, knowing that it would be in- 
 creased by persecution, afterwards, as it were, directs 
 that persecution to come, not enjoining, but permitting 
 it. The north and south winds signify troubles and 
 persecutions raging against the Church. The north is 
 a very cold wind, the south a warm one, and therefore 
 terrors and threats are denoted by the north, and 
 guileful flatteries by the south, by both which kinds of 
 trial the Church is proved. And in saying, Atvake, O 
 north loind, and come, thou south, He does not com- 
 mand nor urge wicked men to do evil, but permits 
 them, and gives them power to rage against the Church, 
 that it may be tested by their malice, and they be the 
 more severely punished. For the more cruelly the 
 Church is smitten, the greater fragrance of holiness 
 does she give forth. 
 
 Others differ so far as to see the bane and antidote Luc. Abb. 
 summoned together, the north wind of sorrow and 
 trial, the south wind of grace and comfort to refresh 
 and restore the Church or soul wearied with its com- 
 bat. But the north wind is not suffered to stay long. 
 When it has sufficiently exercised its chilly power, Ric Vict, 
 then the south comes, and not only blows, but bloius 
 through (so, correctly, LXX. and Yulg.) the garden, 
 occupying the whole of it, so that no sorrow can abide 
 there, but all the spices flow out together in abundance 
 and gladness. And in this sense S, Anselm tersely 
 comments : " The north wind, shaking the trees, makes s.Ans.Laud. 
 them bud, that the south which follows may cause 
 them to bear fruit. And so persecution, followed by 
 the fervour of charity, makes the Church bear fruit 
 through the grace of the Holy Ghost." 
 
 Eupert, diversely, following the view which identifies Rupert. 
 the north wind with Satan, holds that the verse is a 
 challenge to him to arise from his secret ambush, and 
 to advance to do battle with the south wind of the 
 Holy Spirit for possession of the garden. And it 
 has been taken, not only of the Pagan persecutions, and 
 of the struggles of heretics to overthrow the Faith, 
 but also of the last great effort of Antichrist, when Honorius. 
 God will permit him to awake against the Church, but 
 will ere long send His refreshing and warm wind to 
 restore the lapsed, and to give new strength and beauty 
 o2 
 
196 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [lY. 16. 
 
 to His enfeebled and mourning garden. It should 
 be observed that while the majority of the Fathers 
 take the words to be the Bridegroom's, dealing with 
 the garden and the winds as their absolute Lord, some 
 few, amongst whom are Theodoret and S. Gregory 
 Nyssen, will have it, that it is the prayer of the Bride. 
 Com. h Lap. The application of the verse to the Blessed Virgin is 
 twofold ; first, that she was guarded from evil, repelled 
 from her by the grace of her perfect obedience and 
 purity, and that she was filled with the Holy Spirit, 
 whereby not only her virtues flowed forth in beauty, 
 but He came forth from her. Who is the source of all 
 beauty and holiness. And so runs the hymn : 
 
 The Hymn, 
 Imperatrix 
 gloriosa. 
 
 Keble, 
 
 Christian 
 
 Year. 
 
 Philipp. 
 Harveng. 
 
 Auster lev is te perflavit, 
 Et perflando fecundavit, 
 Aquilonem qui fugavit, 
 
 Sua cum potentia ; 
 Florem ergo genuisti, 
 Ex quo fructum protulisti, 
 Gabrieli dum fuisti 
 
 Pax-anympho credula. 
 
 That soft south-wind, through thee going, 
 
 And thus fruitfulness bestowing, 
 
 Put to flight the north-wind's blowing, 
 
 With his breath of greater might ; 
 Therefore thou hast borne the Flower, 
 Yielding fruit within thy bower, 
 When to Gabriel, in that hour. 
 
 Thou didst hearken with delight. 
 
 And again ; no life ever so mingled joy and sorrow as 
 hers did, none ever felt such woe and desolation, nor 
 yet such consolation and rejoicing, as she who knelt by 
 the cradle of the Most High, and who stood later by 
 His Cross. 
 
 Thou wept'st, meek Maiden, Mother mild. 
 Thou wept'st upon thy sinless Child, 
 
 Thy very heart was i-iven. 
 And yet, what mourning matron here 
 Could deem thy sorrows bought too dear 
 
 Ey all on this side heaven ? 
 
 Even against her, His Mother, He permitted the evil 
 one to rage, to threaten, to storm, either through the 
 means of the evilJews, or through the sufferings which 
 she could not but share with her Son, but He knew 
 well what would be her victory and her crown, what 
 will yet be the triumph and the reward of those who 
 
IV. 16.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 197 
 
 take her for tlieir pattern, and bear the chilling blast 
 
 with patience, knowing that, cold as it is, it -vrill clear 
 
 the sky, and drive away the clouds which hide the sun, Cocceius. 
 
 and then the warm breeze will spring up, and the heart 
 
 be gladdened to its inmost core. 
 
 Let my Beloved come into Sis garden, and eat Sis 
 pleasant fruits. These words of the Bride are as- 
 signed by the present copies of LXX. and Vulgate to 
 the following chapter, with which they have a closer 
 connection. But the juxtaposition of the A. V. is 
 also that which some Greek Fathers and not a few 
 Westerns have accepted. And the first thing to be 
 observed is that one phrase in this address of the Bride 
 seems to prove that all the earlier part of the verse is 
 uttered by the Bridegroom. She says, " Let my Be- 
 loved come into Sis garden." She does not say my Phiio Carp, 
 garden, as the previous speaker does, because she 
 knows that she herself and all that she has are utterly 
 and entirely His, and not her own. On the other 
 hand ; if the words be taken as the Bride's, this varia- 
 tion of language will denote that in her humility she 
 calls the garden hers, so long as the bleak, dry, nipping 
 north wind is blowing, and no sign of fertility is visi- 
 ble, but the moment that endurance has been crowned, 
 and the spices begin to flow out, then, because the 
 garden is productive am beautiful, she calls it His. 
 Next ; the LXX. and A -abic version read. Let my 
 Beloved come doion into B s garden, which the Syriac 
 amplifies further. Let Him come through my garden 
 into His garden. And oii the LXX. rendering, S. 
 Gregory Nyssen observes, hat as the Bride cannot ^; ^^^s- 
 reach the Most High unless 1 "e condescend to her low- ^^^' 
 liness ; she, while soaring to the utmost limit of her 
 power, intreats Him to meet her, by coming down 
 from His majesty to earth. She calls Him all the 
 more, because hearing that He is going to try her by Q^gg^o^Q^ 
 persecution, she cannot rest till He is in the midst of 
 her, to support her in her struggle, and to be the glad 
 spectacle of the holy deeds she means to do for love of 
 Him. The Church invites Him also to see the chil- 
 dren she has brought up for Him, the newly-baptized 
 converts won to Him from unbelief. These are, ac- 
 cording to the LXX. rendering, />'«?V5 o/wm^^, because 
 safely closed in by the strong shell of His command- 
 ments. Or, as S. Ambrose, writing of and to Virgins, ^; sS^am' 
 says, following the same text, the Woed of God is v. 3. 
 
198 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [IV. 16. 
 
 Tres Patr. 
 De Virgin. 3. 
 
 Luc. Abb. 
 
 Philo Carp. 
 S. John iv. 
 34. 
 
 Guiliel. 
 Parv. 
 
 Rupert. 
 Delrio. 
 
 Card. Hail- 
 grin. 
 
 Beda. 
 Hugo Vict. 
 
 GiUebert. 
 Hab, iii. 3. 
 
 invited into the garden of nuts, wherein is the fruit of 
 the study of prophecy, and the grace of the priestly 
 office, compared to a nut, because bitter at first with 
 trial and sorrows, then hardened by toil, and finally 
 fruitful in hidden virtues. And this verse is more 
 directly applied to the virginal life by another, follow- 
 ing the Western rendering, apples. The Bride invites 
 Christ to hallow for Himself, as the firstlings of good 
 works, the produce of the fruits of virginity, that He, 
 Who proceeded from a Virgin, may taste thereof, and 
 may send by the hands of angels into heaven that fruit 
 of penitential joy which He receives from the Church. 
 He hath said of Himself, " My meat is to do the will of 
 Him that sent Me, and to finish His work ;" and there- 
 fore He tastes His pleasant fruits whenever He visits 
 and enters any holy soul to see its progress in sanctity. 
 And He was especially invited by S. Mary, when she 
 said, " Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it unto 
 me according to thy word." Eve offered her bride- 
 groom an apple which was none of hers to give, nor 
 of his to accept, but Mary called her God to eat His 
 own fruits, that is, to unite and incorporate His elect 
 with Himself, calling Him into herself, His garden, 
 because while fields or plains often lie fallow or barren 
 as the seasons change, a garden has always some fruit 
 or flower to please its master's eye, and she was not 
 merely a Saint as others, but full of grace. And whereas 
 Rupert goes on to represent the words as those of the 
 Virgin Mother desiring her Son to call her from the 
 world to Himself; so too some of the commentators 
 have seen here the cry of every soul which longs to 
 flee away and be at rest, to be dissolved and be with 
 Christ, that He may enter the garden, and bear its 
 fruit away with Him to Paradise. And it is all 
 summed up in the one petition of the Our Father, "Thy 
 kingdom come." Let Him come then. Why does He 
 invite the south wind to come ? Let Him come to me 
 Himself, and it is enough. He is my south wind. He 
 is my fragrance. He is my south wind. He is my Love. 
 God Cometh from the south, and the south wind comes 
 with Him. And then He is full of grace and truth. 
 Truly He is my south wind. Who brightly shines. Who 
 softly glides upon me. My Christ is my south wind, 
 He blows through my garden, He eats my fruit. 
 
V. 1.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 199 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 1 I am come into my garden^ my sister, my 
 spouse ; I have gathered my myrrh with my 
 spice ; I have eaten my honeycomb with my 
 honey ; I have drunk my wine with my milk : 
 eat, O friends; drink^ yea_, drink abundantly, 
 O beloved. 
 
 The Bride has scarcely formed her wish, scarcely g q 
 uttered her prayer, before it is heard and answered, Nyss! ^' 
 according to that saying, " Thou shalt call, and the jg^ ^^^^ g 
 LoED shall answer ; thou shalt cry, and He shall say. 
 Here I am." For G-od did come into His garden, the 
 creature, took flesh of the Virgin, and was made man. 
 The Body He took was mortal, but united with the s. Athan. 
 fragrance of the All-Holiest Woed. They dwell, too, 
 in another way on the myrrh, as denoting suffering, 
 and say with S. Cyril of Jerusalem, as he tells his ^^'^^^'^' 
 catechumens of the place where the Loed was cruci- ' 
 fied, " Of this garden I sang long ago in the Canticles 
 to My Bride, and I said thus to her, I have come into 
 My garden, My sister, My spouse. ' Now in the place s. John xix, 
 where He was crucified there was a garden.' And ^*- 
 what thence drawest thou ? I have gathered My myrrh, 
 when He drank the wine and vinegar mingled with 
 myrrh, and having received it, said, 'It is finished.""" 
 And on this a Spanish writer says very well : As Adam p^rez. 
 committed his sin in the garden of Paradise, so Cheist, 
 the Atoner for that guilt, willed to enter the garden of 
 Gethsemane, and there He prayed for Adam and all 
 his posterity, there too He willed to be taken, bound, 
 dragged away, and smitten by the servants of the 
 chief priests. Also, as Adam stretched out his hands 
 to the tree and seized the forbidden fruit, therefore 
 Cheist stretched out His hands and arms on the Tree 
 of the Cross, and there was nailed by hands and feet, 
 and pierced with a spear. Moreover Adam ate the 
 fruit which was sweet to the taste, but Cheist drank 
 the bitter vinegar mingled with myrrh on the Cross. 
 
 S. John xix. 
 30. 
 
200 A COMMENTARY ON [V. 1. 
 
 And though that Passion was as the bitterest myrrh 
 to Cheist, to us it was as the sweetest honey in effect, 
 and fragrant as all restorative spices, intoxicating as 
 wine, nourishing as milk. Yet, as one of our own 
 poets has taught us, the first interpretation is deeper 
 than the second one. 
 
 Keble, Lyra And surely not in folds so bright the spotless winding-sheet 
 Innocent. Inwrapt Him, nor such fragrance poured the myrrh and aloes 
 sweet, 
 As when in that chaste bosom, His awful bed, He lay, 
 And Mary's prayer around Him rose, like incense, night and 
 day. 
 
 Luc. Abb. He gathered His myrrh too in another fashion, by 
 converting the fierce thief upon the cross, as He had 
 gathered His spices a little before when He drew the 
 
 Phiio Car sinful woman to Him. He gathered His myrrh and 
 
 arp. g.^ spice when He was borne dead into the garden 
 
 where Joseph's new tomb was, and when they wrapped 
 
 Him in fine linen with myrrh and aloes. He gathered 
 
 s. Just. Org. myrrh indeed in His death, but when He went into 
 that other garden of His, in Hades, He gathered 
 thence His spice, when He brought back into the light 
 
 Rupert. of Paradise the spirits that were in prison. And this 
 
 Cassiodor. coming is not all past and over. Daily He comes still 
 
 Beda. ^^^^ -^^^ garden, daily does He visit His Church and 
 
 every soul that loves Him, to gather fruits for Him- 
 
 Theodoret. ^^^f. He gathers myrrh in His martyrs, spice in His 
 other Saints, myrrh in all who mortify their carnal 
 passion, spice in all who yield the odour of devotion 
 
 Deirio. and good works. Myrrh denotes the Baptism whereby 
 
 we are buried with Him, spice the graces of the Holy 
 Spieit which He breathes on His disciples. And thus 
 He speaks to the soul unto whose garden He comes : 
 
 Ricard.vict. " Thou hast borne, O My spouse, the sorrow of pe- 
 nance ; the strife, the trial, the toil of correction, and 
 thou hast come to the harvest of perfection in virtue, 
 from the life of toil to the calmer state of contemplation. 
 Therefore have I gathered in the myrrh with spice, 
 because the spices of virtue have been prepared and 
 perfected in thee with the bitterness of toil, and wis- 
 dom hath made progress through keeping the com- 
 mandments. For when fleshliness and self-will have 
 been mortified, then the spices of holiness flow out, 
 and by the fulfilment and triumph of this toil the sum- 
 
 Djon. earth, mit of perfection is reached." And why is He said 
 
V. 1.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 201 
 
 to gather His myrrli, instead of letting it grow still in 
 the garden ? Why, but that He may give it as a posy 
 to His Bride, that bunch which lies all night between 
 her breasts, for her delight and refreshment. 
 
 I have eaten JSly honey comh with My honey. And S.Athan. 
 this He did when He stored the golden sweetness of 
 His Godhead in the frail, pure shrine of His human 
 Body. He hath eaten the honeycomb, that is, taken Rupert, 
 it to Himself, in raising it to Heaven by His Ascen- 
 sion. And in precisely the same sense is it added, I 
 have driuih My loine ivith My milk, wherein the hy- 
 postatic union of the Two Natures in His Person is 
 similarly shadowed forth. But as the phrases eating 
 and dvinhing denote bodily refreshment, they are more 
 usually explained of the pleasure which Christ de- 
 rives from the holiness of His Saints. By the honey- 
 comb and loine, comments Cassiodorus, holy preachers cassiod. 
 are figured, and by honey and milk devout hearers. 
 For preachers are honeycombs who bring forth the 
 secret and hidden mysteries of Scripture like honey 
 out of the comb, when they disclose them to others by 
 preaching. And devout hearers are the honey, because 
 they delight to receive eagerly and to be fed plea- 
 santly with the sweetness of God's Word. The same 
 preachers who are honeycomb are also wine, because 
 they declare the mighty Sacraments of the Scriptures. 
 The hearers, as weaker, are milk, in that they need 
 the mysteries to be explained and simplified for them. 
 And whereas all these spend their lives in different 
 ways, the Redeemer is fed and gladdened with the 
 holy resolutions of them all, and thus does, as it were, 
 eat His honeycomb with His honey, and drink His 
 wine with His milk. And we may refer it also to the 
 death of the elect, whom the Lord eats, when He calls 
 them by death to eternal life, and unites them to His 
 Body, that is, to the fellowship of the elect who already 
 rejoice in that heavenly bliss. And if we do so take it 
 of the death of the Saints, we should understand them 
 by wine whose souls now are exulting in heavenly 
 bliss, and hj honeycomb those who rejoice both in body 
 and soul in that blessedness, such as they who arose 
 together with the Lord. Again, He accepts all kinds Theodoret. 
 of holiness, — that which is solid, denoted by the comb ; 
 that which is sweet, signified by the honey ; that which 
 is strong and vigorous, typified by wine ; that which 
 comes from weak and imperfect Christians, shadowed 
 
202 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [V.l. 
 
 Luc. Abb. 
 
 Irimbert. 
 
 Hugo Card. 
 
 Ricard. Vict, 
 
 S. Greg. 
 Nyss. 
 
 Philo Carp. 
 S. Ambros. 
 de Sacr. v. 3 
 
 Corn, h Lap, 
 
 fortli by milk. Another will have it that the honey- 
 comb with its honey fitly signifies those Saints who 
 delight in the study of Holy Writ, and who make 
 their hearts and memories the cells wherein they, like 
 bees, store up the sweet food drawn from all the 
 flowers of Law and Prophet, Psalm and Gospel. And 
 another writer reminds us that we too may eat and 
 drink in this wise in imitation of our Lord, when we 
 digest not merely the outward letter of Holy Scrip- 
 ture, which is the comb, but its inner spiritual sense, 
 which is the honey ; when we drink not only the 
 stinging and powerful wine of compunction, but the 
 soothing milk of trust in the mercy of GtOD. He 
 drinks His tome too in another manner, the new wine 
 of His kingdom, in His delight in those of His Saints 
 who have kept the faith and finished their course, and 
 come to Him where He no longer weeps for Lazarus, 
 where He is no more sorrowful unto death, where He 
 drinks not vinegar and gall again. He drinks His 7nilk 
 in His love for His Saints yet militant and imperfect, 
 who are still in the way, and need daily refreshment 
 and food. He eats His honeycomb when He delights 
 in the inner capacities of the soul for good. He adds 
 His honey to that feast when those capacities develope 
 into action, like the comb pouring out its golden 
 streams. He drinks wine and milk when He looks on 
 a soul delightedly contemplating Him in His double 
 aspect of perfect Godhead and glorified Manhood. 
 And the soul too eats and drinks in its turn, nay, in 
 the same order. For amended ways and good works 
 must come before the grace of contemplation is be- 
 stowed. A various reading of the LXX. and Arabic, 
 bread for honei/comb, has pointed more directly a fur- 
 ther sense also latent here, and thus some of the Fa- 
 thers have bidden us see here a prophecy of the Holy 
 Eucharist, that Food which is all sweetness and strength. 
 And Cornelius aptly notes that it was the custom of 
 the primitive Church to give the Blessed Sacrament 
 to the newly-baptized, and immediately thereafter, 
 honey and milk, typical of the gentleness, sweetness, 
 and simplicity of the Law of Christ. And as He is 
 not only Lord of the feast spread upon His Altar 
 daily, but fellow-guest, in that His own members are 
 they who feed there, He is said to share in the repast, 
 as He did on that first Maundy Thursday amongst 
 His Apostles. 
 
V.I.] 
 
 THE SONG OF SONGS. 
 
 203 
 
 Eat, O friends} drink, yea, drink abundantly, O he- 
 loved. The first question tliey ask liere is, Who are 
 these friends ? And the Targum helps us to the an- 
 swer. As it takes the invitation of the Bride to be the 
 invocation of God unto His Temple, and His reply to ^^^ ^^ 
 denote His sending down fire to consume the oblations, ^'*^"'"* 
 so it explains this clause of His summons to the 
 priests to draw near in order to eat their share of the 
 sacrifices, which He leaves for them. And thus we s. Greg, 
 shall see here Christ's invitation to those Apostles g^l'^j^^rog 
 whom He then called no more servants, but friends, s! John xv. 
 saying, " Come, eat of My Bread, and drink of the is. 
 Wine which I have mingled." And not only they, P^^o^-i-'^-^- 
 but all Christians of whatever degree, who are in a 
 sense His priests, are called to that same banquet. 
 Drink abundantly. The marginal reading, more ex- 
 actly, with LXX. and Vulgate, Be drunken. For, as 
 a great Saint and Martyr teaches us, the intoxication s. Cyiirian. 
 of ^ the Loed's Chalice and Blood is not like that of ^t3..^1 
 this world's wine, therefore the Holy Ghost when 
 saying in the Psalm, " My inebriating chalice," addeth, 
 " How good it is I"^ because, no doubt, the Lord's 
 Chalice in such wise inebriates those who drink of it, 
 as to make them sober, and recall their souls to spi- 
 ritual wisdom, so that each may turn from the savour 
 of the world to taste the knowledge of God : and just 
 as the mind is relaxed, the soul loosened, and all sor- 
 row cast aside by means of ordinary wine ; so when 
 we drink the Blood of the Lord and the Cup of Salva- 
 tion, the memory of the old man is laid aside, forget- 
 fulness of our former conversation comes upon us, and 
 the sad and mourning heart, which just now was op- 
 pressed with torturing sins, is freed by the gladness 
 of God's merciful pardon. Accordingly that ancient 
 morning hymn, once daily used in the Western Church, 
 but now for many centuries restricted to the Lauds of 
 Monday, runs : 
 
 Caecilium. 
 
 1 The word D^5?l, friends, is 
 the same which is translated 
 in the A. V. of Ps. cxxxix. 17, 
 as "thoughts," and in the 
 Prayer Book as "counsels," 
 "whereby the force of its ancient 
 use and beautiful Antiphon, 
 as employed in the Common of 
 
 Apostles, " How dear are Thy 
 friends unto me, God," is 
 lost. 
 
 2 This is the LXX. and Vul- 
 gate readiog of Ps. xxiii. 5, 
 where the A. V. translates (as 
 do modern critics) "my cup 
 runneth over." 
 
204 A COMMENTARY ON [V. 1. 
 
 S. Ambros. -^^^ Christ shall be our daily Food, 
 
 The Hymn, Our daily drink His Precious Blood, 
 
 Splendor And thus the Spirit's calm excess' 
 
 PateryKB Shall fill our souls with holiness. 
 GloricB, 
 
 But this is only one out of a variety of expositions. 
 
 Cassiod. Q^g Father tells us that it is an invitation to all God's 
 faithful and loving servants to behold and imitate the 
 examples of His Saints, and that if we interpret the 
 passage of Saints departed, then the friends called on 
 to rejoice are the angelic spirits, delighting in seeing 
 the elect translated from this life to the rest of ever- 
 lasting blessedness, according to that parable of the 
 
 s. Luke Gospel, *' Hejoice with Me, for I have found My 
 
 ^^- ^' sheep which was lost." Another sees in the friends 
 
 called on to eat, the Patriarchs and Prophets, sum- 
 
 Phiio Carp, moned to share in the Word of Life and in the Passion 
 of the LoED, and in the stream of the Holy Ghost; 
 and the beloved, called to drunkenness, the Apostles, 
 so inebriated with the torrent of the Holy Ghost 
 poured on them from heaven, that they were thought 
 to be full of new wine, while preaching the wonder- 
 
 s.Ans.Laud. ful works of GoD. S. Anselm of Laon tells us that 
 preachers are called on to eat, that is, to incorporate 
 sinners into the body of the Church with pains and 
 care, by converting their hearers, and to chnnh, in 
 the case of those who are more readily won over 
 and quickly give in adhesion, while the term he 
 drunlten denotes their zealous pleasure in their work, 
 and their heedlessness of all temporal things so long 
 as they may carry it on. Not very dissimilarly, S. 
 
 s. Greg. M. Grregory the Great, taking the banquet to be Holy- 
 Scripture, says that they eat of it and are Cheist's 
 friends, who, though not attaining perfection, do yet 
 strive after holiness in their degree ; but His beloved, 
 who are drunken with its delights, are those who have 
 cast away all thoughts of earth in their eagerness to 
 
 Ric. Vict. quaff His cup. And this is true also of divine con- 
 templation, wherein God feeds His friends, but more 
 abundantly refreshes His beloved, though both receive 
 in that banquet spiritual consolation, as they are fed 
 with the love of Cheist, are enlightened in faith, com- 
 forted in hope, kindled in charity, gladdened with. 
 righteousness, truth, purity, and all other graces. 
 And finally, ih.ej take it of the summons to the un- 
 
 ^ *' Sobriam ebrietatem." 
 
V. 2.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 205 
 
 ending festival of heaven. There, exclaims Gilbert p-,, v^ ^ 
 of Hoyland, there all are friends, all beloved. All serm.41.' 
 drink, and all are inebriated. Not so in this vale of 
 tears, not so, but there are many friends, few beloved ; 
 many drink, not all are inebriated, and they who are 
 so, become sober again. For a moment they pass 
 forth in ecstasy, and then return again to the wonted 
 soberness. There it is different : 
 
 Ever full, yet ever craving, they desire, and yet possess, S. Pet. Dam. 
 
 But their fulness brings no loathing, and their hunger no distress, "^^^ Hymn, 
 Eagerly they eat for ever, ever eat in joyfulness. "^^ perenms. 
 
 And with this last interpretation we may couple that 
 other version of the clause. Be drunken with love, with 
 all the unspeakable gladness of the Home of eternal 
 
 joy- 
 
 2 I sleep, but my heart waketh : it is the 
 voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying. 
 Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my 
 undefiled ; for my head is filled with dew, and 
 my locks with the drops of the night. 
 
 Here begins another main division of the song, the 
 fourth in order, and marking the central time of the 
 action. It typifies, as some of the commentators tell 
 us, the trials of the Bride after her union with the 
 Bridegroom ; her failure, yearning, and search for Him 
 after He had again withdrawn Himself for her better 
 probation. It is thus taken of the Church after she Hon. Aug. 
 relaxed in her first love and zeal, after the days of 
 Pagan tyranny were over, and of the soul which yields 
 to spiritual negligence even after true conversion to 
 God. The Chaldee paraphrase is quite in keeping Targum. 
 with this view, in that it explains the sleep of the Bride 
 to be the seventy years' captivity in Babylon, whence 
 Israel was wakened by the voice of the Holy Ghost, 
 warning them by the Prophets, and rousing them from 
 the slumber of their heart. And similarly one or two s. Greg, 
 are found who explain this sleep of the Bride to denote ^yssen. 
 a season of negligence and indevotion, soon to be shaken 
 off, and prevented from working fatal results because 
 her Heart, her Love, her Bridegroom, is watching 
 over her slumbers, and guarding her from all fear of 
 the enemy, according to that saying, " Behold, He that Ps. cxxi. 4, 
 
206 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [V.2. 
 
 Gmebert. 
 Tres Patr. 
 Theodoret. 
 
 S. Greg. 
 
 Nyss. 
 
 S. Ambros, 
 Exhort, ad 
 
 Virg. 
 
 S. Greg. 
 M. Moral. 
 V. 22. 
 
 S. August. 
 Tract. 5/ in 
 Johann. 
 
 Ecclus. 
 xxxviii. 24. 
 
 S. Mat. X. 
 27. 
 
 S. Luke ii. 
 
 19. 
 
 S. Ambros. 
 
 de Virg . 
 
 lib. ii. 
 
 Brev.Sarisb. 
 
 keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep." But 
 the great majority take the words in a good sense. 
 Her Lord has just given her His inebriating chalice, 
 which closes her eyes to all earthly cares and anxieties, 
 and she now slumbers in the deep repose of perfect 
 trust, and divine contemplation, while her heart is 
 waking in eagerness of love for Him. She sleeps, be- 
 cause sleep is a type of death, and she has learnt to 
 die to the world and its affections, whilst she wakes in 
 contemplation of heavenly things. And therefore S. 
 Ambrose thus addresses a Virgin, " Let thy flesh sleep, 
 let thy faith wake, let the allurements of the body 
 slumber, let the prudence of the heart keep watch, let 
 thy members breathe the odour of Christ's Cross and 
 grave, that slumber bring no heat, and arouse no pas- 
 sions." And this mingled condition of sleep and wake- 
 fulness involves, S. Gregory warns us, a perpetual 
 struggle, that contemplation may not sink into torpor, 
 nor evil passions take possession of the soul whence 
 secular occupations have been banished. How this 
 struggle is to be carried on, another Saint will tell us : 
 What means, I sleep, hut my heart loaheth, save that I 
 so rest that I may hear ? My repose is not devoted to 
 encouraging sloth, but to acquiring wisdom. I sleep 
 and my heart waketh, I have time for thought, and I 
 see that Thou art the Lord, for " the wisdom of a 
 learned man cometh by opportunity of leisure ; and he 
 that hath little business shall become wise." I sleep, 
 and my heart waketh ; I rest from the cares of busi- 
 ness, and my mind is busy with divine affection, but 
 while the Church is peacefully delighting in them who 
 thus sweetly and humbly rest, behold One knocketh 
 Who saith, " What I tell you in darkness, that speak 
 ye in light : and what ye hear in the ear, that preach 
 ye upon the housetops." 
 
 And in this sense of peaceful contemplation of the 
 pure and untrammelled soul, they delight to recall her 
 who " kept all these things and pondered them in her 
 heart." Desire for sleep came not on her, says a great 
 Saint, before its need, and yet when her body was at 
 rest, her mind was waking, busy even in dreams in re- 
 calling what she had read, continuing in sleep what 
 had been interrupted, or carrying out plans, or else 
 declaring what should be carried out. And in imita- 
 tion of her the ancient English Church prays in one 
 of her Compline hymns and antiphons : 
 
V. 2.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 207 
 
 let our eyes due slumber take, The Hymn, 
 Our hearts to Thee for ever wake ! Christe, 
 
 Qui lux es et 
 
 And again ; " Save us watching, O Loed, and guard us '^*^** 
 sleeping, that we may watch with Christ, and sleep 
 in peace." This we may do, observes S. Cyprian, by s. Cypr. de 
 being earnest in prayer, for he who recites prayer ^'^*^- ^°'^- 
 carelessly, wakes with his body, but sleeps with his 
 heart. Cassiodorus tells us that the words are those Cassiod, 
 of the Church, saying that she sleeps, because she is 
 enjoying comparative peace, and not suffering the per- 
 secutions endured by the primitive Church, and there- 
 fore her heart waketh because she is able to devote 
 herself to the love of her Bridegroom in greater secu- 
 rity than before. But as she errs in supposing this 
 time to be one of peace, rather than of toil and strife, 
 she is quickly roused by His voice, calling her to 
 labour and striving to spread His kingdom. Again ; 
 the words have been taken to denote the condition of 
 the faithful departed, sleeping indeed bodily in the 
 grave, but with the affections alive and active in wor- 
 ship of God and intercession for the loved on earth. 
 And in this sense they form the noble motto over the 
 tombs of the kings of Spain in the Escorial. 
 
 There is a further interpretation of the words, as- Hugo Vict, 
 cribing them to the Bridegroom. And first ; they ^-''^^I'^s. 
 take it of His sleep in the grave, where His Body 
 rested, but His Godhead was ever wakeful, and, as 
 another adds. His soul was even then engaged in har- Phiio Carp, 
 rowing hell, and spoiling it of its prey. Again ; He 
 sleeps in the sense of His perfect rest in the bosom of s, Greg. m. 
 His Fathee, and yet labours there that all who love 
 Him may come to Him. And thus He, as it were, 
 sleeps in bodily absence, while He watches over us in 
 ever-present and loving Godhead. Once more, He 
 sleeps, so far as all outward sign of life is concerned, 
 in the great Sacrament of His love, where He is 
 hidden under the forms of Bread and Wine, but His Vieyra. 
 heart waketh there in the love wherewith He gives 
 Himself to be our Food. 
 
 1 rise from dreams of time, 
 And an Angel guides my feet, 
 
 To the sacred Altar-throne, 
 "Where Jesus' heart doth beat. 
 
 The lone lamp softly bums, 
 And a wondrous silence reigns, 
 
208 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [V. 2. 
 
 Only, with a low still voice, 
 The Holy One complains : 
 
 "Long, long I've waited here, 
 And though thou heed' st not Me, 
 
 The Heart of God's own Son 
 Beats ever on for thee." 
 
 In the womh of Mary meek, 
 In the ci-adle, on the Tree ; 
 
 Heart of pure, undying love. 
 It lived, loved, bled for me. 
 
 Ever pleading, day and night. 
 Thou canst not from us part, 
 
 veiled and wondrous Son, 
 love of the Sacred Heart ! 
 
 S. August. 
 Tract. 5/ in 
 S. Joann. 
 
 Cassiodor. 
 
 Honorius 
 Augustod. 
 
 S. August, 
 loo. cit. 
 
 It is the voice of my Beloved that TcnocJceth. And 
 this knocking, as S. Augustine told us but just now, 
 is that the Church may rise to the life of action from 
 that of contemx^lation, may understand that it is her 
 duty to go forth and compel the multitude of the Gen- 
 tiles to come in. The words, observes a Western divine 
 of a later age, denote Cheist's anxiety for the neglectful 
 and erring, that they may be corrected by spiritual 
 persons, and imply at the same time the eagerness 
 of the Church in contemplation, and the irksomeness 
 to her of external activity. The Voice of Cheist 
 knocking at the door of the faithful is this : O Church, 
 My sister, because through Me co-heir of My kingdom, 
 My friend (Vulg.) because through Me versed in hea- 
 venly mysteries ; My dove, filled by Me with the Holy 
 Ghost ; My undejiled, because cleansed by Me from 
 sin ; Oioen to Me by exhortation the door of their hearts, 
 who have fastened it with the bar of wicked works, 
 and who have become like the drops of the night, that is, 
 members of the evil spirits, and thou shalt be My sister, 
 if thou make those now disinherited through sin. My 
 fellow-heirs through grace ; thou shalt be My friend, 
 if thou make them, now Mine enemies through unbe- 
 lief, My friends in steadfastness of faith ; thou shalt 
 be My dove, if thou make the double-hearted simple ; 
 and thou shalt be My undefiled, if thou make those 
 stained with guilt undefiled through virtues. For 
 how, (as S. Augustine puts it,) shall I enter into them 
 who have shut the door against Me, unless there be 
 some one to open ? And how shall they hear without 
 a preacher? He knows full well that He is setting 
 
V. 2.] THE SONG OF SOx\GS. 209 
 
 her a task wliich seems hard to her ; that He is, for 
 once, telling Mary to leave His feet and her own better 
 part, and go forth to help Martha in her service, and 
 therefore He heaps up all loving epithets, that she may- 
 be well assured that it is from no slackening of His 
 affection that she is summoned from her secret con- 
 verse to the troubles of the world. She would fain say 
 with Peter on Mount Tabor, " Loed, it is good to be 
 here," but she must go down to the plain, from the glory 
 of the Transfiguration to the group around the strug- 
 gling demoniac, from the vision of God to the strife 
 with Satan. And she, who had barred herself in lest ^Jj^ ^^^p- 
 the prowling wolf should enter the fold, hearing the 
 words of love, each title of affection being a fresh knock 
 at the door of her heart, knows the Voice of the Good 
 Shepherd, and exclaims, even before she sees Him, 
 " My Loed and my God," for she is aware that He only 
 can call her sister, who is her Brother by His Incar- 
 nation, His love, Who gave Himself for her ; His dove, 
 to whom He gave the seven-fold gifts of the Spieit ; 
 His undefiled, whom He washed in the waters of Bap- 
 tism. One writer suggests that the unsheltered con- s. Just. Org. 
 dition of the Bridegroom tells us of His rejection by 
 the Jews, and that this is an appeal to the Gentile 
 Church to receive and house Him. 
 
 And as He is still in truth despised and rejected of Giiiebert. 
 men, as too often He wanders in this world not finding 
 where to lay His head, so in the chill night of spiritual 
 coldness and darkness. He knocks at the door of the Henr. 
 faithful soul, asking that there at least He may be shel- Harphius. 
 tered. Open, He says. My sister, thy heart to Me, 
 Who have opened My side for thee by My Passion, 
 and heaven l3y My Ascension. And on this S. Gre- s. Greg, 
 gory ISTyssen comments at much length, bidding us ^y^^- 
 notice four points in particular. First : God presents 
 Himself to him who sleeps to the world and watches to 
 God, heeding that saying of the Gospel, " Be ye your- s. Luke xii. 
 selves like unto men that wait for their Loed, when ^ ' 
 He returns from the wedding ; that when He cometh 
 and knocketh, they may open to Him immediately." 
 Next ; although God has often opened to the Bride, 
 yet as she never can arrive at full knowledge of Him, 
 she delights in every fresh opportunity of gaining some 
 fresh knowledge, of beholding some new manifestation, 
 and therefore she exults in hearing His voice asking for 
 admittance. Thirdly ; that this longing of hers makes 
 
310 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [V. 2. 
 
 S. Ambros. 
 de Isaac. 6. 
 
 Exhort, ad 
 Virgin es. 
 Serm. 12, in 
 Ps. cxix. 
 
 Philo Carp. 
 
 Cassiodor. 
 Beda. 
 
 her advance both in knowledge and love of God, for 
 she first hears merely the knock, but does not recog- 
 nize it, till she is informed by the tones of His voice. 
 Fourthly ; that the door which He calls her to open 
 is that of inquiring search after divine mysteries, and 
 contemplation of them ; and as she has no power to 
 open this of herself, He gives her four keys, signified 
 by the four titles He bestows on her, as though saying, 
 If thou desire that thy door should be opened and thy 
 gates lifted up, that the King of Glory may come in, 
 thou must first become My sister, by doing the will of 
 My Fathee Which is in heaven ; thou must draw 
 near the truth, and thus be so exactly My nearest 
 (LXX.) that there may be no interval or barrier be- 
 tween us ; thou must have in thy nature the perfect- 
 ness of a dove, and be full of all innocence and purity. 
 Again ; you may take the door to be devotion, as S. 
 Ambrose teaches : " Even though thou be sleeping, 
 yet if Cheist do but know the devotion of thy soul. 
 He comes and knocks at its door, and saith : Open to 
 Me, My Sister, for the spiritual bridal of the Woed 
 and the Soul is come. Open to Me, but shut the door 
 to strangers, shut it to the world ; nor yet come forth 
 thyself to those earthly concerns, nor quit thine own 
 liglit to seek another's. Open thyself to Me, be not 
 straitened, but expanded, and I will fill thee." And 
 the same Saint tells us elsewhere that the soul has 
 other doors too, at any of which her Loed may knock. 
 He may choose the door of prayer, and desire to have 
 it opened that He may hear her voice uttering His 
 praise in a psalm, or confessing His grace and Passion 
 in the Creed. Or He comes in by the door of faith, 
 or by that of righteousness. A Greek Father tells us, 
 truly enough, tliat our bodily senses are doors of the 
 soul, and by these we may admit Cheist, just as we 
 may also admit His foe, if we keep them not barred 
 with due custody. However it be taken, at any rate, 
 we can be sure of this, that the knock, whenever and 
 wherever given, is a call to greater exertion, contem- 
 plative or active. Whoso obeys God and zealously 
 keeps His commandments, feels himself daily sum- 
 moned to the door of his heart, and ever urged to ac- 
 complish better and loftier works of charity, which 
 the very knocks denote. And He knocks in another 
 fashion, at the hour of death, when He calls on the 
 faithful soul to arise and follow Him. Then we open 
 
V. 2.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 211 
 
 at once to Him, if we accept death gladly, and fear 
 
 not to be led before His judgment-seat, because we 
 
 remember that we have striven to please Him, and 
 
 have ever had Him in honour. And, as S. Gregory ^- ^^^f' ^' 
 
 aptly tells us, every sickness which tells us that the Evang, ' 
 
 hour of death is drawing near, is one of these knocks 
 
 of the Bridegroom at the door. 
 
 S. Bernard, preaching on the Incarnation, tells us s. Bernard, 
 that the words may well denote the call made to the ^^'^"^jj^^jyj 
 Blessed Virgin to signify her assent to that mystery 
 when revealed to her by the Archangel, whom the 
 Saint represents as saying in effect : " Open, O Blessed 
 Virgin, thy heart to faith, thy lips to confession, 
 thy womb to the Creator. Behold, the Desire of all 
 nations knocks without at thy door. O, if He should 
 pass by through thy delay, and thou shouldest again 
 begin with sorrow to seek for Him whom thy soul 
 loveth ! Arise, haste, open. Arise by faith, haste by 
 devotion, open by confession." Another writer, keep- 
 ing more closely to the first explanation given, takes ^^'^P^'^- 
 this as an appeal to the Mother of God after her Son's 
 Resurrection not to withdraw, as her own desires would 
 prompt her, into secret retirement and contemplation, 
 where only the Angels would be her companions, but 
 to remember that He was still shelterless, rejected by 
 the Synagogue, and not yet accepted by the Gentiles, 
 and that she therefore should open her mouth to con- 
 firm the teaching of the Gospel, and thus help to find 
 Him a home in the hearts of men. But it is not to 
 His Church alone, nor to His Saints, nor yet to His 
 Mother only tliat He thus speaks. To all, even to 
 sinners, He addresses these words : " Behold, I stand ^^^- ^' ^^^ 
 at the door, and knock ; if any man hear My voice, 
 and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup 
 with him, and he with Me." When Christ, the Lover 
 of all souls, sees any soul at ease, busied with carnal Luc. Abb. 
 pleasures, allowing entrance for the devil at the heart, 
 and being fenced round with the snares of the enemy ; 
 then He comes back in the dead of the night, that is, 
 by hidden compunction, and knocks at the door of her 
 understanding, that, roused from her fatal sleep, she 
 may see that she is beset with perils, and implore His 
 aid. And the doors by which He then seeks entrance Cassiodor. 
 are repentance and faith, as He came into the heart of 
 S. Thomas, when he doubted concerning the Eesur- 
 rection. So He calls to us in the night, that we may pmio Carp. 
 p2 
 
213 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [V. 2. 
 
 Kyiiaston. 
 
 S. Aug'ust. 
 Tract. 5/ in 
 S. Joan. 
 
 open and take Him in ere the dawning of tlie Great 
 Day. 
 
 The night is far spent, and the day is at hand, 
 There are signs in the heaven, and signs on the land, 
 In the wavering earth, and the drouth of the sea — 
 But He stands and He knocks, sinuer, nearer to thee. 
 
 His night- winds but whisper until the day break 
 To the Bride, for in shimber her heart is awake : 
 He must knock at the sleep where the revellers toss, 
 With the dint of the nails and the shock of the Cross. 
 
 Look out at the casement ; see how He appears, 
 
 Still weeping for thee all Gethsemane's tears, 
 
 Ere they plait Him earth's thorns, in its solitude crowned. 
 
 With the drops of the night and the dews of the ground. 
 
 Will you wait ? Will you slumber until He is gone, 
 Till the beam of the timber cry out to the stone, 
 Till He shout at thy sepulchre, tear it apart. 
 And knock at thy dust, Who would speak to thy heart } 
 
 For My head is filled with dew, and My locks with 
 the drojps of the night. This is the reason which the 
 Bridegroom gives why the door should be quickly 
 opened to Him ; and it may therefore be taken di- 
 versely, according as it is understood to be an appeal 
 to the Bride's compassion for His forlorn state, or a 
 promise of the reward which her compliance will bring 
 to her. There is no reason why both interpretations 
 may not hold, for the Lord Jesus blessed those who 
 wrought a good work on Him during His earthly life 
 in ministering to His bodily needs. The woman of 
 Samaria who gave Him drink, the sinful woman who 
 anointed Him, the publican who made Him a feast, all 
 obtained from Him rich payment for their care. Let 
 us then take first the Man of sorrows, before we kneel 
 to the rewarding King. He saith then : Open to Me, 
 My sister, My spouse, My dove, My undefiled, for My 
 head is full of dew, and My locks with the drops of 
 the night, as though He implied, Thou art at ease, and 
 the door is shut against Me, thou art careful for the 
 repose of a few, and because iniquity prevails, the 
 love of many waxes cold. 'E or night denotes iniquity, 
 and its dew and drops are they who grow cold and 
 fall, and chill the Head of Christ, that is, cause that 
 God, Who is Christ's head, should not be loved. 
 And these are carried in the locks, that is, they are 
 admitted to outer Sacraments, but they do not reach 
 the inward meaning. He knocks, therefore, that He 
 
V. 2.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 213 
 
 may rouse tlie restful Saints from tlieir repose, and 
 cries, Open to Me, preach Me. Cassiodorus, agreeing Cassiodor. 
 with nearly all this exposition, differs on one point. 
 He takes the locks adorning Christ the Head to be 
 His Saints, filled with the drops of the night when 
 persecuted by cold and unloving and unbelieving souls. 
 Or again ; the locks adhering to the head, yet full S- ^^reg. m. 
 of dew, may well denote those who yield a partial 
 obedience to Christ, who believe in His Godhead, s. Just. Orj?. 
 and have faith so far, but not love, in that they are full s.Ans.Laud. 
 of darkness and iniquity. And in this sense other 
 writers have limited the phrase more particularly to 
 careless and ignorant bishops and clergy, who do not 
 preach Christ of sincerity. On this there is a legend 
 recorded by S. Thomas of Cantipre, that a Cistercian s. Thomas 
 monk in Brabant once saw the Lord Jesus in the Apunfii. 
 form of a little child shivering in the snow, and crying i, i3. 
 with cold and ^ain. When asked the cause, He re- 
 plied, trembling all over, " Alas, alas, why should I 
 not weep ? why should I not wail ? Lo, thou seest that 
 I sit needy, alone, and in the cold, and there is no one to 
 take Me in, and give Me shelter." Hereupon the monk 
 took Him up, and set Him on his horse, but the Child, 
 leaping from his arms, suddenly disappeared, darting a 
 great pang of suffering and love into his heart. This 
 quaint legend (and indeed the whole verse) receives a 
 curious illustration from a poem of a heathen bard : 
 
 Once at the midnight tide, Pseudo- 
 
 While swept along the Bear Anacreon. 
 
 Bootes' hand beside, Me<7on;KT<o«f 
 
 And when, worn out with care, '"°^^ <i''Pa«r- 
 
 Lay all the tribes of men : 
 
 Love reached my door, and there 
 
 He plied the knocker then. 
 
 Who knocks so loud, I said, 
 
 And drives my dreams away ? 
 " A child, be not afraid, 
 
 But ope the door, I pray, 
 For I am wet in plight, 
 
 And I have lost my way 
 In this dark moonless night." 
 
 With pity at his cry, 
 
 I light my lamp, and so 
 I open, and descry 
 
 A winged child with a bow 
 And quiver, near me stands : 
 
 Close by my fire's glow, 
 I seat him, chafe his hands, 
 
[V. 2. 
 
 S. Ambros. 
 de Isaac. 6. 
 
 Id. Serra. 12, 
 in Ps. cxix. 
 
 S. Greg. 
 Nyssen. 
 Luc. Abb. 
 Tres Patr. 
 
 S. Ambros. 
 de Virgin. 3 
 
 Ric. Vict. 
 Targura. 
 
 S. Paullnus, 
 Ep. 4, ad 
 Severum. 
 
 214 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 And from his hair the rain 
 
 In dewy drops I wring, 
 But he, when warm again. 
 
 Cries, " Let us try the string, 
 Lest wet have hurt my bow." 
 
 He drew it, and the sting 
 Sent through my heart its blow. 
 
 He laughed with merry voice, 
 
 And, leaping with abound, 
 Cried, " Host, with me rejoice, 
 
 My bow is safe and sound. 
 No harm its horn hath ta'en. 
 
 But, as for thee, thy wound 
 "Will give thy heartstrings pain." 
 
 Again, tlie dew and drops of tlie night typify sorrow 
 and trouble, which the Loed endures even still through- 
 out the world, finding no place of rest. But it is just 
 then, when His Body is suffering in this wise, and 
 when He, as the Head, shares its affliction, that He 
 knocks at the door to visit those who are in distress, 
 lest they should faint and yield, if not sustained by 
 His Presence. 
 
 But it is now time to turn to the other school of inter- 
 preters, who see here the blessings which the Bridegroom 
 brings with Him as He enters. First, taking the locks 
 of His head to denote His chief Saints, whether Angels, 
 Apostles, or Prophets, they explain the drops of dew 
 to be the holy doctrines which they possess and impart 
 to men, lofty and glorious indeed, as being on the head, 
 and seeming to us very rivers and seas of knowledge, 
 yet only drops when compared with the abysmal ocean 
 of Divine wisdom. Then, the dew may be explained 
 of heavenly grace, moistening the dry heart during 
 ' the darkness of the world, to make it glad and fertile. 
 Or, again, it is mercy falling on the darkness of human 
 sin and blindness. And this may be coupled with the 
 view of the Targum, that the drops in the locks of the 
 Lord are the tears of repentant sinners. And another, 
 reminding us how the dew-drops glitter in a clear night, 
 says that these shining drops amidst the locks of the 
 Bridegroom denote the starry virtues with which His 
 Saints were decked, when the full moon of the Church 
 shone down on the conversion of the Gentiles. Finally, 
 the Bridegroom's Head filled with dew, typifies His 
 Besurrection very early in the morning, while those 
 locks of His, wet with the drops of night, signify the 
 souls of His redeemed and the nations won over to the 
 
V. 3.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 215 
 
 Faith, but still in tlie cold of their sins and the dark- Philo Carp, 
 ness of imperfect knowledge, soon to be lightened and 
 warmed by the life and teaching of their pastors, 
 through the grace of the Holy Ghost. 
 
 3 I have put oflF my coat ; how shall I put 
 it on ? I have washed my feet ; how shall I 
 defile them ? 
 
 On this verse also there is a great discrepancy of 
 exposition. That which is the most obvious meaning 
 also has on its side the names of highest authority, to 
 wit, that the Bride, lately so eager for her Bridegroom's 
 presence, has now relaxed in her zeal, is resting in 
 ease and comfort, and is reluctant to put herself to the 
 inconvenience of rising, dressing, and opening the door. 
 In the spirit of the man asked at midnight for the loan 
 of three loaves, she answers her Loed, "Trouble me s.Lukexi.;. 
 not ; the door is now shut : I cannot rise and give 
 Thee." She has, of course, some excuse to put for- Sanchez. 
 ward as a cloak for her ingratitude and sloth, and she l^^ j^^^^ 
 pleads the diificulty and unpleasantness of compliance, s. Greg. M. 
 She says, " /have washed my feet," not knowing that S'^'"- ^^ ^^ 
 her LoED saith, " If I wash thee not, thou hast no part ^^"^' 
 in Me," much less asking Him, as S. Peter did, to 
 wash her hands and her head also. The coat she had 
 put oflP, is, as some will have it, the very bridal robe 
 given her but now as a marriage present, whose smell 
 was like Lebanon, denoting the love of God, which, as 
 involving self-denial, she now postpones to love of self. 
 And then we know what must follow, — that terrible 
 warning to a once faithful and toiling Church, " I have Rev. ii. 4. 
 somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first 
 love. Bemember therefore from whence thou art fallen, 
 and repent, and do the first works ; or else I will come 
 unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out 
 of his place, except thou repent." S. Augustine, taking 
 the words to denote the lull in the missionary zeal and 
 vigilance of discipline which overtook the Church after 
 its establishment under Constantine, represents her 
 excusing herself in this fashion : " O Cheist, Thou s. August, 
 biddest me, Thy Church, to soften and open for Thee '^^^f^- ^7 in 
 the hearts of men, harder than rock, and I would ' °^' 
 gladly do it, but I have no fit workmen ; at any rate, 
 I do not yet clearly know what they can endure, and 
 what they will refuse. The former ones, whom I knew 
 
216 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [V. 3. 
 
 Cassiodor. 
 
 S. Mat. 
 xxiv, 18. 
 
 Ric. Vict. 
 
 S. Leo. 
 
 Hon. Aug. 
 
 to be competent, whom I sent boldly into the fight, the 
 late storm of hostile wrath, the past violence of Maxi- 
 mian, Maxentius, Diocletian, and the almost ceaseless 
 cruel persecution by Licinius, have swept away. These 
 my warriors, closely united to me, hemmed me in, 
 sheltered me, and veiled me like an inner robe ; and, 
 whilst obeying Thee, and sparing not my champions, 
 I have been, and remain, all but stripped and naked. 
 Of those who remain, some are broken down by age 
 and toil, others by wounds and tortures, and the youth- 
 ful residue, by whose zeal Thou wiliest that I should 
 speed, as on feet, through the world, being but lately 
 washed [in baptism,] are yet but tender, and I there- 
 fore fear lest they faint under the burden, or lest they 
 should again be soiled, and I be thus once more de- 
 filed in my feet." Or it may, as several others repre- 
 sent, denote an undue exaltation of the contemplative 
 life over the active, when the Church, or any individual 
 soul, pleads its own spiritual advantage as a reason for 
 refraining from the task of converting others. Thus 
 Cassiodorus says : " I have stripped myself of the cares 
 and occupations of this world, without which the task 
 of preaching can scarcely or not at all be carried on, 
 and how can it be that I should return again to what 
 I have abandoned ? For he who sets himself to un- 
 dertake the office of preaching, must also see to the 
 temporal needs of those placed under him, which can- 
 not be done without much anxiety. And that the 
 coat does signify the anxiety and cares of the world, 
 the Lord shows in the Gospel, saying, ' Neither let 
 him that is in the field return back to take his clothes,' 
 which means, that he is not again to be entangled in 
 the things of the world. Therefore the Church or 
 any faithful soul, which has stripped off this coat, fears, 
 when resting in contemplation of its Creator, lest it 
 should be clad in it again, and busied in secular con- 
 cerns." But God is not willing that souls should perish 
 for any such cause as this, and therefore He compels 
 His Bride to bestir herself, and to act on that saying 
 of a Saint, "It is needful that even religious hearts 
 should be defiled with earthly dust." And therefore, 
 though she has washed her feet, those affections of her 
 heart which guide its path, with penitential tears, and 
 dreads to soil them again, she must needs leave her 
 bed, and tread the floor a second time. There is, 
 however, a good sense in which the Bride may utter 
 
V. 3.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 217 
 
 these words, and that sense is pressed by many of the 
 
 Fathers. They take it to be a resolution against any 
 
 relapse into sin, that having put off the old man and Col. m. 9. 
 
 his deeds, and washed herself in the Blood of the S- Greg. 
 
 Lamb, she determines that nothing shall draw her ^^^^' 
 
 back to her former conversation. She casts off that 
 
 coat of skins, type of dead works, which clothed Adam cen. m. 21. 
 
 after his fall, and she puts on Cheist Himself for her 
 
 raiment. She will not keep both together, for she 
 
 remembers the precept given to the Apostles, " Nei- g. Mat. x. 
 
 ther two coats ;" nor will she endeavour to blend them 10. 
 
 into one, for the Lord hath also said, " No man seweth s. Mark ii. 
 
 apiece of new cloth on an old garment." And she ^^• 
 
 has washed her feet, too, in the laver of Baptism and xres Patr. 
 
 the grace of the Holy Ghost, from the defilement of 
 
 earth, loosing from them those shoes of dead hides 
 
 that she may do so. So Moses put off his shoes at 
 
 the burning bush, and Holy Scripture nowhere tells 
 
 that he resumed them ; so, in all the elaborate vesture 
 
 of the High Priest, there is no mention of shoes ; so 
 
 too, the Apostles were directed to provide no shoes for 
 
 their journey. And that because there is neither dust 
 
 nor mire on the Way to our Country, paved as it is 
 
 with portions of the E,ock, according to that saying, 
 
 " He brought me out of the horrible pit, out of the Ps. xi. 2. 
 
 mire and clay, and set my feet upon the Eock, and 
 
 ordered my goings." And again, the words are taken Hen. Harph. 
 
 of that voluntary poverty in spirit and body, when 
 
 the Bride is eager to strip herself of everything which 
 
 may entangle her in her race and delay her approach 
 
 to the goal where the Bridegroom awaits her with 
 
 the first of His beatitudes. For they who imitate 
 
 by voluntary poverty His suffering life are intrusted 
 
 with the special privilege of judicial power, as saith 
 
 the LoED to them who had forsaken all, "Ye which S.Mat. xix. 
 
 have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son ^^• 
 
 of Man shall sit in the throne of His glory, ye also 
 
 shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes 
 
 of Israel." And that because in being conformed and 
 
 united to Him Who is Truth and Eighteousness, there 
 
 is nothing left in their judgment to swerve from justice, 
 
 and thus they are fitted for the office. The Targum, Targum. 
 
 taking the words I have put off my coat as spoken by 
 
 the congregation of Israel, doubtful how to repent and 
 
 clothe itself again with the garment of obedience to 
 
 God's Law, ascribes the second clause to God Himself, 
 
218 A COMMENTARY ON [V. 4. 
 
 Who asks the guilty nations in turn how He can defile 
 His feet by walking amongst them as of yore. And one 
 
 Philo Carp. Christian writer applies the whole verse to the Bride- 
 groom, when He stripped off the mortality and passi- 
 bility of His Flesh, and passed in His Ascension from 
 the narrow limits of earth to the boundless regions of 
 heaven, where death hath no more dominion over Him. 
 There too, where the Body follows the Head, and has 
 attained the " blessed necessity of sinlessness," she may 
 say in thankful adoration, I have put off my coat of 
 
 Rev. xxi. corruption, Jioio shall I put it on ? for here is no more 
 
 irinibert, death and all things are new. I have ivashed my feet, 
 which stand now on the golden pavement of the hea- 
 venly Jerusalem, and how shall I defile them ? seeing 
 
 Rev. xxi. 27. that " there shall in no wise enter into it anything that 
 defileth." 
 
 4 My beloved put in his hand by the hole of 
 the door^ and my bowels were moved for him. 
 
 Although the words of the door are not in the He- 
 brew text, nor in the early versions, yet this gloss is 
 supplied by several Eabbinical authorities, and many 
 commentators. This hole is variously taken to be the 
 orifice left for raising the latch from the outside, 
 whether with the hand or a key, or else as a grille or 
 wicket in the door, designed as a look-out, and for the 
 transmission of small articles without opening the 
 whole gate. Else, it may be taken, as by S. Ambrose 
 and by some modern critics, to denote a window in 
 the wall of the cottage of the Bride. This seems 
 somewhat less probable, as we should in that case find 
 one of the several words denoting windoto or lattice, 
 instead of a term not elsewhere employed in this 
 Eusebius. sense.^ Coming to the mystical import, the hand is the 
 Theodoret. symbol of power in operation, and the hole, contrasted 
 with the wide opening of the entire door, denotes the 
 partial and imperfect glimpse which the soul can ob- 
 tain of God when she puts any barrier between herself 
 and Him. So we read that when He came to His own 
 
 ^ The reference to this open- miraculously causes a breach in 
 
 ing as a definite and familiar the wall, through which He 
 
 one, the hole, is alone enough to shows His hand, in warning to 
 
 of Bishop Wordsworth's the Bride that it is impossible 
 
 theory, that the Bridegroom, I to exclude Him if He wills to 
 refused admittance at the door, 1 enter. 
 
V. 4.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 219 
 
 country, Nazareth, typically tlie house of His sister, 
 
 *' He did not many mighty works there, because of s. Mat. xiii. 
 
 their unbelief." Some works He did, but not many. ^^• 
 
 He showed them His hand, so to speak, but not His 
 
 face. 
 
 The Incarnation, whereby the Eternal Word, the 
 
 Right Hand of the Father, was revealed to mankind, 
 
 is denoted, as more than one ancient commentator 
 
 urges, in this place. He is said to be manifested s. Greg. 
 
 through the hole, just as in another part of Holy Writ cass^dor. 
 
 we are said to see Him " in a glass darkly," because x cor. xiii. 
 
 He emptied Himself of His glory, and though incom- 12. 
 
 prehensible, narrowed Himself within the bounds of 
 
 a human body ; nay, passed through the yet narrower 
 
 strait of His Passion, making in the Hock that hole , 
 
 where His dove should have her nest. In this same "^° 
 
 body too He stretched out His hand in a series of 
 
 miracles, all performed within the narrow area of 
 
 Palestine. And this manifestation of His power is 
 
 intended to encourage His Bride to rise, as knowing 
 
 that He is strong enough to help her in all perils, nay, ^: ff''^^- ^• 
 ,-, , .0 ,i" . ^ p , / XT 1 Philo Carp, 
 
 that even in peace there is no saiety unless xle be 
 
 near. In this manner He usually arouses a slumbering 
 Church or soul. It is not by any startling display of 
 His might, any full disclosure of His presence, that 
 He commonly operates, but by secretly moving the 
 understanding and will, by the secret mission of the 
 Holt Spirit. The hole through which He does this, xres Patr. 
 according to one, is our outward sense, whereby we 
 perceive the working of His power ; or as another Theodoret. 
 takes it, the memory of His Passion endured for our 
 sakes ; or, yet again, the lower creation, testifying His cassiodor. 
 goodness and power. And it may be also taken of the g ^ 
 partial measure of grace vouchsafed to stir the soul Nyss. 
 up to more vigorous action. So Richard of S. Victor j^^^, yj^j.^ 
 explains it : When the holy soul dreads to be en- 
 tangled in worldly concerns if she undertake the bur- 
 densome care of her neighbours, and devote herself 
 to promoting their salvation, then the Beloved, Who 
 had urged her to the task, comforts her, and visits her 
 heart, penetrating it with additional grace. Which s.Ans.Laud. 
 visitation of grace the Bride describes as the putting 
 of His hand through the hole, because Christ infuses 
 grace as through a iSssure, when He does not flood the 
 entire soul, but visits with a certain measure of grace, 
 and does not, when so visiting, fuUy illuminate. And 
 
220 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [V. 5. 
 
 Hon. Aug. 
 
 S. Just. Org, 
 
 Luc. Abb. 
 Philo Carp. 
 
 S. John XX. 
 27. 
 
 Rupert. 
 
 Cantacu- 
 zene. 
 Dion. Carth, 
 
 there is mucli force in that suggestion of Honorius, 
 that He gives this grace by showing His hand, that is, 
 the finished work of His own obedience, — how finished, 
 the scar in its wounded palm may tell — that she may 
 be roused to like zeal for accomplishing the work as- 
 signed her. He stretches His hand through the hole 
 in yet another way when He makes His Bride pass 
 through trouble and persecution. If she will not open 
 to Him when He knocks. He will punish her by means 
 of suffering, calling her back to Himself by famine, and 
 pestilence, and war, letting her feel, but not see. His 
 corrective hand. Philo would have us remember how- 
 He drew the doubting and incredulous to Himself 
 through the hole, when He spoke to Thomas, " Eeach 
 hither thy hand, and thrust it into My side, and be 
 not faithless, but believing." 
 
 A}id my hoioels were moved for Him. Here they all 
 substantially agree that the mingled awe and delight of 
 the Bride's heart are described ; awe at His presence, 
 because of her own unworthiness and sense of recent 
 failure, and delight, because where His right hand is, 
 there pleasures must be. And accordingly the holy 
 Abbat of Deutz recounts a vision granted to a name- 
 less person, su^Dposed to have been himself, telling 
 us : " The Beloved appeared plainly in a vision of 
 the night, and wondrously put His hand, as through a 
 hole, into the man's breast, and laid hold of his heart 
 within, and held it for some time, pressing it gently, 
 and that heart rejoiced with gladness unspeakable, 
 leaping and bounding within the clasp of that Hand." 
 Lastly, the passage is explained of the rejoicing of the 
 hallowed womb of the Virgin Mother when He, the 
 Hight Hand of Gtod, came to her at the Annunciation 
 in secret and mysterious wise, finding her all pure, 
 free from every garment of sin, resolute in her spot- 
 less maidenhood, with no speck of the earth on which 
 she dwelt defiling her feet. 
 
 5 I rose up to open to my beloved ; and my 
 hands dropped with myrrh, and my fingers with 
 sweet smelling myrrh, upon the handles of the 
 lock. 
 
 We open to the Beloved not merely when we receive 
 Him coming, but when we x^reach Him to others, and 
 
V. 5.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 221 
 
 cause them, who had formerly barred their breast with 
 sin, now converted by our preaching, to open the door 
 of their heart to Cheist. And it is well said in the Cassiodor. 
 first place I rose up, and afterwards to open to my 
 Beloved. For he who wishes to open the hearts of 
 others to Cheist by preaching, must first rise up, that 
 is, be alert in zeal for good works, and fulfil in deed 
 what he preaches, lest perchance when he has preached 
 to others, he himself should " be a castaway." Where- i Cor. ix. 27. 
 fore also Luke saith of the Loed, " All that Jesus be- ^^^^g j^ j 
 gan both to do and to teach." He mentions do first, 
 and then teach. And I rose up to a more toilsome "^^^ ^^^* 
 and holy task, that by many a labour, and by mortifica- 
 tion of the flesh, I might open a wider door of medita- 
 tion, and so take in the Bridegroom Whom I could not 
 receive before. / rose up to strive after Divine con- 
 templation, roused by the touch of His hand, that I 
 might be ready for the full bestowal of celestial grace. 
 For if His touch moved me, what will His embrace Thom. Verc. 
 be ? if a drop from His hand had such effect, what 
 will be the overflowing of His bounty ? if His whisper 
 was sweet, what will be His open speech? So then, 
 the Bride rises up to open to her Beloved when, ^^' 
 having obtained some grace, she is the more fired to 
 win it again, to love more fervently, and to devote 
 herself more earnestly to the care and the salvation 
 of her neighbours. For even ere she had opened to 
 her Beloved, she is more eager for Him, and for toil- 
 ing in works of charity. She trains herself then in 
 the love of God, or in contemplation ; she labours in 
 works of mercy for the profit of her neighbours ac- 
 cording as their need requires and the occasion de- 
 mands. She prays for some, she comforts others, she 
 gives wholesome counsel to some more, and she prepares 
 herself to undertake the task of ruling or of preaching, 
 if the occasion demand it, when she is thus visited 
 with grace, and endeavours to answer the call of that 
 grace, and to conform herself to it. It is no labour to 
 open the door for Cheist, when once the Bride is 
 erect and ready, but it may be toilsome enough to rise cocceius. 
 and make the needful preparation, shaking off" slumber, 
 and removing any obstacles that lie between her and 
 the door. 
 
 And my hands dropped toifh myrrh, and my fingers 
 with sweet-smelling myrrh, upon the handles of the 
 lock. This is the order of the sentence, according to 
 
222 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 jT. 5. 
 
 tlie Masoretic pointing, the Syriac, Arabic, and LXX. 
 The Vulgate, on the other hand, stops at the second 
 myrrh, and begins a new sentence, I opened the holt of 
 the door for my Beloved. The first question they ask 
 is, Whence came this myrrh ? And various answers 
 Corn"T Lap. are Suggested. Some urge that the Bride had anointed 
 herself for the reception of her Bridegroom, to which 
 it is very reasonably objected that she makes no men- 
 tion of this herself, and that it is inconsistent to sup- 
 pose her to have so prepared, and then refuse to open 
 the door. Others suppose that she may have carried 
 with her to the door a box of unguent ready to anoint 
 the dank tresses of the Bridegroom, and broken it in 
 her haste, so as to spill the contents. Thirdly, and 
 best, the myrrh comes from the Bridegroom, and is 
 the trace of His recent presence and of His touch when 
 He put in His hand through the hole, and tried the 
 lock. And so Lucretius may tell us : 
 
 Guider 
 racius. 
 Nannias. 
 
 Delrio. 
 Lud. Legion. 
 
 Lucret. iv. 
 1173. 
 
 S. Greg. 
 
 Nyss. 
 
 S. Ambros. 
 
 Luc. Abb. 
 
 Ricard.Vict, 
 Theodoret. 
 S. Greg. M. 
 
 At lacrymans exclusus amator limina ssepe 
 Floribus et sertis operit, postesque superbos 
 Unguit amaracino. 
 
 The tearful lover, shut without, oft clothes 
 
 With blooms and wreaths the threshold, and anoints 
 
 The stately jambs with marjoram. 
 
 They agree in taking myrrh to be, as usual in Scrip- 
 ture, the type of repentance and voluntary mortifica- 
 tion, though supposing it to flow spontaneously from 
 the Bride herself, as a result of that sudden yearning 
 produced in her by the apparition of the Bridegroom's 
 hand. But it is better, on all accounts, to take this 
 motion of grace as proximately derived from Himself, 
 and that, by recalling His Passion. Moreover, it ac- 
 cords exactly with His own words a little before, " I 
 have gathered My myrrh," and He now gives her of 
 that which He has so collected. Observe next that 
 not only the hands of the Bride, but her separate 
 fingers are said to drop with myrrh. That is, the eff'ect 
 produced upon her was not merely general, but par- 
 ticular. Each virtue of her soul was separately af- 
 fected, each detail of her conversation, and not merely 
 the general scope of her life, was influenced. For as 
 several fingers exist separately in one hand, so in one 
 holy life or conversation divers virtues are indepen- 
 dently discerned. For liberality is one kind of virtue, 
 
V. 5.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 223 
 
 frugality another. Humility is one task, frank rebuke 
 another. We practise one when we speak for our 
 neighbour's advantage ; another, when we keep silence 
 for our own edification. And the fingers are said to 
 be full of the choicest (Vulg. ^probatissima) myrrh, 
 because it is essential in all our actions that mortifica- 
 tion of fleshliness hold a place. The myrrh is rightly 
 called choicest, when in the case of every prompting 
 of the Enemy, carnal pleasure is kept from admission. 
 When this is so, all the hardness of the soul is melted, 
 and an ingress is provided that the Bridegroom may 
 enter the heart. The myrrh is twofold, an ordinary 
 kind, and sioeet-smelUng, or rather, with the margin 
 of A. V. passing, that is fluid mj^rrh (LXX. TrX-npv) 
 dropping naturally from the tree, and not forced out 
 by incision or other artificial means. And this denotes 
 the progress of the soul in grace. The first and in- 
 ferior myrrh, is that penitence which comes from fear 
 of punishment, or after actual chastisement at God's 
 hand. The second, and more acceptable, is the over- 
 flowing of a softened heart, melted by the love of 
 God, and streaming forth its tears naturally and easily 
 under the rays of the Sun of Righteousness. And ob- Guilielmus. 
 serve too that it is the hands and fingers of the Bride, 
 not her mouth, which is said to drop myrrh, teaching 
 us thereby that an austere and self-denjnng life, car- 
 ried out in all details of action, is more important than 
 eloquent preaching on the part of those who are en- 
 gaged in the conversion of sinners. The myrrh drops 
 upon the handles of the lock. That is, the repentance Tres Patr. 
 of the Bride is first directed to the particular act, habit, 
 or temper of mind which is the barrier, the besetting 
 sin which keeps the Bridegroom out. And the myrrh, 
 falling on the stiff or rusted bolt, makes it easy to 
 draw it back, showing that amendment of life and the 
 reception of divine grace must be preceded by contri- 
 tion. A further sense is well put by Cocceius : " The Cocceius. 
 lock, whereby our heart is opened to Cheist, or by 
 which Cheist is shut up within the heart, is faith. 
 Its bolt is withdrawn when our heart is expanded, so 
 that Cheist can always come to us, with all His re- 
 tinue, and in every array. The bolt of this lock is 
 shot by fulness and pleasure. And it is very properly 
 shot against other desires, but not against the kingdom 
 of Cheist, to prevent it from flowing into us wholly. 
 The fulness which shuts out everything save Cheist, 
 
224 A COMMENTARY ON [V. 6. 
 
 is from the Holy Ghost, but that which checks any 
 desire for Him is of the flesh. Besides, the Bride 
 hints that she found the myrrh on the lock, that is, 
 the effectual working of the Holt Ghost when she 
 desired to open her heart. And if we desire to press 
 the parable further, she finds this fragrant ointment 
 on her hands and fingers, that is in her toil and action, 
 which she has begun in the fear of God." 
 
 6 T opened to my beloved ; but my beloved 
 had withdrawn himself^ and was gone; my 
 soul failed when he spake : I sought him, but 
 I could not find him ; I called him, but he 
 gave me no answer. 
 
 Cassiodor. The Latin Fathers, reading in the first clause of this 
 Beda^^' ^" "^^^se (as noted above) I opened the holt of the door for 
 my Beloved, discuss here the nature of this bar or bolt. 
 And first, they take it to denote worldly pleasure, 
 s.Ans.Laud. which shuts GoD out of the heart. S. Anselm of Laon, 
 looking at the verse as descriptive of the Church's 
 missionary work, takes it to be ignorance and blind- 
 ness, which preachers remove when they proclaim the 
 Ric. Vict. Gospel to their hearers. And Eichard of S. Victor 
 aptly points out that a lock is but small, though it 
 keep a great door fast, and its bolt is but a small part 
 even of it, whence he draws the conclusion that in the 
 spiritual life it is small negligences and defects which 
 are the surest barriers between the soul and grace, so 
 that it is needful to amend and withdraw them before 
 Farez. ^^ Beloved can enter in to the soul. And Parez, ac- 
 
 cording to his wont, treating the Canticles as the his- 
 tory of the Church under both the Old and JINTew 
 Covenants, remarks that after the Bridegroom's Incar- 
 nation, the Bride withdrew the bolt of ceremonial 
 usages, and threw open those doors of the Law which 
 hid the sanctuary of Christ from sight, and barred the 
 Giiiebert. access of the Gentiles. I opened. Fitly do anointed 
 Serm. 44. j^^nds open the door for Christ, Who takes His title 
 from anointing. It may be that He cannot enter save 
 through an anointed door. Wherefore in the Temple 
 1 Kings vi. there were little doors (Vulg. ostiola) made of olive- 
 si. tree, through which was the entrance into the Holy 
 of holies. For this is the kind of tree which yields 
 the anointing fluid. They are called little doors, and 
 
V. 6.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 225 
 
 the olive-wood entrance is narrow, but thou canst glide 
 in easily in the fatness of grace, where the understand- 
 ing is subtilized, and the mystery secret. Ingress 
 will not be toilsome, if thou wilt but use the oil of de- 
 votion and charity as a door. And it seems to me 
 that a suitable testimony is produced as to the temple. 
 * For the Temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.' i cor.ui.17. 
 Have therefore in thy temple doors through which 
 the High Priest alone may enter the inmost chamber 
 of thine heart. Shut the door, draw the bolt, save 
 when thy Beloved knocks, desiring to enter. If there 
 be no door, there will be free entrance for every passer- 
 by. If the door be shut, but not secured with a bolt, 
 it will readily yield, and give way to pressure, having 
 no surer fastening. Have both, the door of watchful- 
 ness, and the bar of firmness. Keep a watchful look- 
 out, resist firmly. Let not forgetfulness and ignorance 
 creep in, let not wickedness break in. And if thou 
 wantest a more precise definition, let anxious fore- 
 thought be the door, and prayer its bolt. Fastened 
 with such a bar, thy door will yield to no hostile push. 
 ' He hath made fast,' saith the Psalmist, ' the bars of thy pg. cxivu. 
 gates.' In the bars and gates dost not thou think that i3. 
 thou hearest of the door and holt ? Both are needful, 
 but only against the enemy. When thou hearest the 
 voice and knock of the Beloved, when thou feelest the 
 light touch of His hand through the hole, draw back 
 the bolt, open the door, let every barrier give way ; 
 if it may be, pull down the whole mid-wall, that thy 
 Beloved may pour Himself freely upon thee. Let thy 
 carefulness against the snares of evil spirits be turned 
 into security, and at the presence of the Bridegroom 
 change caution in keeping oflP the foe into plenteous- 
 ness of enjoying the Beloved. He knew that he had 
 opened the door, who said, 'O God, my heart isPs. cviu. 1. 
 ready, my heart is ready.' But how is it that Jesus 
 needs a door. Who saith in the Gospel, 'I am the s. Joimx.g. 
 door ?' It is a strange thing. He is the Door, and 
 yet He knocks at the door. He, by Whom ' if any 
 man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and 
 out and find pasture,' Himself desires to enter. There 
 is a great diversity of doors. There is the door of 
 natural religion, the door of Church Sacraments, the 
 door of experimental grace. In that first door of 
 natural religion, wisdom becomes known to us by 
 reasoning on it as it operates in the works of creation, 
 
226 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [V. 6. 
 
 Cassiodor. 
 
 Eccles. vii. 
 23. 
 
 Ricard. Vict, 
 
 Ps. cxlv. 18. 
 
 and we gain access to a certain measure of truth, we 
 gather some knowledge of the Deity, but not of the 
 personal character of God. At this door there is no 
 distinction of persons, no bestowal of grace. And 
 therefore no one ought to be a very frequent or eager 
 knocker at this door. By the second, through which 
 we are initiated into the Sacraments of salvation, we 
 enter into the unity of the Church, the Communion of 
 Saints. At the second door, men are in such wise 
 within as to be in fact without, until they come to the 
 third ; which we explain to be familiar access, by the 
 emotions of love, to a certain abundant fruition and 
 contemplation of the Beloved. This secret and inner- 
 most door is not open to all, but yields entrance to the 
 Bride alone. It makes but little diflference whether thou 
 enter in to Him, or He to thee, save that thou seemest 
 as the entering one when thou art as it were the first to 
 come, and to petition Him ; and He comes first to thee 
 when He anticipates thee, knocks at thine affections, 
 glides in unexpectedly, and raises thee looking for no 
 such thing, with His touch of undefiled sweetness." 
 
 Sut Tny beloved had withdrawn Simself and loas 
 gone. And very often, when we are anxious to handle 
 spiritual things, the more acutely we essay them, the 
 more the heart's edge is beaten back and blunted, 
 whence Solomon observes : " I said, I will be wise, 
 but it was far from me." For the more one lifts up his 
 heart by purification of the flesh to divine contempla- 
 tion, the more unattainable does he find that which he 
 seeks to be. The Bridegroom withdraws and goes 
 away from His Spouse, not removing to a distance, but 
 merely turning aside. Por He is at her right hand, that 
 she may not be removed from her good beginning, but 
 He does not show her His face. " He is nigh unto all 
 them that call upon Him faithfully." She desires to 
 look on Him, and to talk with Him face to face, as a 
 man talketh with his friend. But He hides His face, 
 while abiding with her, and in her, though she per- 
 ceives not His presence. And in this wise, though He 
 hath truly taken up His lodging with her. He with- 
 draws from her, and goes away, lest she become up- 
 lifted, and ascribe the fulfilment of her wishes to her 
 own merit. Even when she has shown herself more 
 worthy of receiving Him, He does not give Him- 
 self to her as she desires, but withdraws from her, to 
 keep her in humility, to whet her desire more sharply, 
 
V. 6.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 227 
 
 to gratify it more fully. How brief too were the Giiiebert. 
 Loed's appearances after His Resurrection, how sud- 
 den, how soon cut short ! Scarcely was He recog- 
 nized by a few of His disciples, when He vanished. 
 Some He does not suffer to touch Him. He glides 
 in amo^ugst others through closed doors, needing no 
 opening of the valves. When we think that we hold 
 Him, He robs us, as it were, of His dear presence, 
 coming secretly and going secretly. For the joy of 
 contemplation is but an instant. It swiftly departs, 
 and utterly surpasses all the power of human under- 
 standing, and where it goes, we cannot, in this flesh, 
 follow it with equal step. Yes, adds a devout com- h^^q card, 
 mentator, so that there is silence for but half an hour 
 in the heaven of the pious heart. He withdrew Him- 
 self also, when He departed out of the world to His 
 Father, though He hath not abandoned His Spouse, ^^^° ^^'"p- 
 nor left her children orphans, but comes again and 
 again in Sacraments and inspiration to visit and con- 
 sole her. And whereas the Vulgate instead of gone 
 reads passed through (transierat), they dwell on the 
 special meaning of the Latin word as conveying fresh 
 lessons. " He passed through me, through all my Giiiebert. 
 powers, through myself. For the Woed of God is a 
 sword, Jesus is a sword of fire, passing without delay 
 or difficulty, through the soul, which melts at His pas- 
 sage, and cannot bar His way." And so, as another s. Ambros. 
 and earlier writer reminds us. He was Himself that in Ps. cxix. 
 sword which pierced the heart of His own dear Mo- l^'^l Isaac, 
 ther, that the secrets of many hearts should be re- 
 vealed. Whence, as they explain her rising up to Guiiieimus. 
 denote the alacrity of her service, and the droppings of Rupert, 
 myrrh in her case to be her incorruption, humility and 
 self-denial, so they take the withdrawal of the bolt to 
 be her breaking her wonted silence that she might 
 preach her Son ; though Honorius will have it that the 
 bolt denotes sin, and that we are hereby taught that Honorius. 
 she opposed no obstacle of the kind to the Most Holy 
 when He would enter in. 
 
 Ml/ soul failed tvhen JSe sjpaTce. The Vulgate reads, 
 My soul melted, while the LXX., closer to the ori- ^e^Siare 
 ginal, has, My soul went forth. That is, remarks S. m. de 
 Ambrose, it followed the Woed of God, and went virgin. 3. 
 forth from the body, lifting itself out of its taber- 
 nacle, and makes, as the same Saint observes in 
 another place, a good exit, when, coming to Him, it 
 Q 2 
 
228 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [V. 6. 
 
 Cassiod. 
 
 S. Greg. 
 
 Nyss. 
 Ps, cxxi. 
 
 S. Greg. M. 
 Mor. iv. 30. 
 
 Dan. viii. 27, 
 Philo Carp. 
 
 Wisd. ix. 15, 
 
 Bern. 
 
 Cluniac. 
 
 Rhythmus. 
 
 passes from sin to lioliness, and, despising earthly 
 things, melts with the love of heaven. Whatever is 
 hard and frozen in the heart softens and melts under 
 the fire of God's love, and pours out in a stream of 
 penitence and longing. The Beloved passed by, but 
 He did not therefore abandon the soul, but rather 
 drew her to Himself, and that by His word. O happy 
 going forth ! " The Loed preserve thy going out and 
 thy coming in." The going out is from that wherein 
 we are now placed ; the coming in is to those good 
 things which are above us. She goes forth to the 
 WoED, because the Bridegroom saith, " I am the 
 door, by Me if any man enter in, he shall go in and 
 out," so as never to cease going in and out, but ever 
 go in to greater things, and go out from lesser ones. 
 And taking the reading of the A. V., My soul failed, 
 let us hear a Western Doctor : " Did she not feel her- 
 self exhausted in her strength who said, My soul 
 melted, because when the mind, in its strongest condi- 
 tion, is touched with the inspiration of secret speech, 
 it melts with the very desire in which it is swallowed 
 up, whence it finds itself utterly wearied out, because 
 it sees the height to which it would fain ascend be- 
 yond its strength. Hence the Prophet, when he tells 
 how he saw the vision of God, adds, ' I fainted, and 
 was sick certain days.' " And Philo, uniting all the 
 ideas together, notes. The Bride declares that she went 
 forth and fainted at the speech of the Bridegroom, 
 because she cannot, while still prisoned in the body, 
 long endure the power of Jesus Cheist's love, Who 
 pours Himself into the longing soul by the Holy 
 Ghost, "For the corruptible body presseth down the 
 soul, and the earthly tabernacle weigheth down the 
 mind that museth upon many things," and the soul 
 fired with divine love is often caught up in contem- 
 
 f)lation to those eternal joys, but cannot abide there 
 ong, because laden with the burden of the flesh, but 
 falls back after going forth, drowned in tears, and yet 
 in gladness. And so the Cluniac : 
 
 Jerusalem the only, 
 
 That look'st from heaven below, 
 In thee is all my glory, 
 
 In me is all ray woe. 
 And though my body may not, 
 
 My spirit seeks thee fain, 
 Till flesh and earth return me 
 
 To earth and flesh again. 
 
V. 6.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 229 
 
 Wherefore it fitly follows : I sought Him, hut I could 
 not find Him ; I called Him, but He gave me no 
 answer. For although the soul have passed out of s. Greg. 
 her OWD nature, so as not to be hindered by anything ^^^^^ 
 in her consciousness, yet she still seeks, still calls, and 
 finds not. How could she find that which nothing 
 that is known can show us ? She sought Him by 
 reasonings and meditations, but He is beyond them 
 all, evading the grasp of the mind. She called, that 
 is, she devised countless phrases to denote His good- 
 ness unspeakable, it surpassed them all. So David, 
 after he had said, "Thou, O Lord God, art full of ps. ixxxvi. 
 compassion and mercy, longsuffering, plenteous in i5; 
 goodness and truth, my strength, the horn of my sal- ^^"^* *' 
 vation," and so forth, at length confesses that he is 
 at a loss for words, and marvelling cries out, " How Ps. vm. i. 
 excellent is Thy Name !" But why is it that God Hugo vict. 
 seeks when He is not sought, that He comes when He J^qJ^^^^j^ 4 
 is not called, and that when He is sought He with- 
 draws, and flees when He is called ? If He does not 
 love, why does He come ? and if He does love, why 
 does He flee ? He does love, and therefore He comes ; 
 but He does not love here, and therefore He flees. 
 What do I mean by saying that He does not love 
 here? I mean in this world, in this land, in this 
 country, in this exile. But He calls us to His own 
 Land, for such love as His befits not a land like ours, 
 and the pleasantness of His Country is a bulwark to 
 our love. A happy love seeks a pleasant spot, and 
 therefore He praises His Land to us, saying, " The Cant. ii. 12. 
 flowers appear on the earth, the vines with the tender 
 grape give a good smell, the voice of the turtle is 
 heard in our land," that we may desire such a region, 
 long for such a country, and follow Him. There He 
 loves us ; there He desires to enjoy our love ; there He 
 asks for our embrace ; there He no longer flees from 
 them who follow Him, but awaits them as they come. 
 
 But the words are also spoken in terrible warn- ^^^ ^^^ 
 ing to the Church or soul which neglects to hear and 
 obey the call of the Lord, so that He, the Eternal 
 Wisdom, cries in the streets, " Because I have called, Prov. i. 24, 
 and ye refused ; I have stretched out My hand, and ^^' 
 no man regarded ; but ye have set at nought all My 
 counsel, and would none of My reproof ; I also will 
 mock at your calamity. Then shall they call upon Me, 
 but I will not answer ; they shall seek Me early, but 
 
330 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [V. 7. 
 
 S. John vii. 
 34. 
 
 Ghislerius. 
 Delrio. 
 
 Corn, a Lap, 
 
 Luc. Abb. 
 
 Ps. cxix. 
 145. 
 
 they shall not find Me." And wliat He spake thus 
 aforetime in prophecy, He said again to the Jews who 
 rejected Him. " Ye shall seek Me, and not find Me, 
 and where I am, thither ye cannot come." Again and 
 again has it been true in Christian history, in that 
 slackness of zeal which preceded the outbreak of Arian- 
 ism, which left the East a prey to Mohammed, which 
 caused the great schism of Europe three centuries ago. 
 Again and again is it true of souls which God has in- 
 vited, and which, turning away to their farm or their 
 merchandise, or their domestic pleasures, are finally 
 excluded from the marriage-supper of the Lamb. And 
 one commentator points his note with the homely old 
 saw : 
 
 He who will not when he may, 
 When he will, he shall have nay. 
 
 Eor even that will is imperfect, because the careless soul 
 cannot say with David, even when it does call for the 
 passing Bridegroom, " I call with my whole heart," 
 since if it did, He could not choose but answer. 
 
 7 The watchmen that went about the city 
 found mCj they smote me, they wounded me; 
 tlie keepers of the walls took away my veil 
 from me. 
 
 Theodoret. Whence we may learn to what mischief sloth gives 
 birth, and what toil comes of indolence. For whereas 
 the Bride excuses herself, and is not willing to open 
 at once to the Bridegroom, she is forced a little later 
 not merely to go as far as the door, but even to tra- 
 verse the city, and to go about the streets, and to fall 
 in with the watchmen, by whom she is wounded, and 
 even so scarcely finds her desired Spouse. But if she 
 had obeyed at once, she would have escaped all this 
 trouble. The meaning of the verse differs according 
 to the interpretation given to the word city, whether 
 
 Targum. it be Babylon or Sion, the world or the Church. The 
 Targum, explaining these watchmen to be the Chal- 
 dean besiegers of Jerusalem who took it in the reign 
 of Zedekiah, so far blends the two ideas as to take the 
 city in a good, and the watchmen in a bad sense. But 
 the Christian expositors keep the ideas distinct. Thus, 
 
 Theodoret. Theodoret will have it that the watchmen of the city 
 
V. 7.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 231 
 
 are tlie magistrates, rulers, and tyrants of the Pagan 
 Eoman Empire, wlio persecuted the Church, and 
 stripped the Martyrs of that outer veil of flesh which 
 covered their souls, and that in the streets, because of 
 the bold and public preaching whereby the early mis- 
 sionaries of the Faith exposed themselves to peril. 
 Or, as S.Justus comments, the veil denotes all the s. Just. Org. 
 external helps of religion, taken away, when the priests 
 were imprisoned, the altars levelled, and the Scriptures 
 burnt. Another, taking the city in a yet wider sense, 
 as the whole world, explains the watchmen to be the 
 evil spirits, who prowl about the earth, seeking whom ^"^' ^^^' 
 they may devour, wound, and strip of their faith, 
 smiting them with words of false doctrine, and tearing 
 from their souls its baptismal purity. Whence S. Je- 
 rome draws the practical lesson that it is wise for 
 Christian virgins to remain sheltered in their home, Ip^ol!'^"' 
 of domestic or Heligious life, and not to go forth even ad Eustoch. 
 to search for Cheist. Could he have looked down L^tan^'^ 
 the ages at the history of that Common Life whose 
 infancy he aided in fostering, he would have seen the 
 world and the cloister engaged in perpetual strife. 
 Again and again would he have observed the spirit of Titelman. 
 laxity and secularity, fostered by evil rulers within 
 the Church, untrustworthy watchmen of her walls, 
 forcing its way into Houses of the strictest rule, strip- 
 ping them of the true religious character, and needing 
 the strenuous efforts of reformers such as S. Coletta, 
 S. Teresa, and Angelique Arnauld, to restore it as 
 before. Or he would have seen the civil power in one 
 country after another, laying unhallowed hands on the 
 patrimony of the poor, and driving E-eligious forth, 
 bare of everything save their faith, from the cloister 
 into the streets and highways. And a yet more literal 
 fulfilment of the type would have presented itself in 
 the many glorious martyrdoms which the convent 
 yielded in its passive resistance to the sword of unbe- 
 lief, as in those English nuns who disfigured their faces 
 with terrible scars a thousand years ago during the 
 invasion of Inguar and Hubba, that they might not 
 be a prey to the evil passions of the heathen, who then 
 massacred them in rage and disappointment ; or in 
 their French sisters nine centuries later, who went to 
 the scaffold singing the Te Deum, continuing it with 
 undiminished numbers as each consecrated head fell, 
 until the Abbess died last, with the closing words of the 
 
232 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [V. 7. 
 
 S. Greg. 
 Nyss. 
 
 S. Arabros. 
 de Isaac, 6, 
 de Virg. iii. 
 
 Tres Patr. 
 
 Psellus. 
 
 Gloria in excelsis on lier lips. In the other interpre- 
 tation there is a diversity, according as the Angels or 
 the great earthly Saints and teachers are regarded as 
 the watchmen of the city. S. Gregory Nyssen and 
 S. Ambrose are in agreement in taking the verse to 
 denote the share of the Guardian Angels in the con- 
 version and salvation of the soul entrusted to their 
 care. They smite her with the sword of the Word 
 of God, and with tribulations, after she has come out 
 of the dwelling of her old conversation, and wound 
 her with increased love for divine things, and taking 
 from her the veil, (be it a token of widowhood or a 
 type of bodily thoughts and habits obscuring the free 
 vision of the mind, or else an emblem of mere human 
 reason, impeding faith,) that her beauty may be more 
 perfectly discerned, and that she may see more clearly 
 the mysteries they present to her view. 
 
 Henry 
 Vaughan, 
 Cock, 
 crowing. 
 
 Only this veil which Thou hast broke, 
 And must be broken yet in me, 
 This veil, I say, is all the cloak 
 And cloud which shadows me from Thee. 
 This veil Thy full-eyed love denies. 
 And only gleams and fractions spies. 
 
 take it oiF! make no delay ; 
 
 But brush me with Thy light, that I 
 
 May shine unto a perfect day. 
 
 And warm me at Thy glorious eye ! 
 take it off! or till it flee, 
 Though with no lily, stay with me ! 
 
 Acts ii. 37 5 
 vii. 54. 
 
 Parez. 
 
 S. Gregory Nyssen draws a further corollary from the 
 verse, that it betokens progress in grace. The Bride 
 had laid aside her tunic or coat, she had no thought of 
 removing her veil also, but the Angels take even this 
 from her, because the soul, as it advances, divests 
 itself by degrees of all that checks its speed in the race 
 of salvation. A more widely accepted interpretation, 
 however, is that which sees here the task of the 
 preachers of the Gospel in the conversion of sinners. 
 And first, the Apostles and Evangelists found the 
 Jewish Church seeking vainly for Cheist, smote their 
 hearers with powerful words, and wounded them, so 
 that they were " pricked and cut to the heart," and 
 took away from them that veil of the ceremonial law 
 which lay upon their hearts and hid the light of God's 
 countenance from them. Of which veil the Apostle 
 
V. 7.] 
 
 THE SONG OF SONGS. 
 
 233 
 
 writes, saying, " Not as Moses, which put a vail over ^ ^or. Ui.ia. 
 his face, that the children of Israel could not stead- 
 fastly look to the end of that which is abolished. But 
 their minds were blinded : for until this day remaineth 
 the same vail untaken away in the reading of the 
 Old Testament ; which vail is done away in Christ. 
 But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail 
 is upon their heart. Nevertheless, when it shall turn 
 to the LoED, the vail shall be taken away."^ 
 
 Next, applying the words to the individual soul, 
 they tell us that the Church's watchmen, those watch- 
 men set upon the walls of Jerusalem, be they Apostles, 
 Martyrs, Prelates, or preachers, are said to find her, 
 because they seek her out for instruction, they smite 
 and wound her with the arrows of divine love, with 
 their counsels of mortification, with their injunctions 
 to repentance, with their wholesome discipline, and P^^^° ^^^' 
 take from her the veil of ignorance and blindness, by 
 teaching her how she may abandon her evil habits, 
 and serve G-od truly. Their sword, wherewith they p g • ^ 
 inflict the wound, is the Word of God, and her veil Beda.° ' 
 of earthly thoughts and affections is taken from her 
 for her own good, as Joseph left his mantle behind 
 when he fled away from sin, and Elijah cast his to 
 earth when he ascended in the chariot of fire. It is GUiebert. 
 not singular, therefore, that some should here see an 
 exact type of the Sacrament of Penance. The watch- 
 men of the city, who know that they must needs give 
 account for the souls therein, find one such soul wan- 
 
 1 The force of this argument 
 of the Apostle is somewhat ob- 
 scured to English readers, by 
 an error of the A.V. in Exodus 
 xxxiv. 33, which reads, " And 
 till Moses had done speaking 
 with them, he put a vail on 
 his face." This, taken in con- 
 junction with verse 35, is com- 
 monly understood to mean that 
 the veil was intended to pre- 
 vent the Israelites from be- 
 ing dazzled with the radiance. 
 The LXX. and Vulgate, more 
 correctly, have" When he had 
 done speaking," &c. That is, 
 the light was gradually fading 
 from his face after he left 
 God's presence, and the veil 
 
 was merely intended to hide 
 that fact from the people. On 
 returning to God's presence, 
 he withdrew the veil, that his 
 face might again be illumi- 
 nated. Hence S. Paul's rea- 
 soning is, that the outer cere- 
 monial Law, as practised by 
 the Jews in his day, only served 
 to conceal from the people the 
 loss of true spiritual enlighten- 
 ment on the part of the priests, 
 and to prevent the rays of 
 God's grace from shining on 
 them ; so that the abolition of 
 that Law w^as now a necessary 
 preliminary to any true know- 
 ledge of divine things. 
 
234 A COMMENTARY ON [V. 8. 
 
 dering in error and darkness. They smite witli the 
 warnings and threats of God's Word, they wound, by 
 enjoining sharp, but needful penances, they take away 
 the veil, when they urge the sinner to full confession 
 of hidden guilt ; and when, by wise ghostly counsel, 
 they show the true deformity of sin to a conscience 
 which had lost the power of seeing it as it is. Thus 
 Cardinal Frederick Borromeo, the worthy successor of 
 cassei, yimor liis kinsman, S. Charles, when urging his clergy in 
 Pcenitens, Milan to carcful discharge of the duties of the Confes- 
 2, XIX., 1. sional, told them of a noble and wealthy lady, living 
 in sin, who made a merely formal confession, and was 
 met by the priest with a stern injunction to abandon 
 her evil habits, and all occasions which might lead to 
 their repetition, before daring to approach the altar. 
 She, who had been accustomed to a laxer discipline, 
 angrily exclaimed : " Sir, if you had been wise enough 
 to do as I asked you, there is not a stone of yon 
 church I would not have covered with gold and sdver." 
 To which he replied, in the words of the Prince of 
 the Apostles, " Miserable sinner, ' thy money perish 
 with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of 
 God may be purchased with money.' " Happy, ex- 
 claims the great Cardinal, happy is the church or con- 
 vent which has such a faithful pastor as this was, not 
 afraid to strike where a blow was needed. And that 
 De Ponte. too remembering the saying of the Wise Man, " If 
 Prov. xxm. \\^q^ beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. Thou 
 shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul 
 from hell." And we may learn from another place 
 the deadly peril of those priests who, from sloth or 
 unbelief, are slack to use the Power of the Eeys for 
 1 Kines xx peiiitents who seek them. " And a certain man of the 
 35—37. * sons of the prophets said unto his neighbour in the 
 word of the Loed, Smite me, I pray thee. And 
 the man refused to smite him. Then said he unto 
 him. Because thou hast not obeyed the voice of the 
 LoKD, behold, as soon as thou art departed from 
 me, a lion shall slay thee. And as soon as he was de- 
 parted from him, a lion found him, and slew him. 
 Then he found another man, and said. Smite me, I 
 pray thee. And the man smote him, so that in smit- 
 ing he wounded him." 
 
 8 I charge you^ O daughters of Jerusalem, 
 
Y 81 THE SONG OF SONGS. 235 
 
 if ye find my beloved, that ye tell him that I 
 am sick of love. 
 
 Here we have set before us the Communion of PhUo Carp. 
 Saints in the bond of intercessory prayer. Great is 
 the confidence, observes Philo, of the Bride, be she 
 Church or faithful soul, in the purity of her life and 
 works, when she is bold to declare to her Spouse 
 Cheist Jesus, by the hand of her chaste and holy 
 daughters, as herself their honoured mother, how she 
 glows with love of Him. For she caUs upon the 
 Apostles, Prophets, and Martyrs (to whom their mo- 
 ther the Church ceases not to commend herself) that 
 as they were, next after Cheist, the authors of her 
 faith and salvation, she may have them also as her 
 defenders, continual guardians, and perfectors of her 
 hope with the same Heavenly Spouse, beside Whom 
 those happy spirits now stand in bliss as watchmen of 
 the heavenly Jerusalem, and intercede for the Bride 
 militant here, still veiled in mortal flesh, but eagerly 
 longing to reach her divine Bridegroom. And there- 
 fore burning with love and devotion, she does not 
 merely ask the Apostles and her other most faithful 
 patrons for their prayers on her behalf with God, but 
 binds them, as it were, with an oath. So too an old 
 Enghsh poet takes the passage : 
 
 Te holy virgins, that so oft surround Francis 
 
 The City's sapphire walls ; whose snowy feet Quarles, 
 
 Measure the pearly paths of sacred ground, Emblems, 
 
 And trace the New Jerusalem's jasper street ; v. 1. 
 
 Ah ! you whose care-forsaken hearts are crowned 
 With your best wishes ; that enjoy the sweet 
 
 Of all your hopes ; if e'er you chance to spy 
 
 My absent Love, tell them that I lie, 
 Deep wounded with the flames that furnaced from His eye. 
 
 I charge you, virgins, as you hope to hear 
 
 The heavenly music of your Lover's voice ; 
 I charge you, by the solemn faith you bear 
 
 To plighted vows, and to that loyal choice 
 Of your afiections, or if aught more dear 
 
 You hold, by Hymen, by your marriage joys ; 
 I charge you, tell Him that a flaming dart 
 Shot from His eye, hath pierced my bleeding heart, 
 And I am sick of love, and languish in my smart. 
 
 And the Bride is fitly said to be sick of love, ^hen ^^^^ 
 smitten and wounded with the sword of the Spirit, she 
 
236 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [Y. 8. 
 
 Cassiodor. 
 
 Col. iii. 3. 
 Gal. vi. 14. 
 
 S. Greg. M. 
 
 Ric. Vict. 
 
 Hugo Card. 
 
 S. Johnii. 3 
 xi. 34. 
 
 Gillebert. 
 Serin. 46. 
 
 Rupert. 
 
 strips oflp tlie veil of fleshly desire, because, in propor- 
 tion as the holy soul grows strong in God, so she 
 becomes feeble and weak in worldly affection. Nor is 
 it any marvel if the perfect soul be called sick to 
 worldly things, seeing that the Apostle does not hesi- 
 tate to call those dead who have fully abandoned the 
 world, " For ye are dead, and your life is hid with 
 Christ in God," and of himself he says, " The world is 
 crucified to me, and I unto the world." The daughters 
 of Jerusalem are the citizens of the heavenly country, 
 who are partly in their pilgrimage on earth, and partly 
 now reigning in heaven. But here, when saying, If 
 ye find my Beloved, she seems rather to address that 
 part which is still on earth, and has not yet at- 
 tained to the full vision of the Lord, but which never- 
 theless often finds Him, when receiving Him in the 
 heart by love. And we make this adjuration when- 
 ever we reveal our thoughts to God's Saints, either 
 by asking their prayers on our behalf, or by disclosing 
 to them our hidden longings after divine grace. And 
 it is the usual order of devout persons, advancing in 
 holiness, first to seek God themselves, and to busy 
 themselves in purging their heart, and then to consult 
 skilful advisers as to their condition and their hidden 
 dangers, to ask the prayers and seek the intimacy of 
 the godly. Note too, the brevity of her message. 
 She does not say, " Tell Him to come to me, to visit 
 me, to heal me." She knows all that may be safely 
 left to Him, to His wisdom and love. She asks only 
 that He may know that she is sick. So too His Mo- 
 ther, when at Cana, said to Him, " They have no 
 wine," but did not say. Work a miracle for them. 
 So Martha and Mary, when weeping for their dead 
 brother, said to their Master, " Lord, come and see ;" 
 they did not say. Raise up Lazarus. And yet He an- 
 swered in each case the unspoken prayer. Tell Sim^ 
 then, that I am sick of love. My love is not sick, but 
 I, who love, am sick. Where love is strong, there 
 sickness is strong too, if the loved one be absent. 
 What is this sickness, but a yearning for the absent 
 Beloved, slaying the lover ? Tell Him, then, that I 
 am sick with love, through my great longing to see His 
 face, now that He is gone from me, that I am weary 
 of life, and scarcely endure the lingering of my exile 
 here. Some take the words as specially applying to 
 the Blessed Virgin's yearning for the presence of her 
 
V. 9.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 237 
 
 Divine Son after His Ascension into Heaven, and that pj^.j. 
 not as implying that He needed to be told of her love, Harven'g. 
 but that she might ease her longing by giving expres- Cantacu- 
 sion to it. In us, alas, there are many other sick- oTon. Carth. 
 nesses, — the sickness of fear, of weariness, of sorrow, 
 because of past sins, possible relapses, and the toil of 
 pilgrimage. Speak the word only, O Loed, and we Giiiebert. 
 shall be healed of these disorders. But whereas such 
 ailments as these are told to the physician, that He 
 may heal them, that of love is told to the Beloved, 
 not that He may remove, but that He may renew and 
 increase it, for though it is begotten by His absence, 
 yet it is made far stronger by His presence, which is 
 the one thing for which the fainting Bride yearns and 
 strives, the one thing she cherishes in her bosom, the s. Ambros. 
 one thing she fears to lose, saying as she does to Him, in ps. cxix. 
 " My soul hath longed for Thy salvation." ^^' ^^ 
 
 9 What is thy beloved more than another 
 beloved, O thou fairest among women ? what 
 is thy beloved more than another beloved j that 
 thou dost so charge us? 
 
 This question is asked whenever any believer con- cassiodor. 
 verses with a believing brother, and they mutually 
 suggest words of heavenly desires, to increase their 
 aflfection for things above. Tell me, who now long and 
 desire to arrive at the vision of my Creator, tvJiat is 
 thy Beloved, that is, how Cheist ought to be loved. Beda. 
 Long since I have begun to fear Him, but now that 
 love is casting out fear, I wish to hear words whereby 
 I may be kindled to His love. Thou, who art even 
 now seeking Him in love and art sick with that love, 
 tell me, lohat is thy Beloved. They who take the 
 daughters of Jerusalem to be the Saints, glorified or . 
 
 militant, see in this address of theirs to the Bride, only 
 their desire to increase her love for the absent Bride- 
 groom by giving her an opportunity of dwelling on aU 
 His graces. But they who, with Theodoret, suppose 
 that the weaker and yet untried believers in the Faith 
 are meant, hold that the question is asked in real de- 
 sire to be instructed, to be told, when so many false Ainsworth, 
 Christs are to be found, what are the marks whereby °'^'^^^'^^- 
 the true one may be known, lest if they know Him not 
 here, He may refuse to know them in the Day of Phiio Carp. 
 
238 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [V.9. 
 
 1 S. Pet. i. 
 
 12. 
 
 S.Ans.Laud 
 Philo Carp. 
 
 Cassiodor 
 Beda. 
 
 Nic. Argent. Judgment. And if tlie words be ascribed to tbe An- 
 gels, they ask the Bride to tell them how much she 
 has been able to learn of her Spouse, so as to love Him 
 so tenderly, seeing that even they, who behold Him 
 face to face, cannot fathom the depths of His glory, 
 nor know Him as He is. Further ; as they do not 
 know Him at all by sympathy, but only by love 
 and worship, since He is not of their nature, they 
 are eager to learn from her who suflfers with and for 
 Him somewhat of that mystery of sorrow which is 
 one of those " things which the Angels desire to look 
 into." 
 
 The literal Hebrew of the first clause is, W7iat is 
 thy Beloved before a beloved ? and the LXX. and Vul- 
 gate, endeavouring to keep as closely as may be to 
 this, read, thy Beloved from a beloved. And the com- 
 mentators dwell much and variously on this repetition. 
 It denotes, says the Scholastic Doctor, the twofold na- 
 ture of Cheist, beloved in His Manhood, and beloved 
 in His Godhead too. It means, remark several others, 
 His eternal generation from His Fathee, in that He 
 is God of God, Light of Light, Very God of Very 
 God, and he who loveth the Son loveth the Father 
 also, even as he who seeth the Son seeth the Father 
 
 Ricard.vict. also. They ask her this question because she is the 
 fairest among ivomen, and they gather that the chosen 
 Bridegroom of one so lovely must be Himself a marvel 
 to look upon. That is, it is only by superior holiness 
 of life and conversation that the Church, thereby rising 
 above all schools of philosophy and all sects of heresy, 
 can so attract seekers after God as to make them in- 
 quire from her, rather than from any other, where and 
 how to find Him. And that precisely because she is 
 fairest only because of her nearness to Him, whereby 
 His beauty is reflected in her face. They ask her, 
 therefore, By what signs shall we know Him in con- 
 templation, lest, taking falsehood for truth, we should 
 instead of Him, receive that one who pretends to be 
 light, when he is darkness itself? How, too, is He 
 to be known in action, lest we should take evil for 
 good here also, carried away by excitement in well- 
 meant zeal, and deceived by the prospering of our 
 plans ? All this we ask of thee, because, having ad- 
 jured us, thou hast kindled in us the fire of love 
 towards Him, and forced us to seek until we find 
 Him. 
 
 Cocceius. 
 
 Tres Patr, 
 
V. 10.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 239 
 
 10 My beloved is white and ruddy, the 
 chiefest among ten thousand. 
 
 " A strange mingling of colours," — these are the Oiiiebert. 
 last words of teaching spoken by Gilbert of Hoyland Serm. 48. 
 ere he died — "which are found blended in one by 
 divine operation only in the Person of tlie Loed Jesus, Tres Patr. 
 not so as to be themselves one, but to be together in Beda.°'^°'^* 
 one. O gracious and lovely Bridegroom, in Whom 
 shines divine, and blushes human generation ! For He 
 is the brightness of eternal light, and He, though not s. John i. 
 born of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the ^^' 
 will of man, yet was sprung from His Mother's blood, 
 and there is in Him nought of that ruddiness whereof j ^^ j ^g 
 Isaiah saith : ' Though your sins are red like crimson, 
 yet shall they be as wool.' The whiteness of wool and 
 the redness of crimson agree not together, nor can 
 unite. But there is another redness which is found 
 together with whiteness in the raiment of Jesus. 
 • Wherefore,' asks Isaiah, ' art Thou red in Thine ap- isa. ixiii. 2. 
 parel?' The apparel of the Lord Jesus, naturally 
 white by reason of His Virgin birth, shining with 
 purity and the innocence of holiness, is yet more beau- 
 tiful with the ruddy hue of His voluntary Passion, 
 whereby He glows in the affections of His faithful. 
 What is that redness which lacks not the power of 
 whitening? 'They have washed their robes,' saith Rev. vU. i4. 
 He, ' and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb.' 
 This ruddiness found the whiteness already in my 
 Jesus ; it creates it in us, and does not find it. This 
 ruddiness, laid upon the tint of our blood-stained na- 
 tivity and personal sin, turns its redness into white- 
 ness, purifying our hearts by faith. For we are jus- 
 tified by faith in the Blood of Jesus. Happy for thee 
 is the ruddy glow of His out-poured Blood, if it kindle 
 in thy mind a longing for a change. Happy is its 
 glow for thee, if the mighty love of God shines for 
 thee in the Blood shed for thy sake. For Jesus so 
 loved His Bride as to wash her in His own Blood. 
 Love is like flame, and this makes the Loed Jesus 
 ruddy to me. In Him truth is white to me and love 
 is red. 3f^ Beloved is tvhite and ruddy. Why should 
 He not be white ? For God is light, and in Him is 
 no darkness at all. Why should He not be ruddy ? 
 For God is a fire, and He hath come to send fire upon 
 the earth. If He bestow on thee the light of under- 
 
240 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [V. 10. 
 
 Hugo Card. 
 S. Luke 
 xxiii. 11. 
 Psellus. 
 
 Rev. i. 13, 
 
 S. Hieron. 
 in Esa. Ixiii. 
 
 standing, He is wliite to tliee, but unless He kindle 
 thy soul with love, thou dost not feel Him to be ruddy. 
 He is both in Himself, but He is not so unto thee, 
 unless thou feelest the working of both within thee. 
 If thou be His Bride, strive after this blending of the 
 twin colours ; ask it of thy Bridegroom, that thou too 
 mayest be white and ruddy, that is, sincere and fervent. 
 For as He hath the power of calming, so also hath He 
 that of kindling, and whoso draweth nigh unto Him, 
 draweth nigh to the fire." So too. He gave us a type of 
 this His twofold character, when He suffered Himself 
 to be arrayed by Herod in a white robe, and by Pilate 
 in a purple one. So, in His Passion itself, both blood 
 and water issued together from His side. So, again. 
 He showed Himself to the beloved Disciple, clothed in 
 the sweeping alb of His everlasting Priesthood, and 
 Rev. XIX. 13. g^jgQ Ij^ ^^q a yesture dipped in blood," which pertains 
 to His victorious royalty. And He was white not 
 only in His Nativity, but also in His Hesurrection, 
 when He was indeed the cJiiefest among ten thousand, 
 as the First-born from the dead. And note, further, 
 how our Beloved keeps this twofold nature of His, 
 Godhead and Manhood, Virginity and Passion, purity 
 and love, light and fervour, before our eyes in that 
 most dear pledge wherein He gives Himself to us 
 under the Sacramental veils, white in the form of 
 hallowed Bread, ruddy in the chalice of mystic wine. 
 And so runs an old Eucharistic hymn : 
 
 Ave Christi coi-pus verum, 
 Ave dulce rubens merum, 
 Caro cibus, sanguis potus, 
 Et ubique Christus totus. 
 
 Hie est Sponsus candidatus, 
 Dilectus et rubricatus, 
 Castus ortus hunc albavit, 
 Sanguis fluens rubricavit. 
 
 Hail, Flesh of Christ divine, 
 Hail, sweet and rudd}^ wine, 
 Blood the cup, and Flesh the meat, 
 And in each is Christ complete. 
 
 This is He, the Bridegroom, dight 
 In His vesture red and white : 
 White, for Him a Virgin bore, 
 Ked, for He His Blood did pour. 
 
 s. Hieron. White and ruddy is He too, because He gives the 
 Epit. Pauiae. pri2es of peace as well as those of war to the conj 
 
V. 10.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 241 
 
 querors. White in His love and gentleness to Saints Dion. Carth. 
 and penitents, ruddy in His terrible anger against the 
 ungodly and reprobate. White and ruddy is He Who s. Bernard, 
 is girt round with the roses of Sharon and the lilies of serm. 28, in 
 the valleys, the choirs of Virgins and of Martyrs, Him- ^^"*" 
 self the Virgin of Virgins and Martyr of Martyrs in 
 their midst. 
 
 0, what are these roses bright, Dora 
 
 That in Thy garland blow ? Greenwell. 
 
 These roses red as blood, Carmina 
 
 These roses white as snow ? Crucis. 
 
 These blood-red roses grew 
 
 On a field with battle dyed ; 
 These snow-white roses strew 
 
 A path that is not wide ; 
 None seek that path but they who seek 
 
 Him Who was crucified ! 
 
 And note this, further, that He only is perfect and un- 
 changeable in His whiteness and ruddiness. Others 
 have been white and ruddy too, whether local Churches, 
 Religious Orders, or individual souls, but they have Giiiebert. 
 failed in the grace of perseverance, and have lost their ^^^"^' '^'^' 
 beauty through sin. And accordingly it is written by the 
 Prophet, " Her JSTazarites were purer than snow ; they Lam. iv. 7. 
 were whiter than milk, they were more ruddy in 
 body than rubies, their polishing was of sapphire. 
 Their visage is blacker than a coal ; they are not known 
 in the streets ; their skin cleaveth to their bones, it is 
 withered, it is become like a stick." Thus the only 
 white in which we can trust is the fine linen of His Ricard. Vict, 
 righteousness, the only redness which will abide in our 
 cheeks is that which He bestows from His own Blood. 
 And observe herein, that a further mystery lies hid under 
 the word ruddy, which is DTTJ^jt, adorn, denoting the Cocceius. 
 same thing as Adam, so that He Who is the Bright- 
 ness of the Father's glory, Whose countenance is as Heb. i. 3. 
 the sun shineth in his strength, is also the Second ^®^" ^' ^^' 
 Adam, the Man from heaven, Who hath come to repair 
 the loss we sustained by the fall of the first Adam. 
 And, therefore, too, because He hid that shining of His 
 celestial garments, " exceeding white as snow, so as no s. Marklx. 
 fuller on earth can white them," under those robes ^' 
 which tell of the conflict and sufiering of our human 
 nature, the Prophet asks in wonder, " Who is this that ^^*- '^'"- ^• 
 Cometh from Edom with dyed garments ?" ForEdom, 
 
242 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [V. 11. 
 
 whicli is red, denotes also that first-born Who lost His 
 birth-right, and became an exile from His home, that 
 His younger brother might have the inheritance. 
 
 The chiefest among ten thousand. The LXX. and 
 Yulgate, differing slightly in phrase, but not in mean- 
 ing, from this version, read severally elect from ten 
 thousands, and elect from thousands. There is but 
 little diversity in the expositions, as they all dwell on 
 Christ being the Only-begotten Son of the Father, 
 
 s. Just. Org. the only Virgin-born Son of a mother, as alone without 
 
 Ric. Vict, gjjj^ g^g ^i^g single High Priest of God, and as the One 
 Saviour of mankind, fairer than the children of men, 
 
 Dan.vii. 10. and excelling those thousand thousands who minister 
 unto Him, and the ten thousand times ten thousand 
 
 Phiio Carp, that stand before Him. Philo gives two mystical 
 reasons for the number ten thousand ; one, that He 
 Who is perfection (denoted by a thousand,) came after 
 the ten precepts of the Law, or that He came into the 
 world, after passing over the nine choirs of the Angelic 
 hierarchy, from the womb of the Virgin, as a bride- 
 groom from his chamber. The margin of the A. V., 
 translating ** standard-bearer," is hardly accurate, for 
 
 though the word 71^*^, dagul, here used, is connected 
 with 7j3'n, degel, a standard, yet it is a passive parti- 
 ciple, and means not standard-bearer, but lifted ujp like 
 a standard, and therefore conspicuous. It is a pro- 
 phecy of Him concerning whom Isaiah foretold, " In 
 that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, which shall 
 stand for an ensign of the people : to it shall the Gen- 
 tiles seek;" because, as He Himself hath said, "I, if 
 I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto 
 Me." 
 
 Gesenius. 
 Weissbach 
 
 Isa. xi. 10. 
 
 S. John xii 
 32. 
 
 1 Cor. xi. 3. 
 Philo Carp. 
 Cassiodor. 
 S. Greg. M. 
 
 Luc. Abb. 
 
 II His head is as the most fine gold, his 
 locks are bushy and black as a raven. 
 
 " The Head of Christ is God." So speaks the 
 Apostle, and the Fathers agree, for the most part, in 
 explaining this clause of the verse, dwelling on the 
 purity and costliness of gold, the king of metals, as a 
 faint type of the pre-eminence of the Lord Almighty. 
 And the Godhead of the Eternal Word is also the 
 Head of the Man Christ Jesus, in Whom shone the 
 brightness of Deity. God alone, says a Western di- 
 vine, is to be loved above all things of which we can 
 
 X 
 
V. il.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 243 
 
 think, with all the heart, with all the soul, and with 
 all the strength, even as the head is more cared for 
 than the other members ; and as gold is known to be 
 loved by covetous princes, who fear not to die for its 
 sake. And the thinner the sheets are into which gold 
 is drawn out, the more it shines and increases in duc- 
 tility. Just so, the more searchingly we endeavour to 
 investigate the majesty of divine power, so much the 
 more boundlessly does the ocean spread. And as the 
 substance of gold, by reason of its softness, is ductile 
 in any direction that you draw it ; so the unchanging 
 goodness of God's majesty, however mocked by the 
 ungodly, is never broken. S. Gregory Nyssen, how- s. Greg, 
 ever, refers the verse to Christ's Humanity alone, in ^y^^- 
 that He is Head of the Church ; golden indeed, as sin- 
 less, and because in Him dwelt all the fulness of the 
 Godhead bodily. Whereon another observes, " His s. Pauiin. 
 head is as faz, that is, pure gold, for this gold is the ^p- ^'^- ^^ 
 form of the Saints, who shine as lights in the head of ^^^'^""'• 
 the body, and are gold tried in fire by God, because 
 He, having tested them by suffering when melted in 
 the furnace of this world, found them, as it is written, 
 worthy of Him, and stamped upon them the sacred 
 impress of His image, printing the word of His truth 
 on their hearts and lips, and making them His money- 
 ers, that they might stamp, according to His pattern, 
 sterling coins for the Loed, and having defaced the 
 image of Csesar in us, should mint the living medal of 
 the everlasting King, that we, inscribed with the spirit 
 of redemption, with necks freed from the yoke, and 
 with foreheads guarded by the superscription of sal- 
 vation, might sing 'The light of Thy countenance is Ps. iv. 7, 
 signed upon us.* Let us strive, then, with all our ^"^^' 
 might so to prepare ourselves, that we may attain to be 
 the locks and gold of our Divine Head, which, by 
 God's grace, Christ is to us." 
 
 The Hebrew term here for fine gold is tvi ^A^r? 
 Jcethem paz, and the existing copies of the LXX. read, 
 by a curious error, gold of Cephaz, ^pvalov K€<pa^.^ It 
 would be unnecessary to refer to the erroneous reading, 
 were it not that it has led to a singular interpretation, PhUo Carp, 
 that of Philo, who, taking the head of Christ's mys- 
 tical Body, the Church, to be the most eminent Saints, 
 supposes this text to denote S. Peter, as Prince of the 
 
 ^ The text Theodoret and the Three Fathers used, had o<pdT^. 
 B 2 
 
244 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [V. 11. 
 
 S. Hieron. 
 Ep.ad 
 Mar cell. 
 
 Thom. 
 Vercell. 
 
 Hugo Card. 
 
 Prov. viii. 
 
 Tres Patr. 
 
 S. Greg. 
 
 Nyss. 
 
 S. Ambros. 
 de Spir. 
 Sanct. lib. 2, 
 
 S. Paulinus. 
 Ep. 4 ad 
 Severum, 
 
 Apostles, and eminent in wisdom ; a view which had 
 not long to wait for refutation, as it called up S. Je- 
 rome in defence of the truer interpretation, which sees 
 here Cheist, and Him only. The contemplative 
 writers see in the golden head an emblem of the inex- 
 haustible treasures of divine illumination, vouchsafed 
 to the Saints who strive after perfect knowledge of 
 God ; and therefore, too, some take it of that unsearch- 
 able wisdom of Cheist, whereof He saith in the Pro- 
 verbs, " My fruit is better than gold, yea, than fine 
 gold ;" while a further explanation is that the faith, 
 and still better, the love of the Church, as her principal 
 grace, is symbolically this head, as being that which is 
 most like her true Head and Spouse. 
 
 Sis locks are hushy. Hather, as in margin, curling. 
 The older versions translate, like jpalm-huds} which 
 cluster like a bunch of grapes. This has been accepted 
 as the true rendering by E-osenmiiller, De Wette, and 
 Gesenius ; and the former aptly cites an ancient Arab 
 love-song in illustration. " The tresses which adorn 
 her back are black, like a coal, thick, twining like the 
 clusters of the palm." Hitzig and Weissbach, how- 
 ever, demur, and translate, with no practical difierence 
 of result, grape-clusters, and like hills upon hills. 
 These locks, as before, are taken to denote the Saints 
 who are nearest to the Head, such as the Angels, Apos- 
 tles, Martyrs, and others eminent in holiness. S. Gre- 
 gory Nyssen, who however prefers to translate like 
 pines, takes the simile to denote the stately height at- 
 tained by the Apostles, and the manner in which they 
 increase the Bridegroom's beauty when they are moved, 
 like foliage or tresses, by the wind of the Holy Spieit. 
 S. Ambrose, taking the same meaning, draws from it 
 the further simile that the Saints are like the pine-built 
 ships of Tarshish, floating over the waves of the world, 
 and providing a sure life-boat {tutum remigium salutis) 
 for all mankind. And another Saint works out the 
 idea more fully still, commenting thus: "The Saints 
 are like flowering palms, and branching cedars, and 
 
 I eAaTot, elatce palmarum. 
 The Greek woi-d is more com- 
 monly used of the pine, and 
 thence is sometimes taken to 
 denote an oar, or even a ship, 
 made of that tree. The root 
 is iXavvu), used in the case of 
 
 the tree in the sense of " shoot- 
 ing upwards," and in that of 
 the buds of "pushing forth" 
 out of the sheath. All these 
 ideas will be found dwelt on by 
 the earlier commentators cited 
 in the text. 
 
V. 11.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 245 
 
 they are also like pines, black and good, because they 
 are conspicuous on the heights of their merits in the 
 Church, the mount of God, like pines upon the moun- 
 tains, and as those trees are suited for ship-building, 
 so too these princes of the people, cut down from the 
 Mount of tlie Law, as from Lebanon, framed the Ark or 
 ship of the Lord, — that is, the Church, intended to sail 
 oyer this world's floods, — from the Gentiles, hewn with 
 the Word of God, and taught therein, closely knit to- 
 gether in the framework of charity by the bond of 
 faith, to plough their way in safety over the billows of 
 this world." The elatce of palm-trees are, notes Cas- Cassiodor. 
 siodorus, their longer and more prominent branches, 
 sometimes of a golden hue, curling, always tending 
 upwards, and never losing their verdure. And some 
 allege that the words mean an aromatic pine, used for 
 making unguents, but not the great tree employed as 
 timber for ships and houses. To these elates, then, 
 the locks of the Bridegroom are compared, because 
 the company of the faithful rejoice in their evergreen 
 faith, are lifted up to a longing for eternal things, and 
 taste the sweetness of heavenly bliss. The palm, ob- Ricard.vict. 
 serves another, is rough near the ground, and confined 
 within a very narrow bark, but above it is beautiful 
 and spreading to the sight, and abundant in fruit. So 
 the members of Cheist in lower things fare hardly, 
 and suffer tribulation, whilst above they are fair and 
 fruitful in the eyes of God ; for they purify them- 
 selves through bodily hardships, and shoot upwards 
 into beauty of soul and spiritual loftiness, and attain, 
 by the grace of God, to that victory whereof the palm 
 is an emblem. The close bark below denotes the many 
 troubles whereby they are straitened here, the green 
 and spreading foliage above the abundant reward 
 which awaits them on high. Again, they take these xheodoret. 
 locks of the Bridegroom to be the Divine graces and Cassiodor. 
 attributes wherewith He is adorned, and as it were, Thonf^verc 
 clothed ; or else as the lofty truths contained in Holy Rupert. 
 Scripture. 
 
 And hlacJc as a raven. The literal sense here is to 
 denote the youthful vigour and prime of the Bride- Deirio. 
 groom, Who is untouched by age or weakness, and 
 thus has no sprinkling of white hairs upon His head. 
 The mystical interpretations are various. Taking the cassiodor. 
 locks, as before, to denote the Saints, they are called Phiio Carp. 
 hlacTc, say many of the Fathers, to denote their hu- ^" ^^^^- ^' 
 
246 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [Y. 12. 
 
 mility. The blackness of good men, remarks one of 
 themselves, is that they count themselves to be sin- 
 ners, and carry in their faces that shame for their sins, 
 for they choose contempt, they cheerfully endure to be 
 despised, they desire menial tasks, and poor apparel, 
 knowing that in their lowliness lies hid the precious 
 Nic. Argent, treasure of Cheist. Or, as another puts it, the very 
 Angels and Saints are black and sinful in comparison 
 with the golden glory of the Head whence they de- 
 pend. And, confining the reference to the Person of 
 Christ Himself, we are struck at once with the con- 
 trast between this verse and that of the Apocalypse, 
 where we read, " His head and His hairs were white 
 like wool, as white as snow," even as Daniel beheld six 
 centuries before. And they explain it very well, say- 
 ing that the vision in Patmos describes Him in the 
 pure holiness of His virgin life, whereas He was black 
 in His Passion, when His flesh was scorched with the 
 fire of pain and suffering in the furnace of the Cross, 
 so that there was no form or comeliness left in Him. 
 And, finally, if we see here either the Divine attributes 
 Thom.'^verc. ^''^ ^^^ mysteries of Holy Scripture implied, they are 
 Cantacu- called black, because hidden from us in impenetrable 
 darkness, according to that saying of the Psalmist, " He 
 made darkness His secret place, His pavilion round 
 about Him with dark waters, and thick clouds to 
 cover Him." 
 
 Rev. i, 14. 
 Dan. vii. Q. 
 
 Hugo Card. 
 
 Isa. liii. 2. 
 Tres Patr. 
 Rupert 
 
 zene. 
 
 Ps. xviii. 11 
 
 12 His eyes are as the eyes of doves by the 
 rivers of waters, washed with milk, and fitly set. 
 
 S. Greg. 
 
 Nyss. 
 Psellus. 
 Ric. Vict. 
 
 Cassiod. 
 
 S. Ambros. 
 in Ps. cxix. 
 16. 
 
 Sis eyes under the Old Testament were the Pro- 
 phets, or Seers. His eyes now are the Prelates and 
 Doctors of His Church, iirlaKoiroi, or Overseers. Or, as 
 another will have it, the contemplative Saints who are 
 ever looking to God. They are compared to doves 
 because of the graces of innocence and simplicity 
 which should characterize them, and they abide bt/ the 
 rivers of icaters, both as having been cleansed in the 
 laver of Baptism, and as dwelling close to those streams 
 of Holy Scripture whence they ever drink, and mir- 
 rored in which they can see themselves and any hawk 
 or other enemy which approaches them. They are 
 toashed with milk, because, as one Saint observes, the 
 Lord baptizes in milk, that is, in sincerity. And they 
 
V. 12.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 247 
 
 are truly baptized in milk who believe without guile 
 and maintain a pure faith and put on unspotted 
 grace, so that the Bride ascends in white robes to 
 Christ. S. Gregory Nyssen dwells on the plural s. Greg, 
 form, rivers of waters, and sees in them the divers ^y^^- 
 virtues of holiness, whereby the contrary vices of the 
 soul must be washed away. Again, as the Saints are Piiiio Carp, 
 like doves' eyes by reason of the gifts of the Holy 
 Spieit, so the words may be taken of Christ alone, 
 as possessed of all His gifts in their fulness, as it is 
 written : " I beheld, and lo, in the midst of the throne Rev. v. 6. 
 and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of 
 the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having 
 seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits 
 of God sent forth into all the earth." These gifts and Cassiod. 
 graces are fitly said to dwell by the rivers of waters, 
 because the Holy Ghost delights in pure and sincere 
 hearts. And they are washed with milk, because those 
 heavenly graces are not kept for the strong and vi- 
 gorous alone, but are freely given to the Church's little 
 ones, as milk to babes. The literal reference is to the ^jf^^diis. 
 clear white of the eye-ball, which contrasts with, and 
 sets off, the more beautiful and coloured pupil, whence 
 we gather that the passive graces of purity and inno- 
 cence are insufficient of themselves for the perfection of 
 the holy soul, but are meant as the frame in which the 
 active powers of saintliness must be set. And in that 
 they are said to dwell by rivers, not by lakes or ponds, 
 we are led back in thought to the Source, hidden and ex- Bs'i^,. 
 haustless, whence these waters ever flow, not stagnant, 
 nor collected by the work of any human skill. Again, 
 following the clue given by the Chaldee paraphrast, "r^^"™- 
 who sees here the unceasing watch of God's providence j^^q^ carth. 
 over Jerusalem, we too may see here the perfection 
 of Christ's wisdom, human and Divine. For in it 
 are the eyes of Godhead, according as it is written, 
 " The eyes of the Lord are over the righteous," and JJ; ^^^^v- 
 in another place, " The eyes of the Lord are ten thou- gccius. 
 sand times brighter than the sun, beholding all the xxUi. 19. 
 ways of men, and considering the most secret parts." 
 These eyes are the understanding and wisdom of God, 
 or the glance of His loving-kindness, and they may be 
 compared to doves' eyes, because of their perfect sin- 
 gleness and purity, most alien from all evil. And also 
 the inner eyes of Christ's Humanity were the reason 
 and understanding, wisdom and knowledge poured into 
 
248 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [V. 13. 
 
 Theodoret. 
 
 Cassiod. 
 S. Greg. M. 
 Rupert. 
 
 S. Greg. 
 
 Nyss. 
 
 PhUo Carp. 
 Theodoret. 
 
 Euchol. 
 Graec. 
 Isa. xi. 2. 
 
 Him, shining with dovelike simplicity and full of all 
 sincerity, testified by the clear, pure, and candid aspect 
 of His bodily eyes also. 
 
 And fitly set. Literally, 7'esting in fulness. The 
 metaphor is taken from a ^em skilfully set in the bezel 
 of a ring, so as to be exactly centred, and to shine most 
 brilliantly. Hence the mystical meaning is that the 
 Saints are fixed in the golden circle of God's law and 
 discipline, so as not to vary to the right hand or the 
 left, and thereby they attain greater beauty and value, 
 just as clear and limpid eyes, which are free from all 
 distortion, are the chief beauty of a lovely face, while 
 any irregularity in them is the greatest of deformities. 
 But the Vulgate reading, amplified from the LXX., is 
 dwelling hy the fullest of streams, Theodoret will have 
 it that the words denote the manner in which Cheist 
 is, as it were, always waiting anxiously by the waters 
 of Baptism to receive fresh souls into His Church, and 
 that these waters are called/j<(?Ze.s^, to warn us that the 
 bare external rite with no inward correlation of will, 
 cannot satisfy Him, as was shown in the case of Simon 
 Magus, who came to that Sacrament unrepentant and 
 unconverted. Others take these fullest streams to be 
 the Holy Scriptures, abundantly supplying the spiritual 
 thirst of the soul, and overflowing with heavenly mys- 
 teries. Here it is, then, observes a Saint, that we must 
 sit, and not by the waters of Babylon, where our eyes 
 will be dim with weeping, rather than washed in that 
 milk which, as it reflects no image nor shadow, denotes 
 the perfect truth which suggests no deceitful phantasm 
 to the eyes of the soul. Or again, Love is the fulfil- 
 ling of the Law, and it is on this fulness of love in the 
 multitudes of the Church, who are the waters in that 
 channel, that the Holy Dove vouchsafes to rest. And 
 yet once more, as Christ is He in Whom dwells all the 
 fulness of the Godhead bodily, so it was upon Him 
 that the mystic Dove hovered at the streams of Jordan, 
 upon Him Who is the perennial Eiver of the mercy of 
 God. And so the Prophet foretold, " The Spieit of 
 the LoED shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom 
 and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, 
 the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Loed." 
 
 13 His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as 
 sweet flowers : his lips like lilies, dropping 
 sweet smelling myrrh. 
 
V. 13.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 249 
 
 The LXX., Vulgate, and modern critics all vary in 
 the interpretation of the earlier part of this verse so 
 widely, that it is necessary to give their several ver- 
 sions before proceeding to comment on them. In the 
 first place, the LXX. has His cheeks are as vials of 
 spice giving out unguents. That is, observes Theodoret, Theodoret. 
 the doctrine of Christ supplies the preachers of His 
 Word with all the arguments and counsels which they 
 need for making that salve which they prepare for the 
 benefit of wounded and sin-sick hearts. Philo, differ- Phiio Carp, 
 ing a little in the version he follows, (reading, as he 
 does, the text of Symmachus, which is irpaa-iai, beds,) Tar?um 
 takes nearly the same view, that Holy Writ is the 
 store-house of those wholesome medicines which drive 
 away all spiritual diseases ; herein agreeing substan- 
 tially with the Targum, which explains the cheeks as 
 the two tables of the Law. The Vulgate reads Jlis 
 cheeks are like beds of spices planted by the ointment- 
 makers. And these cheeks some will have to be the s. Ores. M, 
 Martyrs, because as the ruddiness of the cheeks is Ric. vict. 
 an especial beauty of the face, so the blood of the 
 Martyrs, shed for Cheist, is a glory to His Name. 
 They are planted by the ointment-makers, in that the 
 earlier Martyrs were cheered on to their conflict by 
 the counsels of holy preachers, and the later ones by 
 the examples of their predecessors, brought before 
 them by preachers too. And they are beds of spices 
 because the sweet and restorative fragrance of their 
 lives and deaths perfumes the garden of God. Again, s. Greg, 
 some will have it that not the Martyrs but the Doctors p^'^^^^g 
 and teachers of the Church are intended, as the cheeks 
 clothe the jaws which prepare food for the stomach; 
 and these are beds, carefully tilled ground, bringing 
 forth the spices of prayer and good works, planted by s.Ans.Laud. 
 those skilled ointment-makers, the Apostles and Pro- 
 phets of God. Or, if you will, you may take these 
 spice-beds to be individual Churches, rich in Saints g , . q 
 and in good works, planted by the missionary zeal of • "^ • ^^• 
 the Apostles and their successors. And, turning to a 
 different class of exposition, several Fathers take the 
 cheeks of the Bridegroom to be the outward bearing geda."'^' 
 and demeanour of the Loed Jesus, according as He Rupert, 
 showed Himself gentle, stern, or sad. One will have 
 it that the union of the Two Natures in One Person, 
 bringing God and man together, is here intended, phuipp. 
 Wherefore, he says, these cheeks are compared to Harveng. 
 
250 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [V. 13. 
 
 Rosen- 
 miiller, 
 De Wette. 
 Weissbach, 
 
 Cocceius. 
 
 Targum. 
 
 S. Ambros. 
 S. Greg. M. 
 S. Greg. 
 
 Nyss. 
 
 S. Just. Org 
 
 Luc. Abb. 
 
 beds, that is, to little gardens, whence aromatic herbs 
 and spices are produced, cultivated with benevolent 
 skill by those ointment-makers who are learned and 
 busied in the art of medicine for healing the sick. 
 For after God had borne with the world for thousands 
 of years as it was perishing in sin, and no man nor 
 Angel was strong enough to drive sin out, at length 
 the Ointment-Makers chose out in wisdom certain beds, 
 whence they gathered aromatic medicines and healing 
 spices. For they joined together the Divine and hu- 
 man natures, to which, in mysterious counsel, they 
 added a certain joint power of cure ; and on them, 
 united in One Person, as cheeks are joined in one face, 
 they concentrated spices, and restored the fainting 
 world with the blessing of health. Nor were these 
 Ointment-Makers other than the Fathee, Son, and 
 Holy Ghost. The view of modern critics is to be 
 found in their explanation of the literal Hebrew of 
 that clause where the A. V. reads, as sioeet Jiowers. 
 The margin, more exactly, is towers of 'perfumes. And 
 this is explained as most probably meaning pyramidal 
 or conical flower-beds in a garden, so planted as to 
 present to the eyjg a rising and unbroken mound of 
 sweet flowering shrubs. The metaphor seems to de- 
 note the growth of beard upon the cheeks of the 
 Bridegroom, and therefore, as they tell us, the Saints 
 who draw all their life and being from Him are here 
 designated, towering upward in their aim at heavenly 
 things, and planted so closely together in unity of spirit 
 and doctrine, as to leave no void space where weeds 
 may spring. 
 
 Ilis lips liJce lilies, dropping sweet-smelliyig myrrh. 
 The lips of the wise, who toil in the Law, says the 
 Chaldee paraphrast, flow with decision on all points, 
 and the words of their mouth are like choice myrrh. 
 And this is very nearly the sense given by most Chris- 
 tian expositors, taking the verse, as they do, to de- 
 note the preachers of Christ's Gospel, pure in life, 
 fragrant in doctrine, and proclaiming first of all the 
 Lord's death, then the passions of His Martyrs, and 
 finally the duty of mortification, patience in suffering, 
 and readiness to endure death for the Lord's sake. 
 Or, with a more restricted application, it may be taken 
 of those Confessors who exercise the power of the 
 keys in binding and loosing, righteously binding the 
 impenitent by condemnation, loosing righteously the 
 
V. 14.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 251 
 
 penitent from the bond of condemnation by reconcil- 
 ing them to God. To the wise they are lilies in fra- 
 grance, bringing them gladness and healing, to the 
 foolish they have the bitter savour of myrrh ; but even 
 these, when healed, themselves praise the remedy which 
 has brought them cure of present suffering, and pro- 
 tection from future corruption. Theodoret, looking to Theodoret. 
 the Master, and not to His servants, says that His 
 lips may well be compared to lilies, because the Divine 
 sayings have their own glorious beauty, though devoid 
 of human ornament. For as the Lord Himself teaches, 
 the lilies toil not, neither do they spin, yet the Hea- 
 venly Father clothes them. Since then the Divine 
 sayings are destitute of all human wisdom, and have 
 only their own Divine beauty, it is well said His 
 lips are like lilies dropping full myrrh, for they 
 teach mortification in this present life. For such as 
 these is that teaching of the Lord : " If any man s. Luke xiv. 
 come to Me, and hate not his father, and mother, and -^• 
 wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and 
 his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. And 
 whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after Me, 
 cannot be My disciple." And again : " If thou wilt s. Mat. xix. 
 be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the ^'* 
 poor." Therefore His lips drop full myrrh. And 
 others, also explaining the words of Christ's sayings, 
 tell us that the comparison to lilies denotes His pro- 
 mise of eternal brightness, and His counsels of purity 
 and cleanness, both typified by the white flower. 
 There are not wanting some who remind us that Ghisierius. 
 we are not to understand here the white lily or nar- 
 cissus, but the purple one, as better figuring the rud- 
 diness of the lips ; but there is one most true sense 
 in which we may prefer to keep the snowy flower 
 in our minds, thinking of Him in His dying hour, xauier, 
 when with pale and bloodless lips He dropped that DePassione. 
 sweet-smelling myrrh of the Seven Words, which 
 has since healed many and many a sorely-wounded 
 heart, for, as our own poet says : 
 
 The nails and bleeding brows, Keble, Lyra 
 
 The pale and dying lips, are the portion of the Spouse. Innocent. 
 
 14 His hands are as gold rings set with the 
 beryl ; his belly is as bright ivory overlaid with 
 sapphires. 
 
25^ 
 
 A COMMENTARY OX 
 
 [V. 14. 
 
 Rosen- 
 miiller. 
 De Wette. 
 Cocceius. 
 
 Hitziff. 
 
 Weissbach. 
 
 Esth. i. 
 
 S. Greg. 
 Nyssen. 
 
 Ric. Vict. 
 
 Here again in the first clause the ancient translations 
 are utterly at variance with the A. V. The LXX. and 
 
 Vulgate read in the first clause, Kis hands are cylin- 
 drical {ropuevTai, tornatiles, literally, turned in a lathe) 
 golden, full of Tharsis (LXX.) or of jacinths, (Symma- 
 chus and Vulgate.) And modern critics are divided, 
 some accepting the interpretation of the A. V. and 
 then explaining with Cocceius that the hand, when 
 curved to grasp anything, resembles a ring ; and others 
 preferring the Vulgate reading, on the ground that 
 the specific word ^2) caph, always employed in He- 
 brew for the closed or hollowed hand, is not that found 
 in the text here. They differ, too, as to the phrase, set 
 with the beryl ; agreeing that the word does not imply 
 that the stone is set in the gold, but that the gold is 
 fixed in the stone. And they give two equally ingenious 
 explanations, — one that the finger-nails, in which the 
 hand terminates, are the beryl, chrysolite, topaz, ja- 
 cinth, or Tarshish stone, (so variously is the gem de- 
 scribed) referred to, — compare the Greek name for one 
 well-known jewel, onyx, " a nail," — the other argued 
 with much ingenuity by Weissbach, that the hand itself 
 is intended, being the costly socket in which those 
 slender golden pillars, the fingers, are firmly rooted, 
 illustrating the argument with a reference to the rich 
 tesselated pavement in which stood the pillars for 
 the hangings in the palace of Ahasuerus. The hands, 
 then, of Christ's mystical Body are the stewards and 
 dispensers of His grace, golden, even as their Head is 
 of gold, turned in a lathe, because rid of everything 
 external and superfluous, /?<ZZ of Tharsis-stone, hecsiuse 
 the outer crust of sin which hid the jewel has been cut 
 away by the lapidary's skill, and thus only the clear 
 radiance remains. The hands of the Beloved, says 
 the Prior of S. Victor, are the works of the godly, 
 which are turned, because they are regular and perfect. 
 For as turners' work is regularly and smoothly cir- 
 cular, and admits of no interruption or inequality, so 
 the godly do nothing blameworthy, nor aught whereby 
 their neighbour may be offended or weakened. The 
 energy of the godly is therefore regular and polished, 
 because they seek only heavenly things, swerving 
 neither to right nor left, but keeping to the King's 
 highway. Wherefore it is said that they are golden 
 because they shine with divine wisdom, and are not 
 
V. 14.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 253 
 
 darkened by sin or ignorance. And these works shine 
 before men unto the glory of their Father Which is in 
 heaven, unclouded with sins or lack of judgment, and 
 are all performed for God's sake and with a single 
 mind. Therefore it is added that they are full of ja- Cassiodor. 
 cinihs, because they are done from pure hope and 
 longing for heavenly things, for the jacinth is a stone 
 of the colour of the sky, with a greenish shade in it. 
 Again, the hands of the Beloved, when referred to the Theodoret. 
 Person of Christ Himself, denote His works and 
 miracles, turned, because of the ease and rapidity of 
 His operation, golden, by reason of the manifestation 
 of Divine power, /wZ^ of jacinths, because arousing cassiodor 
 men to hope of heavenly things. They were turned, 
 too, because of their completeness and perfection. And ^^^^° ^^P- 
 His bodily hands were turned in yet another sense, 
 when fastened on that cruel lathe of the Cross, there 
 to be fashioned for us into an instrument of salvation ; 
 full of jacinths, truly, when gemmed with the ruddy Beda, 
 drops of His most Precious Blood. Others are found 
 to take the word tornatiles in an active sense, and to 
 explain it as the hands of a turner. And then the Nic. Argent, 
 whole clause is taken of the creative power of God, 
 shaping all things, as a turner does, with no pattern 
 before Him, but only by force of will and steadiness 
 of hand. And as a cup or a sphere is potentially 
 hidden within the block out of which it is to be turned, 
 80 all things, say they, pre-existed in the mind of God, 
 and they had no independent being or place till He, 
 so to speak, put them outside Himself, removing from 
 them all that was not of their essence. And it is 
 added that these hands are golden, because " God saw Gen. i. 3J. 
 everything that He had made, and behold, it was very 
 good." 
 
 Passing now to the A. V. reading, it remains to be 
 seen what its mystical import is. And first, it is to be 
 noted that the verse in no case can imply that the 
 hands of the Bridegroom are adorned with rings, but 
 that they themselves are in some way like rings, pos- 
 sibly, as suggested above, when curved, and with 
 henna-dyed nails for jewels. The ring, under the 
 Law, as containing the signet, is the token of authority, 
 and is so given by Pharaoh to Joseph, and by Aha- Gen. xii. 42. 
 suerus to Haman. Under the Gospel the ring is the ^^^^- "^* *"• 
 symbol of marriage. Thus the Bride sees in Christ 
 at once her King and her Bridegroom. Here on earth 
 
254 A COMMENTARY ON [V. 14. 
 
 and under the Old Covenant, when the fear of Him is 
 the beginning of her wisdom, He is Baali, " My Lord," 
 to her. Under the Law of Grace in our Country, when 
 .. perfect love hath cast out fear. He will be called by 
 
 her, J5A^, " My Husband." Into His hands she com- 
 Ps. xxxi. 6j mends herself, by those hands she confesses that she 
 xc'u/^' ^^ made and fashioned, for the operations of those 
 hands she rejoices in giving praise. If those hands 
 seem to press hardly on her at times, she recognises 
 that it is only that the imprint of the Everlasting 
 Name may be set upon her forehead, and when they 
 support her in time of weariness and sorrow, she feels 
 in them the loving clasp of her Bridegroom. They 
 are set with the beryl. And it is enough to say briefly 
 that in the great vagueness of all translators in ex- 
 plaining the Hebrew names of precious stones, no 
 trust can usually be given to their versions. But as 
 to this stone, the tarshish, first in the fourth row of 
 Exod.xxviii. the High Priest's breastplate, it is now for the most 
 ^^' part agreed that the Oriental topaz, the stone called 
 
 by the ancients chrysolite} the seventh foundation of 
 the Heavenly City, is intended. And on this let us 
 hear the mystic comment of Marbod of Rennes : 
 
 Cives CO- ' "^^^ golden-coloured chrysolite 
 
 lestispatrice. Flasht s forth sparkles in the night : 
 
 Its mj'stic hues the life reflect 
 Of men with perfect wisdom decked, 
 "Who shine in this dark world like gold, 
 Through that blest Spirit sevenfold. 
 
 Or, as the great Carmelite writer on the Psalms alleges, 
 
 " The chrysolite shines as gold in the day ; as fire in 
 
 yguan. ^^^^ night. By the day, the good ; by the gold, their 
 
 crown, are represented ; by the night, the wicked ; 
 
 and by the Jlre, their punishment." Hence the stone 
 
 typifies their final separation, and thus the seventh 
 
 article of the Creed, " From thence He shall come to 
 
 judge the quick and the dead." And thus the jewels 
 
 which adorn the hands of the King and Bridegroom 
 
 s M hthii ^^^ "^^^ Wisdom and Justice. Here too may fitly be 
 
 dis Reveiat. cited a vision, which helps to explain the meaning of 
 
 "i- 1- the ring: "And she saw the most Blessed Virgin 
 
 standing at her right hand, giving her a golden ring, 
 
 which she at once offered to the Loed, and the Loed, 
 
 1 By a curious interchange, I lite, the stone anciently known 
 modem lapidaries call chryso- | as topaz. 
 
V. 14.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 255 
 
 graciously accepting it, placed it on His finger. Then, 
 pondering within herself, she said, O if it might but 
 be that He would give me His ring in token of be- 
 trothal ! And it seemed to her that it would be enough 
 if the Lord would vouchsafe to send her a pain in the 
 ring-finger, that she might bear it all the days of her 
 life in memory that she was betrothed to Christ. 
 To whom the Lord : I give thee a ring, gemmed with 
 seven stones, which thou canst recall in the seven 
 joints of thy finger. In the first joint, thou mayest 
 remember that divine love, which bowing Me down 
 from the Father's bosom, made Me serve in many 
 toils for thirty-three years, seeking thee. And when 
 the marriage-time drew nigh, I was sold, by the love 
 in My own heart, to obtain the price of the bridal- 
 feast, and I gave Myself for Bread, and Flesh, and 
 Chalice. And at that feast I was harp too, and organ, 
 by the sweet words of My mouth. In the second 
 joint, remember how I in My beauty led forth the 
 bridal throng to the martial dance after that banquet, 
 and thrice leaping, I fell thrice to the ground, and 
 shed forth drops of bloody sweat. And I clothed My 
 fellow-soldiers in the dance with triple robes, when I 
 granted them remission of sins, sanctification of their 
 souls, and My own divine glory. Thirdly, recollect 
 the love of My humility for the Bride's kiss, when the 
 traitor drew near and kissed Me ; in which kiss My 
 Heart felt such love, that had his soul repented, I should 
 have taken him, by that kiss, into the person of the 
 Bride. In the fourth, recall what were the marriage- 
 songs My ears heard from the Bride's love, when I 
 stood before the Judge and so many false testimonies 
 were adduced. In the fifth, remember how beauteously 
 I clothed Myself for love of thee, when I so often changed 
 My vesture, white, red, purple, and wore a garland 
 of roses, to wit, the crown of thorns. In the sixth, be 
 mindful how I embraced thee when I was bound to 
 the pillar, and there took on Myself for thee all the 
 darts of thine enemies. In the seventh, be mindful 
 how I entered the bridal chamber of the Cross. And 
 then I stretched out My hands by those hard nails 
 for thy sweet embraces, singing in that chamber of 
 love seven songs of marvellous sweetness. And then 
 I opened My Heart that thou mightest enter in, when 
 dying on the Cross, I slept the sleep of love with 
 thee." 
 
256 A COMMENTARY ON [Y. U. 
 
 Sis helly is as bright ivory overlaid with sapphires. 
 Here it is necessary to premise that the word T\'^}) 
 esheth, translated bright in the A. V., is passed over by 
 the Vulgate, is explained by box or a tablet {irv^ioy) in 
 the LXX., and is held by modern critics to mean a 
 work of art. There is this further difference, that the 
 Vulgate agrees with the A. V. in taking the sapphires 
 as set in the ivory, while the LXX. reverses this no- 
 tion, reading an ivory box (or tablet) on a sapphire 
 
 Theodoret. stone. Theodoret, taking irv^iof to be a box or vessel, 
 comments thus : The depth of His mysteries, and the 
 storehouse of His knowledge, where are hid all the 
 treasures of His wisdom, are an ivo7y box to those who 
 are worthy of His revelation. They are naturally in- 
 comprehensible, and therefore they are said to be upon 
 a sapphire stone, which signifies the hidden depth of 
 
 Philo Carp, divine things. Philo explains the belly of the Bride- 
 groom to be the Law, wherein the oracles, prophecies, 
 and types of Christ were inclosed, as in a box, like 
 the records of princes. This box was ivory on sapphire, 
 because as ivory is opaque and of trifling cost com- 
 pared with the transparent and precious sapphire, dyed 
 with the hue of heaven, so the Old Covenant is altoge- 
 ther inferior to the Gospel of Cheist, just as a picture 
 or a flower ranks below a fruit or a living creature. 
 Or, as the same Father adds, we may understand here 
 the choir of the Saints, pure and shining, like an ivory 
 box, having no spot or defilement. In this spiritual 
 box lie the documents of wisdom and the title-deeds 
 which will confer no earthly possession, but a heavenly 
 kingdom. And this rests upon a sapphire stone, which 
 may be referred to the Communion of the Saints, their 
 love, and their glory. Taking irviiov to be a tablet for 
 
 Tres Patr. writing, the Three Fathers beautifully interpret it of 
 the Book of Nature, the visible creation, firm and 
 lovely, and written by the hand of God, resting on 
 that which is yet firmer and lovelier, His unseen 
 Almightiness and heavenly wisdom, figured by the 
 
 s. Greg. sapphire stone. And S. Gregory Nyssen takes the 
 
 ^y^^- tablet to be any pure human heart on which GoD 
 
 writes " not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living 
 God ; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of 
 the heart." It is white with holiness, it rests on 
 sapphire, because its whole longing is bent on heavenly 
 things. Turning to the Latin Fathers, we read first 
 
 2 Cor. iii. 3. 
 
V. 14.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 257 
 
 " In the members of tlie human body nothing is Cassiocior. 
 weaker or more delicate than the belly, and therefore 
 the frailty of Cheist's assumed Humanity is thereby 
 denoted. It was ivory, because it had no spot or cor- 
 ruption, for ' He did no sin, neither was guile found i s. Pet. ii. 
 in His mouth.' It was studded with sayphires, be- ^^" 
 cause of the heavenly graces and powers with which 
 Cheist's Manhood was endowed, since the sapphire, 
 having the colour of a clear sky, signifies God's Ma- 
 jesty, as it is written, ' And they saw the God of ^^^^- ^^^^• 
 Israel, and there was under His feet as it were a paved 
 work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of 
 heaven in his clearness.'" Another, applying the ^- •^"^*- ^^^• 
 words to Christ's mystical Body, says that the belly 
 denotes those who bring forth spiritual children in 
 faith ; nay, that the ivory belly itself may not unfitly de- 
 note the baptismal font, as the pure white ivory is taken 
 from a dead animal, for the Apostle saith, " Know ye Rom. vi. 3. 
 not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus 
 Cheist were baptized into His death? Wherefore 
 we are buried with Him in baptism unto death, that 
 like as Cheist was raised up from the dead by the 
 glory of the Eathee, even so we also should walk 
 in newness of life." And this font is studded with 
 sapphires because of the great Saints, glorious in their 
 confession, who have issued from it. A third takes i^uc. Abb. 
 it of the contemplative Saints, not actively busy in J^""^- 
 external work, like hands and feet, nor yet employed, ^^^^ 
 like the lips, in preaching the Word, but silently re- 
 ceiving into themselves the food of the Holy Ghost, 
 and adorned with tokens of true holiness, and thereby 
 Drofiting the whole body to which they belong. There 
 is yet another sense, applying the words to the human Cocceius. 
 Person of Cheist. His Body, in its perfect purity and 
 3eauty, is ivory, the stripes and weals inflicted on Him 
 .n His Passion, studded it with sapphires. Even yet 
 ;he mysteries of the sapphire are not exhausted. It, 
 ike the beryl, gleamed on Aaron's breastplate; it is Exod.xxviii. 
 the promised foundation of the afflicted Church ; it is isa, Uv. 11. 
 ;he second jewel in the base of the New Jerusalem. Rev. xxi. 19. 
 
 The azure light of Sapphire stone Marbod. 
 
 Resembles that celestial Throne : The Hymn, 
 
 A symbol of each simple heart Cwes cos- 
 
 That grasps in hope the better part : testis patria. 
 
 "Whose life each holy deed combines, 
 And in the light of virtue shines. 
 S 
 
258 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [V. 15. 
 
 Exod. XXV. 
 
 4 ; XXvi. 1 ; 
 xxviii. 5 ; 
 xxviii. 31. 
 
 Numb. 
 XV. 38. 
 
 S. Mat. ix. 
 20. 
 
 S. Epiphan. 
 S. Greg. 
 Nyss. 
 S. Ambros. 
 
 Psellus. 
 
 1 Cor. iii. 11 
 
 Philo Carp. 
 
 S. Mark xvi, 
 
 15. 
 
 S. Just. Org. 
 
 Rom. XV. 1, 
 
 Rom. XV. 4. 
 
 S.Ans.Laud. 
 Eph. ii. 20. 
 
 And therefore the blue of sky and sea, typifying the 
 height and depth, and length and breadth of the wisdom 
 and love of God, was reproduced mystically in the 
 Temple of old, and in the robes of Aaron, along with 
 the purple of Christ's royalty and the scarlet of His 
 Blood, while the sacred ephod was all of blue. There- 
 fore too, the children of Israel were enjoined to put a 
 " ribband of blue" upon the fringe that bordered their 
 garments, to remind them of God's commandments ; 
 and it was this blue ribbon which formed the hem of 
 that white robe of Christ, whose touch healed the 
 woman with an issue of blood. 
 
 15 His legs are as pillars of marble, set upon 
 sockets of fine gold : his countenance is as Le- 
 banon_, excellent as the cedars. 
 
 By reason of the title " pillars" given to SS. Peter, 
 James and John, by their colleague S. Paul, several 
 of the Fathers take the legs here to mean the Apostles 
 in general. They are marble, because of their firm- 
 ness and solidity, especially S. Peter, whose own name 
 denotes a rock ; they are set on (/olden sockets, because 
 they rest on the base of which is written, " Other 
 foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is 
 Jesus Christ." And the Apostles are in a sense the 
 legs of Christ, not merely because they bore at first 
 the whole weight of His mystical Body the Church, 
 but because Christ Himself passed in and on them 
 into the whole world to proclaim the Faith to the Gen- 
 tiles, when He commanded them, " Go ye into all the 
 world, and preach the Gospel to every creature." The 
 words are applied to other Saints also, besides those 
 chief and earliest ones. All the righteous who support 
 others by their charity, and prop them with the conso- 
 lations of Scripture, are such, as the Apostle writes : 
 " "We that are strong ouglit to bear the infirmities of 
 the weak, and not to please ourselves." And the bases 
 on which such Saints rest may well be Holy Writ, for 
 it follows soon after, " Whatsoever things were written 
 aforetime were written for our learning, that we, through 
 patience and comfort of the Scriptures, might have 
 hope." Or, the examples of the great Saints of old 
 are the bases which support later ones, as it is written, 
 " Ye are built upon the foundation of the Apostles 
 and Prophets." 
 
 I 
 
; V. 15.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 259 
 
 Again, applying the words to Christ Himself, they s. Greg, 
 give divers explanations. One is that the two precepts ^"y^^* 
 of love to God and love to our neighbour, firm as 
 marble in their claim on our faith, and based on the Tres Patr. 
 golden foundations of God's truth and love, are, as it 
 were, the legs wherewith Christ enters the building 
 of the faithful soul. Or you may take the Bridegroom's Cassiodor. 
 legs to be the journeyings of the Saviour, undertaken 
 for our salvation : His coming down from heaven to 
 become Man, His descent into the grave, His Resur- 
 rection and Ascension. They are marble, for all the 
 ways of the Lord are straight and strong. Of His 
 strength the Psalmist saith, " He rejoiceth as a giant Ps. xix. 5. 
 to run His course. His going forth is from the utter- 
 most part of the heaven." Of His straightness else- 
 where, " All the paths of the Lord are mercy and Ps. xxv. 19. 
 truth." These legs are set iixton socJcets of gold, be- 
 cause all things which were to be done by Christ or 
 in Christ, were foreordained and appointed before the 
 foundation of the world. "Wherefore the Prophet ex- 
 claims, " O Lord, Thou art my God; I will exalt isa. xxv. 1 , 
 Thee, I will praise Thy Name ; for Thou hast done 
 wonderful things ; Thy counsels of old are faithfulness 
 and truth." And that we might be assured in type Beda. 
 how unchangeable these counsels for our salvation are, 
 the Lord did not suffer His legs to be broken ujDon 
 the Cross, as were those of the malefactors ; just as He 
 signified the unity of His Church in preserving the 
 seamless robe from being rent. But if you will have 
 it, that only two journeyings can be signified by the 
 two legs, you may take them to be the first and the "^° ^'^ " 
 second Advent; the first for redemption, the second 
 for judgment and salvation. 
 
 Mis countenance is as Lebanon, excellent as the 
 cedars. Lebanon, towering and white, is taken as the 
 type of Him Who was fairer and purer than the children 
 of men, and of Whom that first King of Israel was a 
 mystical type, of whom it is written : " There was not 1 Sam. ix. 2. 
 among the children of Israel a goodlier person than 
 he ; from his shoulders and upward he was higher than 
 any of the people." Theodoret, translating Lebanon Theodoret. 
 by " incense," bids us see in it the Divinity which 
 we worship, and in the cedars, the Man Who is in- luc. Abb. 
 corrupt. And a Western writer, accepting the same 
 idea of incense, explains it that Christ is so entitled, 
 as at once Priest and Victim in the One Great Sacri- 
 s 2 
 
260 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [V. 15. 
 
 Philo Carp. 
 S. Greg. M. 
 
 Ricard.Vict. 
 
 Rupert. 
 
 Beda. 
 
 Rupert, 
 
 S. Ambros. 
 rte Virgin. 
 3. 
 
 fice. Others, dwelling on tlie version " whiteness, " see 
 Him who washes away the sins of His people, making 
 them white as snow. And the Virgins of the Church 
 are said to be the countenance of Christ, white as Le- 
 banon, for because of the chaste purity of their life, 
 and because they are free from stain of pollution, they 
 are nearest to the spotless Lamb. E-upert reminds us, 
 very aptly, that the great stones whereof the Temple 
 was built were hewn on the slopes of Lebanon, and 
 that as that Temple, to which Christ compares Him- 
 self, was the head, and glory, and Holy of holies of the 
 earthly Jerusalem, so is Christ the Head, and glory, 
 and Holy of holies in the heavenly Jerusalem, and 
 every stone in that building made without hands is a 
 Saint of God, part of Lebanon itself, as a member of 
 the Body of Christ. Excellent as the cedars. Where 
 note, that the same Beloved is compared to Lebanon, 
 which produces mighty trees, and to the cedar which 
 amongst others, Lebanon produces, because He, one 
 and the same, brings forth and carries the trees, and is 
 Himself brought forth and carried amongst the trees 
 by Himself. For our Lord Jesus Christ, while bring- 
 ing forth to life and nourishing by His Divine grace 
 all His elect from the beginning till the end of the 
 world, bears Himself also amongst men, in willing to 
 be made Man, and filled that Man with the grace of 
 His own Spirit, albeit far more than all others. The 
 Lord then is excellent as the cedars, because He tran- 
 scends in His sole and singular dignity all the trees of 
 that wood of the Holy Church wherein He was born. 
 Sis countenance is as Lebanon, which produces the 
 cedar also amongst its other noble trees, because, when 
 He willed to become Man, He created Himself as the 
 Tree of Life in the midst of the garden, just as a painter 
 might depict himself with fitting colours, in the midst 
 of a group. He was elect, or excellent as the cedars, 
 because He boi-e a likeness to all those great Patri- 
 archs, His forefathers, and united in Himself every 
 virtue and grace which they separately possessed. 
 And as the cedar seems to tower up to the sky, while 
 its roots go deep and firmly into the earth, so the 
 Divinity of Christ reaches to the Heaven of heavens 
 where He dwells, and yet His Incarnation binds Him 
 closely to the children of men. 
 
 16 His moutli is most sweet : yea, he is al- 
 
V. 16.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 261 
 
 together lovely. This is my beloved, and this 
 is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem. 
 
 By the mouth of Cheist tbey understand, as by His s. Greg, 
 lips, the preachers of His Word, and in especial the g'^j^^^ Org, 
 first of them, the Baptist Forerunner. Or, applied to Pseiius'. 
 Himself, it vrill denote His own words. For what, 
 asks Theodoret, can be sweeter than the sayings of Theodoret. 
 God? Wherefore holy David saith, "O how sweet ps. cxix. 
 are Thy words unto my throat : yea, sweeter than *^^- 
 honey unto my mouth ;" and again, " More to be de- Ps, xix. lo. 
 sired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold : 
 sweeter also than honey, and the honey-comb." There- 
 fore, also, the officers of the chief priests, who were 
 sent to the Lokd, fascinated and attracted by longing 
 for the sweetness of His words, said, " Never man s. John vii. 
 spake like this Man." And, seeing that the whole ^^• 
 New Testament is His utterance, we may well under- 
 stand it by the mouth (or throat, as LXX. and Vulgate J[^^f/^*J- 
 read) of the Bridegroom, especially by reason of the " ° ^^^' 
 sweetness of reading and meditating on its heavenly 
 sayings. And S. Anselm of Laon reminds us that as ge^a^"^^"^' 
 it is not the outer letter, but the inner spirit, which is 
 profitable, so the hidden speaking of Cheist to the 
 heart is the sweetest of all, by reason of the loving- 
 kindness which is His utterance. And whereas the 
 margin of the A. V. reads i^alate, so there are not Ricard.vict. 
 wanting those who tell us that here is meant the in- 
 ternal savour of Cheist and His spiritual consolation, 
 which are so sweet to those who taste them. The 
 more this sweetness is preserved, the more it is longed 
 for. It hath hunger, not satiety, in this life : it hath 
 refreshment, not fulness. It is so sweet as to be ever 
 desired ; it is so vast, as never to be fully compre- 
 hended. The Bride calls the throat most siveet, and Rupert. 
 we are not told hoio sweet, nor yet what it is like. 
 Some comparison is given us in all the other cases, 
 as that the head is fine gold ; the locks like palm-buds ; 
 the eyes like doves' eyes by the waters ; the cheeks 
 beds of spices ; the lips lilies ; the hands cylindrical, 
 golden, full of jacinths ; the belly, ivory studded with 
 sapphires ; the legs pillars of marble with golden sock- 
 ets. But the Bride calls the throat only most sioeet, 
 and gives no simile, that thereby you may ponder 
 how unsx^eakable and priceless is that divine inner 
 sweetness, which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, 
 
262 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 LV. 16. 
 
 1 Cor. ii. 9. 
 
 Plato. 
 
 Phaedrus, 
 
 64. 
 
 Cassiodor. 
 Ric. Vict. 
 
 neither hath entered into the heart of man, but which 
 God hath prepared for them that love Him. Yea, He 
 is altogether lovely. Or, as all the ancient versions 
 read, desirable} And a heathen philosopher will tell 
 ns how desirable, in those marvellous words whereby 
 he forecasts the Beatific Vision as shadowed in trance 
 and communion, and the attractive power of the Incar- 
 nation : " We cannot, in mere similitudes here, be- 
 hold the glory of Eighteousness and temperance, and 
 those other things that are precious to our souls ; nay, 
 scarce even a very few, reaching with their imperfect 
 organs to the images thereof, beheld what kind of things 
 it is which is pictured. But it was then permitted to 
 gaze on resplendent beauty, when, together with the 
 choir of the blest, we attained, with God, to the blissful 
 vision and contemplation ; and others too beheld, and 
 were initiated into that mystery which may well be 
 called the happiest of all ; which we celebrated, purely, 
 and free from all the passions which abode in us in 
 the later time.^ And so initiated, and admitted as be- 
 holders, we, pure and spotless, and freed from the body 
 which we bear about with us like a shell, beheld those 
 perfect, simple, unwavering, and blissful visions in 
 ligJit unsullied. And all this is a delight to memory, 
 wherefore has it now been spoken of at length, through 
 longing for it once more. And that beauty, as we 
 have said, shone forth, coming with them,^ and we, 
 reaching this point, perceived its clearest shining by 
 the clearest of our senses. For sight is the most acute 
 of our bodily senses, and yet wisdom cannot be seen 
 by it, for wisdom would excite the most eager love, 
 if any like image of it could appear, and show itself 
 to sight." So when the Eternal Wisdom, the Beauty 
 uncreated, did show Himself to men. He inspired such 
 passionate yearning in them that they could not but 
 rise up, leave all, and follow Him, to poverty, exile, 
 shame, and death. Altogether lovely, because He is 
 lovely as God, and lovely as Man also. He is lovely 
 in Himself, and lovely in His Saints. Lovely was the 
 
 _ ' The Syriac included ; with 
 singular poverty, however, it 
 applies the epithet to the rai- 
 ment of the Bridegroom, not 
 to Himself. 
 
 2 It is not a forced interpre- 
 tation, using the passage as is 
 done hei-e, to interpret this 
 latter time of the Fall, suc- 
 
 ceeding that earlier time of 
 man's innocence. 
 
 3 So it is recorded of more 
 than one Saint, that the face, 
 after returning from Commu- 
 nion at the Altar, seemed to 
 shine with supernatural light 
 and beauty. 
 
VI. 1.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 263 
 
 rision of His Humanity upon earth, but lovelier by far 
 will be His glorified Humanity in heaven ; lovely is that 
 Countenance which the whole company of the heavenly 
 citizens desires, most lovely of all the contemplation 
 of His Godhead, to which all that can be desired may 
 not be compared. He is altogether lovely, because the s. Pet. Dam. 
 mystery of His Humanity kindles such universal long- ^^^' ' ^' 
 ing in the souls of His elect, that not merely the glory 
 of His Eesurrection calls them forth, but even the 
 ignominy of His Passion invites them to imitate His 
 example. Altogether lovely, because the more He is Rupert, 
 possessed, the more He is longed for ; we desire to 
 behold Him, and when we behold Him, we desire Him 
 more ardently than before. 
 
 Jesu, Kiug of wondrous might, S. Bernard. 
 
 Victor, glorious from the fight, Rhythm. 
 
 Sweetness that may not be expressed, Jubil. 
 And altogether loveliest ! 
 
 This is my Beloved, and this is my Friend, O daughters Cassiodor. 
 of Jerusalem. He is my Beloved, because I cling to 
 Him by faith and love ; He is my Friend, because He 
 vouchsafed to redeem me from the bond of sin, to 
 make me His friend, and the sharer of His secrets, and 
 the more each one loves Him, the more worthy does 
 he become of His friendship. And observe that He 
 is called Beloved first, and then Friend, " because He i s. John iv. 
 first loved us," and was united to us by that love even ^^• 
 before He came upon earth to speak unto us face to Exod.xxxiu. 
 face, as a Man speaketh unto His friend. ^^' 
 
 One there is, above all others, john 
 
 "Well deserves the name of Friend, Newton. 
 
 His is love beyond a brother's, 
 Costly, free, and knows no end; 
 
 They who once His kindness prove. 
 Find it everlasting love. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 1 Whither is thy beloved gone, O thou fairest 
 among women ? whither is thy beloved turned 
 aside ? that we may seek him with thee. 
 
264 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [VI. 1. 
 
 Tres Patr. 
 
 Psellus. 
 
 Ps. xxiv, e 
 Cassiodor. 
 
 Honorius. 
 Beda. 
 
 Numb. xi. 
 25. 
 
 Honorius. 
 Hugo Card. 
 Cassiodor. 
 
 Card. Baro- 
 nius. 
 
 Com. k Lap, 
 
 The Three Fathers, assuming that the speakers here 
 are the Angels, represent the words as an attempt on 
 their part to penetrate the mystery of the Incarnation, 
 because they did not fully comprehend it until the 
 Ascension, as appears from their question when bid to 
 lift up their gates : " Who is the Xing of Glory ?" 
 But the more general view is, that we have the weaker 
 and less-instructed believers, the JEcclesia discens, ask- 
 ing to be taught by the wiser and more perfect, the 
 Ecclesia docens, the history, as well as the beauties of 
 the Bridegroom, the place where He may be found, as 
 well as the marks whereby He may be known. Tell 
 us, then, they say, how it is that thou seekest Him as 
 absent. Whom thou preachest as everywhere present ? 
 If He be present, how may He be seen ; and if He be 
 absent, how can He be found? And one answer to 
 this part of their inquiry is, that God never leaves 
 those whom He has once taken to Himself, that He 
 may go elsewhere to win others, but that the power of 
 the Divine presence is in such wise ubiquitous that it 
 goes, as it were, or turns aside, to attach others to it- 
 self, yet so as to keep that grace which has begun in 
 those whom it had already gathered, just as the put- 
 ting the Spirit on the seventy elders of Israel, took 
 nothing from the grace given to Moses, or as a candle 
 may light many other candles, with no diminution of 
 its flame. They dwell, too, on the double x^hrase, go7ie, 
 and turned aside; the one word denoting a distant 
 journey, the other a mere withdrawal to some place 
 close at hand, as, for instance, passing out of the sun 
 into the shade. Chkist is gone bodily into heaven by 
 His Ascension ; He has turned aside spiritually from 
 the Synagogue into the Church. He is gone, too, when 
 He altogether refuses to comply with any prayer ; He 
 is but turned aside, when He delays a little when 
 sought, that He may excite more eager longing in the 
 soul which seeks Him. And the verse may be ex- 
 plained also of days of grievous scandals, coldness, and 
 laxity in the Church, times like those of Arian supre- 
 macy, or of Mohammedan conquest, or that dark and 
 sorrowful century of which the historian exclaims that 
 the LoED appeared to be sleeping in the barque of 
 Peter. Then men anxiously inquire where may be 
 found the marks of true piety, where are the Con- 
 fessors of Christ's Name. And once, the answer 
 would have been that He was in the deserts of the 
 
yi. 2.] THE SONG OY SONGS. 265 
 
 Thebaid, with Paul, and Antony, and Pachomius ; at 
 another time that He had passed from the Arian East 
 to His faithful in Gaul, where Hilary and Martin up- 
 held the standard of the Consubstantial ; and even in 
 the tenth century itself, great Houses like Cluny, re- 
 forming Saints like Dunstan, and missionary triumphs 
 in Norway, Bohemia, Russia, and Pomerania, testified 
 to the presence of Christ in the outskirts of His 
 Church, when those who looked for Him in the midst 
 could nowhere see Him. Again ; the verse has been 
 explained of all those mysterious journeyings of the 
 Lord, of His passage from heaven to the womb of 
 the Virgin, of His dealings in Hades between His Pas- Card. Hail, 
 sion and Resurrection, of the intervals between those ^""* 
 sudden and intermittent visits granted to the Apostles 
 during the G-reat Forty Days, intervals of which Holy 
 Scripture tells us nothing. And, lastly, the question cassiodor. 
 is asked by every devout seeker after Christ, that he s.Ans.Laud. 
 may know who those true Saints are in whose hearts 
 He rests, that imitating their example, he too may 
 find Him. This seeking must be twofold, in action s. Greg. 
 and in contemplation, in faith also and prayer, and the HQ^orius 
 finding is in holiness of life. Wherefore is added, 
 27iat we may seek Him with thee, because they who . 
 seek for Christ outside the Church, and without her 
 aid, are scarcely likely to find Him. And remember, 
 after all, what one of those who first sought Him vainly 
 outside the Church, and at last found Him, as few have 
 found so truly and closely, within it, has said, " Let us s. August, 
 seek Him while He is yet to be found ; let us seek i" s. Joanu. 
 Him even when we have found Him. He is hidden 
 that He may be sought when not yet found, and that 
 He may still be sought when He has been found He 
 is incomprehensible." 
 
 2 My beloved is gone down into his garden_, 
 to the beds of spices,, to feed in the gardens, 
 and to gather lilies. 
 
 The Chaldee paraphrase explains this verse in a Targum. 
 very remarkable manner of the Captivity : " The Ruler 
 of the world willingly received their prayer, and de- 
 scended into Babylon, to the council of the wise men, 
 and gave His people rest, and led them out of their 
 captivity by the hand of Cyrus, and Ezra, and Nehe- 
 miah, and Zorobabel son of Salathiel, and the elders 
 
266 A COMMENTARY ON [VI. 2. 
 
 of tlie Jews. And they built the House of the Sanc- 
 tuary, and set priests over the oblations, and Levites 
 over the guardianship of the Word of holiness. And 
 He sent fire from heaven, and willingly received their 
 oblation and the incense of spices, and as a man reareth 
 up his son in pleasant things, so tenderly did He nourish 
 them ; and as a man gathereth roses out of the valleys, 
 so did He assemble them together out of Babylon." 
 
 Ghislerius. And, not dissimilarly, the Fathers take it of the special 
 aid which Cheist gives His Church in time of need, 
 going down into it, that it may go up unto Him. And 
 though this time of need may be variously understood, 
 
 Nys?^^' y®* there can be little doubt that S. Gregory Nyssen 
 
 Horn! 15. is right in understanding it first and chiefly of the first 
 Advent of Cheist in the flesh, when the whole creation 
 was groaning and travailing in pain, and looking for 
 the promised Deliverer. He went down, for the sake 
 
 s. Luke X. of that man who going down from Jerusalem to Je- 
 
 ^^' richo, fell among thieves ; down from His unspeakable 
 
 majesty to our lowly nature. He came into His garden, 
 as the True Gardener and Husbandman, to plant it 
 anew ; for we men, as saith the Apostle, " are God's 
 
 1 Cor. iii. 9. husbandry." Seeing then that it was He Who tilled in 
 Paradise at the beginning of the world the garden of 
 human nature which the Heavenly Fathee planted, 
 
 Ps. Ixxx. 13. and that the wild boar and singular beast preyed 
 on that garden, to wit, ourselves, and rooted up the 
 field of God, He came down to deck that garden once 
 more by planting virtues there, and by sending through 
 it, by the channels of His Word, the pure and holy 
 fount of doctrine, to cherish the plants. He comes 
 not merely to the garden generally, but in esj)ecial to 
 the beds of spices, in that He seeks in preference those 
 souls where there is no mere desert, barren of virtues, 
 but where the spices and odours of holiness abound. 
 It is said, too, that He comes into His garden, which 
 is one, to feed in the gardens, which are many ; and 
 
 Theodoret, that because the Church Universal, which is His gar- 
 
 Phiio Carp. ^^^^ contains within it many local and particular 
 Churches, and each such Church many devout souls 
 which He delights to visit ; and to gather lilies, that 
 is, to take away for Himself out of this world those 
 
 Cassiod. ^^^J souls which by maturity in sanctification have 
 attained to perfect whiteness, that He may cause them 
 to rejoice evermore with Him in eternal blessedness. 
 And that He might do all this, He went down into 
 
VI. 2.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 267 
 
 that garden where they laid Him in Joseph's new s. John xlx, 
 tomb, and there too, by appearing to Mary Magdalen, '*^- 
 He consecrated the first-fruits of the Church. He 
 went also into that other garden of His when He de- 
 scended into hell, to those beds of spices, the holy 
 Fathers and Patriarchs who awaited His coming, to phUo Carp, 
 Abel and Woah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Job, 
 David and other great Saints before and under the 
 Law. He entered Paradise also in triumph after He 
 had pierced down to hell. And God Himself is our 
 witness to this fact, in that He mercifully replied to 
 the thief upon the Cross, who devoutly commended 
 himself to Him ; " To-day shalt thou be with Me in s. Luke 
 Paradise ;" that is, thou shalt see and behold My Di- ^^^^' 43. 
 vine glory. Myself, and My garden of delights (for 
 such is the meaning of Paradise,) and there thou shalt 
 feed and rejoice for ever, where no weariness or satiety 
 can come. Hence it is, pursues the Bishop of Carpasia, 
 that in the fragrant gardens of human souls, glowing 
 throughout the world with Christian faith and charity, 
 God Kimself feeds ; and thence He gathers, to deck 
 His bridal chamber, the white and perfumed garlands 
 of His lilies, the Apostles, Prophets, and Martyrs and 
 all Saints. Had He not first gone down into His garden 
 to overcome the sharpness of death, never could He 
 have delighted Himself with His holy feeding in the 
 gardens, that is, in the many Churches of the faithful 
 throughout the world. And when He was gone and 
 turned aside from the unbelieving Jews, to whom it was 
 necessary that the Word of God should first be spoken, 
 He turned to the Gentiles, because those to whom 
 He came judged themselves unworthy of everlasting Acts xiii. 46. 
 life. And thus He went down into His garden to the 
 beds of spices. For out of the Gentile nations, and out parez. 
 of the fanes and temples. He made for Himself beds of 
 spices and a fruitful garden, casting out thence the fil- 
 thiness of idolatry, that He might feed in those gardens 
 and gather thence lilies. Virgins and Martyrs, Con- 
 fessors and Doctors, and just persons, both men and 
 women ; and be fed there with the food of worship, of 
 sacrifice, oblations, and prayer. And He is said to 
 have gone doivn from the Jewish people to the Gen- 
 tiles, as from the more worthy, which worshipped God, 
 to the less worthy, which worshipped idols. He came, 
 in His Incarnation, into His garden the Church, but 
 He came first to the choicest spot of all that garden, 
 
268 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [VI. 3. 
 
 S. Hieron. 
 Com. in 
 Zachai'. 
 
 Dora Green- 
 well, Car- 
 mina Crucis. 
 
 the bed where the most fragrant spices grew, to the 
 s. Just. Org. spotless Maiden at Nazareth, where He might gather 
 the white lilies of purity and holiness as nowhere 
 else. And there is another garden besides those of 
 the Church and the soul, where He comes to meet 
 His Bride, which is the reading of Holy Scripture, 
 whence He gathers for her lilies, violets, roses, and 
 divers spices, to fill the beds of believing souls, and 
 to pluck thence abundantly lilies of the Lokd. 
 
 " what are these lilies tipped 
 
 With fire, that sword-like gleam ? 
 
 what are these lilies dipped 
 As in the pale moon-beam, 
 
 That quiver with unsteadfast light, 
 And shine as through a dream ?" 
 
 "These fiery spirits passed 
 
 From earth through sword and flame ; 
 
 These quiet souls at last 
 
 Through patience overcame ; 
 
 These shine like stars on high, and these 
 Have left no trace nor name ; 
 
 1 bind them in one wreath, because 
 Their triumph was the same." 
 
 3 I am my beloved''s, and my beloved is 
 mine : he feedeth among the lilies. 
 
 After her fall, and her repentance, the Bride, return- 
 ing to her first love, is enabled once more to speak of 
 Him as in the days of her earliest fervour. Her Loed 
 called upon her by the memory of that happy time, 
 saying, " I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, 
 the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after 
 Me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown. 
 Israel was holiness to the Loed, and the first-fruits of 
 His increase." And as it was in the trials and suffer- 
 ings of the wilderness tliat she first learnt to know 
 Him, so it is by trials and suffering that He purifies 
 her, and brings her to Him again ; as it is written 
 in another place : " Behold, I will allure her, and bring 
 her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably to her. 
 And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the 
 valley of Achor for a door of hope, and she shall sing 
 there, as in the days of her j^outh, and as in the day 
 when she came up out of the land of Egypt," Thus, as 
 S. Gregory Nyssen teaches, she has become so like her 
 Beloved by conforming herself absolutely to His will, 
 
 Coeceius. 
 
 Jer. ii. 2. 
 
 Hos. ii. 14. 
 
 S. Greg. 
 Nyssen. 
 
S. John xiv. 
 20. 
 
 VI. 3.] THE SONG OP SONGS. 269 
 
 that all who behold her feel as the spectators of a skil- 
 fully painted portrait, or as those who look on an image 
 reflected in a mirror, that they see not a mere repre- 
 sentation, but the very original itself. Nay, the Bride 
 herself, irradiated with the light of God's glory, wherein 
 she beholds shadowed His wondrous attributes of J^^l^^"™^^ 
 beauty, goodness, wisdom, and love, is tranced at the see. secund 
 sight, and so absorbed in Him that she has no heed Q. i75,ai-t.2 
 for aught else, and neither sees nor hears anything 
 which pertains to earth. I for my Beloved, she says, cassiodor. 
 prepare the food He loves. My Beloved for me will 
 provide the grace of perfection, the reward of eternal 
 life. I for My beloved prepare a mansion in myself. Honorius. 
 My Beloved is mine because He dwells in me, and 
 makes me dwell in Him, as He says Himself in the 
 Gospel, " Ye in Me, and I in you." 
 
 Nor time, nor place, nor chance, nor death can bow Francis 
 
 My least desires unto the least remove ; Quarles. 
 
 He's firmly mine by oath ; I His by vow ; Emblems, 
 
 He's mine by faith, and I am His by love ; v* 3. 
 
 He's mine by water ; I am His by wine ; 
 
 Thus I my best Beloved's am, thus He is mine. 
 
 He is my Altar, I His holy place ; 
 
 I am His guest, and He my living Food ; 
 I His by penitence ; He mine by grace ; 
 
 I His by purchase ; He is mine by Blood ; 
 He's my supporting elm ; and I His vine ; 
 Thus I my best Beloved's am, thus He is mine. 
 
 He gives me wealth, I give Him all my vows ; 
 
 I give Him songs ; He gives me length of days ; 
 "With wreaths of grace He crowns my conquering brows ; 
 
 And I His temples with a wreath of praise ; 
 Which He accepts ; an everlasting sign 
 That I my best Beloved's am, that He is mine. 
 
 And observe the change in the order of the words from 
 
 that earlier passage where the same Divine truth was 
 
 enunciated. Before, it was said, " My Beloved is mine, ii. i6. 
 
 and I am His," " because He first loved us." Now, she i s. John iv, 
 
 has learned to love Him, not as perfectly as He deserves, ^^• 
 
 nor as He loves her, but yet in such wise that she can 
 
 feel that she is not merely taken possession of by Him, oeirio. 
 
 but that she willingly and joyfully gives herself up to 
 
 Him for ever. This, then, is the full promise of the 
 
 marriage bond. The Bridegroom has made His vows, 
 
 and plighted His troth to her already, and now she is JJar'^Mus 
 
 asked to plight hers in turn, that as He promises to ^"^^ ^'^^^ 
 
270 A COMMENTARY ON [VI. 3. 
 
 love lier, comfort lier, honour her, keep her in sickness 
 and in health, and endow her with all His goods, so 
 she in her turn promises loving obedience and steadfast 
 faith to Him. This is the fulfilment of that which He 
 
 Hos. ii. 19. spake unto her by the Prophet, " I will betroth thee 
 unto Me for ever ; yea, I will betroth thee unto Me 
 in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving-kind- 
 ness, and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto 
 Me in faithfulness ; and thou shalt know the Loed." 
 And as the essence of marriage consists in mutual 
 consent, Cheist the Bridegroom asks for the heart of 
 
 Prov. xxiii. His Bride, saying, " Give Me thine heart, and let 
 ' thine eyes observe My ways." For there is none 
 
 other to whom she may so profitably, happily, and 
 honourably give it, since it is well to bestow the heart 
 on such a Bridegroom as can alone be sufiicient for the 
 heart, as the Bride herself saith with the Psalmist, 
 
 Ps.lxxiii.25. " GrOD is the strength of my heart, and my portion for 
 ever." Only the love of God, then, which is the union 
 of a fitting Bridegroom with a suitable Bride, makes 
 spiritual marriage. For charity, which, according to 
 
 Col. iU. 14. the Apostle, "is the bond of perfectness," makes us 
 agree perfectly with God, and therefore establishes 
 perfect marriage between God and the soul, binding 
 God to the heart and the heart to God by a spousal 
 bond, and knitting it so closely to Him, that whoso 
 thus clings to God is made one spirit with Him. 
 Consider then, O soul, if thy love is yet to give, 
 where thou canst better fix it than on Him Who is 
 fairer than the children of men, in Whom are all the 
 treasures of wisdom and knowledge hid. If thy love 
 is for sale, does not He buy it at the great price of 
 His own Blood, lovingly forestalling thee, and faith- 
 fully ransoming thee ? Moreover, this Bridegroom is a 
 Yirgin, and the Child of a Virgin, Who desires to have 
 a virgin Bride. And according to the Law, it is ruled 
 
 Lev. xxi. 13. that the High Priest " shall take a wife in her vir- 
 
 2 Cor. xi, 2. gii^ity ;" wherefore the Apostle saith, " I have espoused 
 you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste 
 virgin to Cheist." Yet fear not, O soul, for so often 
 as thou art cleansed by grace, thou art counted as a 
 virgin ; art freed from the corruption of sin, pure 
 through love, asking, seeking, and desiring one thing, 
 and that the one thing needful. And this is the great 
 difference between earthly and spiritual marriage, that 
 in the former a virgin ceases to be such, but in the 
 
VI. 3.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 271 
 
 latter a soul which has been stained is made a virgin ; 
 whence blessed Agnes saith, "Whom when I love, I 
 am pure, when I touch, I am undefiled, when I re- 
 ceive, I am a virgin." The beginning of this bridal is 
 by faith in Baptism, it is confirmed by progress in 
 holiness, it is consummated in glory, when the soul is 
 inseparably joined to Cheist, And there are three 
 blessings attached to this spiritual marriage, as to all 
 true and loving marriages of earth, mutual faith, off- 
 spring, and indissoluble union. The spiritual offspring 
 of the soul and God, of Divine grace and free-will, is 
 threefold, active pursuit of good, passive avoidance of 
 evil, patient endurance of suffering ; the inseparable 
 bond which shall unite them in glory is also a triple 
 cord, conformity in holiness, identity of will, perfect- 
 ness of inward love. And as fire melts two masses of Aquinas. ^ 
 metal into one, so the fervour of this love melts the 
 soul, and causes it to flow into God, and thus be united 
 with Him, thenceforward to be parted from Him never- 
 more. Further, as all marriage is sealed with a solemn 
 pledge, so it is in the vows of the Religious Life that 
 this bridal of the soul and God is most frequently seen. 
 Not but that countless great Saints in other vocations 
 have been firmly knit to Him, but that nevertheless 
 the saying of the Apostle holds, and must always hold 
 good in the main, " He that is unmarried careth for the i cor. vii. 
 things that belong to the Lord, how he may please 3^. 
 the Lokd ; but he that is married careth for the things 
 that are of the world, how he may please his wife. 
 There is a difference also between a wife and a virgin. 
 The unmarried woman careth for the things of the 
 LoED, that she may be holy both in body and spirit : 
 but she that is married careth for the things of the 
 world, that she may please her husband." And as in s. Hieron. 
 the discharge of our obligations there is more accept- ad Poiient. 
 ability in giving that which we are not bound to pay, 
 but which we do pay for love's sake, therefore it is 
 that such especial honour is yielded to the Religious 
 Life. Wherefore a great Saint speaks thus of the s. Basil, m. 
 Brides of Cheist, those lilies among which the Be- ^" ^^- ^^^• 
 loved feeds : " ' With joy and gladness shall they be 
 brought, and enter into the King's palace.' Not they 
 who have submitted to virginity by compulsion, not 
 they who have adopted a celibate life from sorrow or 
 necessity, but they who with joy and gladness delight 
 in this good thing, these shall be brought unto the 
 
272 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [YI. 4. 
 
 J. M. Neale, 
 The Hymn, 
 Christ's own 
 Martyrs. 
 
 King, and be bronglit into no common places, but into 
 the King's temple. (LXX.) For the sacred vessels, 
 which no human use has defiled, may be carried into 
 the Holy of holies, and are permitted entrance into 
 that shrine where no profane feet may tread." 
 
 Christ's dear Virgins, glorious lilies, 
 
 Tell us how ye kept unstained 
 Snowiest petals through the tempest, 
 
 Till eternal spring 5'e gained : 
 Snowiest still, albeit with crimson 
 
 Some more precious leaves were stained ? 
 
 " In the place -where He was buried 
 There was found a garden nigh ; 
 In that garden us He planted, 
 
 Teaching us with Him to die, 
 Till to Paradise He moved us, 
 There to bloom eternally." 
 
 4 Thou art beautiful^ O my love^ as Tirzali, 
 comely as Jerusalem, terrible as an army with 
 banners. 
 
 The word Tirzah} implying '' pleasantness," has not 
 been translated as a proper name by the LXX. and 
 Vulgate, which severally read euSo/cia and siiavis. But 
 taking it first as we have it here in the A. Y., the mys- 
 tical import is that the life of the Bride, even as mili- 
 tant in this world, (of which the northern kingdom, 
 with its capital Tirzah, is a type) has a beauty and 
 attractiveness which rivals all earthly bliss, besides 
 that yet greater loveliness which belongs to her in her 
 triumph when she has reached her Country, and at- 
 tained to the Vision of Peace. And that, because she 
 has now been conformed to her Bridegroom, the Eternal 
 Prov. iii. 13, Wisdom, of Whom Solomon elsewhere saith, " Happy 
 ^^' is the man that findeth Wisdom .... her ways are 
 
 ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace." 
 
 ' The juxtaposition of these 
 two names supplies an item of 
 internal evidence as to the date 
 of the Song of songs. Tirzah 
 became the first capital of the 
 northern kingdom, after the 
 revolution of the ten tribes 
 under Jeroboam I., (1 Kings 
 xiv. 17.) The wars, jealousies, 
 and religious differences which 
 
 thenceforward divided Israel 
 and Judah, make it all but 
 certain that no southern poet 
 Avould have praised Tirzah, and 
 no northern one Jerusalem, at 
 least so as to couple them. 
 Thus the actual reign of Solo- 
 mon is the most probable era 
 of the composition. 
 
YI. 4.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 273 
 
 Accordinsjly, the Lokd Himself tells His Apostles : 
 " Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath s. Mark x. 
 left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, ^^' 
 or wife, or children, or lands, for My sake and the 
 Gospel's, but he shall receive an hundred-fold more in 
 this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mo- 
 thers, and children, and lands, with persecutions ; and 
 in the world to come eternal life." Those Fathers, 
 however, who explain the verse of the Church, do not 
 contrast here the Militant and Triumphant divisions 
 of it, but the Gentile and Jewish. The Woed, re- s. Athan. 
 marks S. Athanasius, beholding and approving the Synopsis, 
 faith of the Gentiles, saith, Thou art beautiful, My 
 love, as approval, comely as Jerusalem, terrible as 
 forces in array. For they who are come from the 
 Gentiles ought not to be unlike Jerusalem, that there 
 may be but one people, for this is so when we honour 
 the Law and believe in Cheist. For the God of the 
 Law and of the Gospels is One, and whoso is not 
 made like to Jerusalem, does not become the Bride- 
 groom's friend. So too S. Gregory the Great : "The g^ Greg. M. 
 Synagogue is called beautiful, and love, sweet, and 
 comely as Jerusalem, because when converted, she will 
 follow the four Holy Gospels as does the Church. 
 Hence she derives beauty of conduct, so as to please, 
 she gathers training in holy action, that she may abide 
 in love ; she learns the sweetness of meekness, that 
 she may persevere ; she exhibits the comeliness of fair 
 conversation, that she may attract by her example." Hugo Card. 
 This Church of the Loed is terrible to heretics, un- 
 believers, and evil spirits, by reason of the number 
 and valour of her warriors, their long training in arms, 
 their loyalty, zeal, and unanimity in battle ; because 
 of the alliance of the Angels ; and yet more, in that 
 she is aided by the presence of the mightiest of 
 Kings, ready to protect His subjects. And so it is 
 written : " The shout of a king is among them," and as Numb. xxiu. 
 Captain of the Loed's host is He come. As an army ^^" 
 in array, for in the foremost line is the King Himself °^ • '^^ ^ • 
 with His generals the Apostles ; in the second, the 
 army of Martyrs ; in the third, the company of the 
 Confessors. 
 
 Let angelic armies 
 Guard us on each side, 
 But Thyself as Leader 
 First in battle ride ; 
 T 
 
274 A COMMENTARY ON [VI. 4. 
 
 Thou Whose Name is Faithful, 
 Thou Whose vesture glows 
 White with perfect pureness, 
 Eed with blood of foes. 
 
 Again, tlie Churcli is beautiful in the devout lives of 
 her Saints ; she is the Bridegroom's love in those to 
 whom by holy love His secrets are disclosed ; sweet 
 in those who are busied in works of mercy ; comely 
 in her contemplative and hermit Saints ; terrible as 
 an army in array, by reason of her Heligious Orders, 
 militant under rule, and each company under its own 
 chief, or spiritual Superior. And following that other 
 version, as an army ivith banners, we are reminded by 
 
 Targum. the Targum of the twelvefold array of the children of 
 Israel in their march through the wilderness, every 
 
 Numb. ii. 2. man pitching " by his own standard, with the ensign 
 of their father's house." In the vanguard is the vic- 
 torious standard of the King Himself: 
 
 S. Ven. Fort. The Roj^al Banners forward go, 
 
 The Hymn, The Cross shines forth in mystic glow ; 
 
 VexillaRe- ^ ° ' 
 
 ^'*- even as it is written, " On the east side, toward the 
 
 rising of the sun, shall they of the standard of the 
 camp of Judah pitch throughout their armies," but 
 behind it clusters many a banner and pennon of the 
 inferior chieftains of the host. There is the ruddy 
 Kose of the Martyrs, the candent Lily of the Virgins, 
 the golden Chain of the Doctors, the starry Crown of 
 
 Com. a Lap. the Confessors. There too — as in ancient Eome, where 
 every especial type of military valour had its own ap- 
 propriate crown, one like the beaks of ships for a 
 naval victory, one like the battlements of a city for 
 him who first scaled the enemy's wall, one like the 
 palisades of a camp for the leader in storming the 
 intrenchments — gleam the ensigns which tell of the 
 armorial bearings won by each champion in his hardest 
 fight. There is the lion which sent Ignatius to his 
 reward ; there are the anchor of Clement, the grating 
 of Laurence, the fiery chair of Blandina, the arrowy 
 sheaf of Edmund the King, and countless other tokens 
 of victory in many a well-fought field, once tossed to 
 and fro by the stormy breezes of earth, now hung up 
 for ever in the peaceful calm of heaven, yet not so 
 high but that we may see them still. And all this is 
 true in its degree of every holy soul which makes one 
 
 Luc. Abb. in the ranks of that great army, beautiful, because of 
 
 Numb. ii. 3. 
 
VI. 5.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 275 
 
 lier gentle ways ; sweet, in pureness of heart ; comely as 
 Jerusalem, from its love of peace ; terrible, with the 
 arms of truth and purity. Comely as Jerusalem, also Theodoret. 
 because imitating here the life of the Angels, ponder- 
 ing on earth the thoughts of heaven, following after 
 the prize of her high calling, seeking the things which 
 are above, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of 
 God. And not only comely, but terrible to beholders, 
 because of her set array, having nothing irregular, 
 uncertain, confused, but all things in due order and 
 judgment. For, as Philo and S. Gregory aptly say, Phiio Carp, 
 it is well known to the experienced that soldiers, when s. Greg. m. 
 advancing in array against the enemy, if they march 
 in close order and keep step together, are feared by 
 the foes that come against them, because they see no 
 gap in the ranks whereby they may pierce them. So 
 too, in our war against evil spirits, the unity of faith, 
 the cheerfulness of hope, the bond of charity, are what 
 make us terrible, since, if there be discord and schism 
 in the body, it is no hard task for the enemy to rout 
 it. In array, not only because of the orderly regula- Yin^o Card, 
 tion of all the faculties, powers, and habits of each soul cassiod. 
 within itself, but by reason of each soldier in the great hu^q vict. 
 army of God having his own appointed place in its Erud. Theoi. 
 ranks, according to his order and calling, and thus by "' ^' 
 faith and obedience being sweet to man, comely to the ^"^^ ' 
 Angels, terrible to evil spirits. And finally, they apply ^^^""s- 
 the verse fitly to S. Mary, beautiful in her holiness, ^^^^s""""^ 
 sioeet in gentle meekness ; comely as Jerusalem, be- 
 cause in her peace was made between God and man, 
 when she became the abode of the Prince of peace, 
 and palace of the King ; terrible as an army in array, 
 because compassed by the ranks of the Angels. 
 
 5 Turn away tbine eyes from me, for they 
 have overcome me : thy hair is as a flock of 
 goats that appear from Gilead. 
 
 Overcome me. The LXX. and Vulgate, with little Theodoret. 
 difference, have given me wings, or made me jiy away. 
 The beauty of thine eyes, the contemplation of thy 
 vision, and the clearness of thy mental sight have 
 drawn Me to thy love, but gaze not steadfastly on Me 
 beyond measure, lest thou shouldst suffer some harm 
 thence. For I am past searching out, and incompre- 
 t2 
 
276 A COMMENTARY ON [VI. 5. 
 
 hensible, not only by men, but by angels ; and if thou 
 shouldst pass the bounds, and vainly occupy thyself 
 with matters above thy powers, not only wilt thou fail 
 in thy search, but thou wilt make thine eye dimmer 
 and feebler. For such is the nature of light that just 
 as it illuminates the eye, so it punishes with hurt its 
 insatiability. Therefore turn away thine eyes from 
 Me ; search not out things that are too hard, seek not 
 that which is too mighty for thee, but ponder evermore 
 
 Cassiod. upon that which is enjoined thee. I have given thee 
 doves' eyes, wherewith thou niayest behold Me, and 
 penetrate most keenly the hidden things of Scripture, 
 but beware lest thou shouldst direct them to look on 
 Me now, for whilst tliou art in this present life, thou 
 
 Exod.xxxiii. canst not, " for there shall no man see Me, and live." 
 
 20. But, when freed from the fetters of the body, thou 
 shalt attain to Me, then thou shalt behold Me in open 
 vision, and that shall be fulfilled which is promised in 
 
 s John xiv ^^^ Gospel, " He that loveth Me shall be loved of My 
 
 21. * Father, and I will love him, and will manifest Myself 
 
 to him." In that it is said, for they have made Me 
 fly away, it is not to be supposed that God deserts 
 those who seek Him and departs from them, seeing 
 S. Luke xi. that He Himself commands, " Seek and ye shall find ;" 
 9- but it is rather to be understood that the more any one 
 
 aims at searching out God's divine majesty, the more 
 clearly he understands how unsearchable and incom- 
 Dion. earth, prehensible it is. Again, they take the words as de- 
 Parez. noting fervent love, and not any warning. Turn away 
 
 thine eyes of prayer and meditation from Me for a 
 little, since they have forced Me to so much, have 
 made Me fly away from My throne in heaven to the 
 manger on earth, have made Me fly away from the 
 unbelieving Jewish people to the faithful Gentile 
 Church. Turn aivay thine eyes from My bodily pre- 
 sence, not always desiring to see Me in tbe flesh, 
 "Whom thou mayest see better in the Spirit by faith. 
 For therefore I ascended into heaven, that I, Who 
 fill all things with My divine presence, might not al- 
 ways seem to thee tied to place, Who am everywhere, 
 Who contain all things, and am uncontained in any 
 place. Turn atoay not merely thy fleshly eyes from 
 Me, but eyes clouded with sin, since they make Me 
 fly away, but look on Me with the eyes of holy con- 
 templation, and I will draw near. The marginal read- 
 ing of A. v., they have puffed Me up, is nearly that 
 
 S. Just. Org. 
 
 Luc. Abb. 
 
VI. 5.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 277 
 
 adopted and commented on by S. Ambrose, as though g Ambros. 
 Christ were saying to the soul, If thou be perfect, de Isaac. 8. 
 yet there are other souls remaining for Me to redeem 
 and prop up, wherefore turn away thine eyes from Me, 
 for they lift Me u}!, but I came down to lift all up. 
 And lie explains this somewhat obscure comment 
 more clearly by adding that a teacher who wishes to 
 lecture on a difficult subject to an audience, however 
 learned and eloquent he may be, yet lowers himself to 
 the standard of those who are uninstructed, and uses 
 simple language, that he may be understood. Hence 
 the words are an injunction to preachers and Christian 
 Saints in general to withdraw at times from contem- 
 plation and from discussing the darker mysteries of 
 the Faith, that they may teach the babes in Christ, 
 and appeal to them with the simplest language of the 
 Gospel and the plainest object-lessons of good works. 
 
 There is yet another rendering, found both in some Targum. 
 ancient writers and in modern critics. Turn thine eyes wliggbach. 
 towards Me, for they encourage Me. And then it may 
 be explained of the devotion of those few faithful ones ^iQg^orth. 
 who clung ever to their Lord, even at the Cross itself, 
 as being the one and only help His human nature had 
 in bearing up against all the sorrows of His life and 
 Passion. And especially when His dear Mother stood 
 by His Cross, gazing on Him with sorrowful eyes, the 
 thought that He was dying for her salvation braced 
 Him to endure unto the end. There are not wanting 
 those who, following this version, put the words into 
 the mouth of the Bride, and make her ask that those Pseiius. 
 blessed eyes may look on her, to strengthen her for 
 the battle ; or, following in part the other render- 
 ing, to give her wings that she may flee away from 
 the world, may direct her flight into the hole of the 
 rock, and there, in the wounded Side, be in safety 
 and at rest. 
 
 I heard the voice of Jesus say, Bonar. 
 
 " I am this dark world's Light, 
 Look unto Me, thy mom shall rise, 
 
 And all thy day be bright." 
 I looked to Jesus, and I found 
 
 In Him my Star, my Sun, 
 And in that light of life I'll walk 
 
 Till travelling days are done. 
 
 Thy hair is as a flock of goats. Here begins a re- 
 petition of some of the words of praise with which the 
 
278 A COMMENTARY ON [VI. 6. 
 
 Cassiodor, fourth chapter opens, on which S. Beda, expanding 
 Beda. Cassiodorus, observes, " These verses, as well as the 
 
 succeeding ones, have occurred before, and have been 
 fully explained so far as we had understanding to do 
 it. But we ought not to be weary of repeating in ex- 
 position what the author of the sacred poem was not 
 weary of repeating in composition ; either that we may 
 recall to mind what has been said before, or, by the 
 help of divine grace, may produce something fresh 
 and profitable. For when these, and countless other 
 passages in Scripture, already uttered, are repeated, it 
 is a token of firmness, that it is indeed the Word of 
 God, and will truly be fulfilled, as the Patriarch Jo- 
 Gen, xii. 32,. seph testifies when explaining the dream of the king." 
 We are told, then, of additional reasons for comparing 
 s. Greg. the Saints to goats. The goat was constantly offered 
 Nyss. jjj sacrifice, and the devout offer, by penitence for their 
 
 Rom. xii. 1. sins, of which the goat is also a type, their "bodies a 
 living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God." Goats, 
 preferring steep and rocky places, up which they bound 
 with swift but silent footfall, are types of those who 
 deliberately choose a hard and austere life, and pass 
 their time chiefly in silent ascent of the steep Way of 
 Hug-o Card, perfection. And in that it is said a jioch of goats, we 
 are taught the need of union in the Church and in 
 Religious Orders, for as there is no beauty in the hair 
 if it consist of but a few scanty threads, neither is 
 there beauty in that Church or community which is 
 rent asunder by schisms and disputes. And E. Ishaki 
 Deirio. S^es at length into the various sacred uses to which 
 
 both sheep and goats were put, to enforce the lesson 
 that every act and faculty of a devout soul can be 
 pressed into the service of God. The fleece and hairs 
 were woven into curtains for the sanctuary, the flesh 
 was offered in sacrifice, the horns were made into trum- 
 pets, the leg-bones were used for flutes, the entrails for 
 stringing harps, the skin for covering drums ; whereas 
 no part of the dog could be applied to any holy pur- 
 pose, just as the entire life of a sinner is displeasing to 
 the LoED. 
 
 6 Thy teeth are as a flock of sheep which 
 go up from the washing, whereof every one 
 beareth twins, and there is not one barren among 
 them. 
 
VI. 7,] THE SONG OF SONGS. 279 
 
 These teeth, says Cassiodorus, are tlie words of the Cassiodor. 
 Church, pure and clean, firm and strong ; tivins in 
 uttering the twofold law of love to God and to our 
 neighbour. They are the Saints purified by regene- 
 ration, which bear ttoins, observes S. Epiphanius, be- nius^^ *" 
 cause each soul goes down alone into the font of Bap- 
 tism, and comes back joined by the Holy Ghost, so 
 that they two go over on dry ground. They are twins, ^ Kings ii. « 
 in the double guard over soul and body, in the arms 
 of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, in 
 the promises of God for this life and for that which is 
 to come. Cocceius, agreeing with some others in Cocceius. 
 taking these verses to refer to a later period of the 
 Church's history than the earlier panegyric does, bids 
 us observe the absence of the epithet even or shorn, 
 which occurs in the parallel passage in the fourth 
 chapter, and thence argues that some inferiority of the 
 Church of the latter days to that of the primitive age 
 is implied, chiefly in the more relaxed discipline, which 
 permits irregularities and errors which would have 
 been sternly repressed in the era of martyrdom. 
 
 7 As a piece of a pomegranate are thy 
 temples within thy locks. 
 
 Here too they have little to add. Aponius takes Luc. Abb. 
 the cheeks here to be those who have fallen into post- 
 baptismal sin, and who, washed anew with tears of 
 repentance, beautify the face of the Church with the 
 ruddy blush of shame. And they are compared to the 
 rind of the pomegranates (Yulg.,) itself not ruddy, 
 which encloses the bright colour, because their ex- 
 ample restrains others from falling into like sin, albeit 
 those others know nothing of the roughness and hard- 
 ness of penance. Philo of Carpasia sees the mingled phUo Carp, 
 glow of faith and hope in every holy soul that serves 
 the Lord, besides that which lies hid within (LXX.,) 
 the numerous seeds of good works and devout thoughts, 
 hidden within the rough rind of the fruit, but one day 
 to be disclosed by the Bridegroom Who alone knows 
 them now. Cardinal Hugo, explaining the words of 
 the preachers of the Church, likened to pomegranates Hugo Card, 
 because of the firm rind and the many seeds, calls their 
 purity and fervour the red and white which vie in the 
 cheeks, and that without the hidden things (Vulg.,) 
 meaning either that even their outer life is holy, with- 
 
280 
 
 S. Just. Org 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [VI. 8. 
 
 out taking into account tlie more precious inner devo- 
 tion, or else tliat their venial sins of ignorance are not 
 enough to mar their spiritual beauty. And these verses 
 are repeated, observes S. Justus of Urgel, because God 
 is foretelling, with the fruit of His twofold love, the 
 conversion of both Jews and Gentiles, and describing 
 the glory and merits of the Martyrs in these two por- 
 tions of His Church. 
 
 Origen. 
 Horn. 2. 
 
 S. Greg. 
 Nyss. 
 Theodoret. 
 Tres Patr. 
 Rupert. 
 
 S, Just. Org, 
 
 2Cor.iii. 17 
 
 Luc. Abb. 
 
 Philo Carp. 
 
 Cont. Haer. 
 lib. ill. 
 
 8 There are threescore queens^ and fourscore 
 concubines, and virgins without number. 
 
 That these several titles denote three classes of be- 
 lieving souls is the view of most commentators, although 
 there is some diversity in their explanation. The 
 queens, according to Origen, are the perfect souls ; the 
 concubines, wives of the same royal husband, but of 
 inferior rank, and without right of succession to the 
 throne for their children, are those which are progress- 
 ing, and the vhyins those only beginning the way of 
 holiness, and still outside the King's palace, though 
 within the royal city. S. Gregory Nyssen and others, 
 not very dissimilarly, take the queens to be those who 
 serve God for love ; the concubines, those who do so 
 through fear ; the virgins, imperfect believers, looking 
 nevertheless for salvation. And S. Justus of Urgel, 
 accepting this view, explains the application of the 
 titles, saying that the first are called queens, because 
 they are not the servants of sin, for " where the Spirit 
 of the LoED is, there is liberty ;" the concubines are 
 those who receive the seed of the Word of God, but 
 bring forth carnal, not spiritual fruit ; and the virgins 
 witJiout number are that great multitude which is al- 
 ways willing enough to listen to good and holy things, 
 but is by no means equally ready to carry what it 
 hears into action, and so has no spiritual offspring as 
 yet. Philo gives a different interpretation, seeing in 
 the queens those who led righteous lives before the 
 Law and under it ; in the concubines, those Gentiles 
 who lived only by the law of nature, and fell into 
 grievous sin of idolatry, but were at last united to 
 Cheist by conversion ; and in the virgins, the general 
 mass of Christian believers, not distinguished by any 
 remarkable graces. And S. Epiphanius, agreeing that 
 the queens denote the Patriarchs from whom Cheist 
 
VI. 8.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 281 
 
 descended, takes the concubines to be tlie heretical 
 sects of Christendom, and the virgins to be the count- 
 less schools of heathen philosophy. Others will have Cassiod, 
 it that the queens are the Doctors of the Church (with sfA^s-Laud. 
 which agrees the curious comment of S. Epiphanius in 
 his gloss on the Canticles, that the threescore queens 
 are the souls of the threescore valiant men who guard 
 Solomon's bed,) admitted to the bed of Cheist by faith 
 and knowledge, and bringing forth spiritual children 
 for Him ; while the concubines are those who preach 
 Christ indeed, but not of sincerity, and only for tem- 
 poral gain or popular applause. These too bring forth 
 spiritual children, but are themselves alien from the 
 crown of the everlasting kingdom. And the virgins 
 are those souls regenerate in Cheist, which have laid 
 aside the old man and are renewed, but are not as yet 
 fitted for the nuptials of the King, nor able to preach 
 Cheist at all. And now, before coming to the mys- 
 tical explanation of the numbers, the remark of S. Au- s. August, 
 gustine may be referred to, that the discrepancy be- Cont. Faus- 
 tween this passage and that wherein it is written that chSum^'^'" 
 Solomon " had seven hundred wives, princesses, and i Kings xi. 
 three hundred concubines," gives evidence that the 3. 
 Song of songs dates at an early period of his reign, 
 before the sins of his old age. 
 
 The queens are threescore, say they, for these rea- Cassiod. 
 sons, because they fulfil the ten moral precepts of the Theodoret. 
 Law in the six days of mortal work, or because they 
 govern their five senses by the teaching of the twelve 
 Apostles. Another, and still quainter exposition, is that i^^^ ^^ih. 
 of Aponius, who sees here the union of the Churches 
 of the Old and New Covenant, the Saints of each being 
 thirty, because the number ten, denoting fulfilment of 
 God's commandments, was multiplied thrice before the 
 coming of Cheist, by the law of nature, the ordinance 
 of circumcision given to Abraham, and the Law of Mo- 
 ses ; while after the preaching of the Gospel this same 
 number ten is found repeated in the baptized, the peni- 
 tent, and the Martyrs. The concubines axe fourscore, 
 says Theodoret, because they difi'er from the queens Theodoret. 
 in their motive for serving God. For whereas the 
 queens fulfil God's commandments during the six 
 working days, looking to the seventh, which is rest, 
 the concubines think of the eighth day, that awful Day 
 of Judgment, the first of the new creation, and are 
 
282 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [VI. 9. 
 
 Cassiod. 
 Hugo Card. 
 
 obedient, only because tbey fear condemnation.^ Much 
 less bappy than this, because abandoning the recog- 
 nised mystical meaning of the number eight — the new 
 birth of creation, one more than the seven days of the 
 week, whence the octagonal form of mediseval fonts — 
 is the interpretation which sees here worldly com- 
 pliance with God's Law, eight being supposed to de- 
 signate the world, ruled by four seasons in its four 
 quarters. Better than this, though not working clearly 
 out, is that other suggestion that here are intended 
 souls striving by obedience to obtain even the smallest 
 blessing of some one of those eight beatitudes which 
 are all granted to the perfect. The virgins are loithout 
 number, because they have not yet been entered on the 
 roll of the elect. For if they were so entered, their 
 number would be known, as the Apostle saith, " The 
 LoED knoweth them that are His ;" and as the Lord 
 
 s^Johnxiii. Himself saith, " I know whom I have chosen." But 
 
 Giiiiieimus. if they were on the other muster-roll, that of Ba- 
 bylon, their number would be known too, and there- 
 fore their lot is not yet fixed, till they hear that saying, 
 
 itTi Khigs " Choose ye this day whom ye will serve," and elect 
 
 xviii. 21. between the Loed and Baal. 
 
 Luc. Abb. 
 S. Greg. M. 
 
 2 Tim. ii. 19 
 
 Cassiod. 
 
 Eph. iv. 5. 
 
 9 My dove, my un defiled is but one; she is 
 the only one of her mother, she is the choice 
 one of her that bare her. The daughters saw 
 her, and blessed her; yea, the queens and the 
 concubines, and they praised her. 
 
 That is, notes Cassiodorus, there is but one Catholic 
 Church diffused throughout the world, which, though 
 consisting of queens and virgins, has also concubines 
 in it, that is, such as are Christians or teachers in name 
 only. The Church is one, because she does not admit 
 of rending and schism, but as there is " One God, one 
 faith, one baptism," so there is one Church Universal, 
 which is also rightly called a clove, because she is be- 
 trothed and hallowed to Cheist by the dowry of the 
 Holy Spieit, Who appeared in the form of a dove. 
 
 1 This is a very forcible way 
 of putting that view which was 
 universally held by theologians 
 till the lax days of the six- 
 
 teenth century, that mere ser- 
 vile dread of hell is no true 
 motive to holiness, and is of 
 the nature of sin. 
 
yi. 9] THE SONG OF SONGS. 283 
 
 The Clnircli is one before tlie Law, under the Law, Hugo Card, 
 and under grace. One, because created for the " one s. Luke x. 
 thing needful," that one thing which she hath desired f^ xxvii.4. 
 of the Lord ; one, because the Bride of one Husband, phiio'carp.* 
 The only one of her mother. That is, as some have it, ^.^^gj^^j 
 the sole representative on earth of the Heavenly Je- 
 rusalem, the Mother of us all ; or, as others say, the 
 one true lineal successor of that primitive Apostolic 
 Church from which all local Churches spring. Or, s.Ans.Laud. 
 again, they take it of the Synagogue, which has never ^^"^^ ^''°' 
 had any other spiritual offspring than Christianity. A Phiio Carp. 
 yet deeper view than any of these interprets the mother s. Greg. M. 
 to be divine grace, which bore the Church in the font of 
 regeneration, through the means of Incarnate Wisdom. 
 One Latin Father will have it that the pure and spot- luc. Abb. 
 less Humanity of Christ is here intended, the only 
 offspring of His Virgin Mother, the choice, elect One 
 of His mother the Synagogue, elect as the One Sacri- 
 fice, the One Mediator between God and man. Spoken Tres Patr. 
 of the holy soul, the verse tells of her perfect and 
 steadfast union with God, her advance in sanctifica- 
 tion of the Spirit, her election from amongst the 
 daughters, hirelings, and servants, to a share, through 
 grace, in the throne of Godhead itself. And she is 
 one, because endowed with the spirit of peace and 
 unity, single in heart, and not made up of warring and 
 dissonant elements, but simple, harmonious, and at S. Ambros. 
 rest. It is true of Our Lady, notes Psellus, purer 
 than cherubim and seraphim, the only one of earthly Psellus. 
 Saints who is the true likeness of the Heavenly Jeru- 
 salem, the one elect daughter of her mother the an- 
 cient Church, of Patriarchs, Kings, and Prophets, the ^^ ^^^ 
 only one, for neither before nor since was there, nor can "^^"^ " 
 there be any such ; His dove, because full of grace ; 
 elect, because not merely saved, but the bringer-forth 
 of salvation. 
 
 The daughters saio her and blessed her. In this col- 
 location we have at once the fulfilment of her own pro- 
 phecy, " For, behold, from henceforth all generations s. Luke i. 
 shall call me blessed." But ap^Dlying the words to the ''^• 
 Church, Philo says very well: By the daughters of 
 Sion (LXX.) those holy men of old, the souls of the 
 Patriarchs and all the Prophets, are intended who be- phUo Carp, 
 held afar off this Bride as yet to come in the Bride- 
 groom Who was to be born, and the Apostles by their 
 preaching united her to the Heavenly Bridegroom. 
 
284 A COMMENTARY ON [VI. 10. 
 
 And this He Himself plainly declares, when He 
 teaches that they were mindful and thankful for so 
 
 S.Mat. xiii. great a blessing, saying, "Many prophets and righ- 
 
 ^'* teous men have desired to see those things which ye 
 
 see, and have not seen them ; and to hear those things 
 which ye hear, and have not heard them." And the 
 words may also be applied to Churches and any faith- 
 ful souls, which look with longing at that Church as 
 they see her triumphing in this mortal life, and are 
 thereby lifted up daily more and more from this mili- 
 tant and pilgrim state unto life everlasting. And 
 blessed her. The Yulgate reads, called her most blessed. 
 
 •^^ n A Blessed in her spiritual wealth, more blessed in her 
 numerous children, most blessed in the bridal and em- 
 braces of the Bridegroom. And note that it is said 
 that the daughters saw her and blessed her, whereas 
 it is said of the queens and concubines that ^ej praised 
 her, without adding that they saw her. It is because 
 
 Ps. xiv. 14. " the King's daughter is all glorious within," and only 
 those holy souls which are truly God's children can 
 see that inner beauty, since they look for the Kingdom 
 
 Prov. xvii. of GoD, while " the eyes of a fool are in the ends of 
 
 24. the earth." The queens and concubines, types now 
 
 of the outer world, do not bless the Church, for they 
 have no desire for her prosperity, but they are com- 
 pelled, in their own despite, to praise her, to extol the 
 
 s. Just. Org. valour of her Martyrs and the purity of her Virgins. 
 
 Luc Abb Aponius, taking the words of Christ's Humanity, ex- 
 plains that the heavenly host, citizens of Jerusalem on 
 high, when they saw that holy Body, united to the 
 Father's love, born upon earth, wrapped in swaddling 
 clothes, and yet resplendent with glorious majesty, 
 called Him most blessed, bursting out with their song, 
 " Glory to God in the highest." Most blessed, truly, 
 for only in that One Person did all the Beatitudes 
 meet, one of which alone is enough to make others 
 blessed in their degree. 
 
 10 Who is she that looketh forth as the 
 morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun^ 
 and terrible as an army with banners? 
 
 Here is set forth for us the gradual progress of the 
 
 Church or of the holy soul, as it goes on in holiness, 
 
 advancing to the perfect day. Honorius of Autun, 
 
 Honorius. recognizing the identity of the Church of God through 
 
VI. 10.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 285 
 
 all the phases of its existence, tells us that the morning 
 signifies the Patriarchal dispensation ; the moon the 
 Mosaic Law, drawing its light from the unseen sun, 
 and gradually crescent to the full, while the sun de- 
 notes the full light of the Gospel revelation. Or, if the Corn, k Lap. 
 words be limited to the Christian Church, they may be 
 taken of its small beginnings in Judea, when it was 
 hidden from the world at large, and then was fair as 
 the moon, indeed, but pale with the light of suflPering, 
 terror, and martyrdom during the Ten Persecutions, 
 till under Constantine it became like the sun, visible in 
 faith and glory through the world, and terrible as cm 
 army, because then began its active career against 
 heresy and Paganism, which it had combated before 
 only with the passive weapons of endurance. Another Cassiodor. 
 view, but partially different from this one, is accepted '^^^^^oret. 
 by several Fathers, who put these words into the mouth 
 of the repentant Synagogue at the end of the world, 
 or else into that of the Angels who attend the Bride- s. Ambros. 
 groom. The Church looketh forth as the morning, in Hexaem. 
 passing from the clouds of darkness, and beginning to ^^' ^' 
 shine with the light of truth ; she is fair as the moon pjjQg c^rp. 
 in this life, borrowing all her brightness from the Sun 
 of Highteousness, and crescent or waning according 
 as she is in prosperity or adversity ; clear as the sun, 
 in the world to come, when radiant with the open 
 vision of her Creator. And the words may be taken 
 not only of the Church Universal at three epochs of 
 her existence, but of the three classes of beginners, 
 who are leaving their sins behind and making their first s. Greg. M. 
 steps towards light ; of progressing Christians, setting 
 a good example to sinners, like the moon shining in the 
 night ; and of Saints, who serve as patterns even for 
 the good, and are therefore like the sun, shining in 
 broad day. And S. Bernard, limiting the reference s. Bernard, 
 further to the Religious Life, sees here the three prin- Serm. 60, 
 cipal virtues which befit a community ; humility, which ^^ P^'^"^- 
 is the daion or morning, driving away the darkness and 
 heralding the light, because it is the line of distinction 
 between the righteous and the sinner ; chastity, de- 
 noted by the moon, and charity, which resembles the 
 sun, and makes the Common Life the terror of evil 
 spirits. 
 
 Spoken of the faithful soul during the progress of 
 her sanctification, Philo notes that she is fitly com- 
 pared to the dawn, because as the dawn brings a slight 
 
286 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [VI. 10. 
 
 chill witli it, and the arising of the light of heaven, so 
 Philo Carp, too every faithful soul and spouse that turns to righ- 
 teousness from an evil life, begins to contemplate 
 the first rays of the light of Salvation, and to feel 
 the restful lowering of the heat of sin by that cold 
 which checks it. And there are some, moreover, 
 who when carefully pondering what punishments and 
 grievous torments are prepared for the ungodly, and 
 those everlasting, begin to examine their lives and 
 habits strictly, and so minutely to review themselves, 
 and all their words and deeds, as to cast away at once 
 the works of darkness and put on the armour of light, 
 making themselves radiant with acts of righteousness 
 and holiness, and thus are said to arise as the dawn 
 from the darkness. Not as He arises. Who is the Day- 
 2 Sam. xxiii. Spring from on high, for of Him it is written, " He 
 4. shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun 
 
 ariseth, even a morning without clouds." She has to 
 make her way slowly and painfully through the mists 
 of error and clouds of temptation, and her first turning 
 to God will appear sombre and chill enough, for it has 
 been usually true of God's greatest Saints that a time 
 of struggle and comparative darkness preceded their 
 fuller knowledge of Him, that — 
 
 morning fair, 
 Comes forth with pilgrim steps in amice grey. 
 
 But, as the advancing sun turns the black clouds into 
 purple, and the white into gold, so the very trials and 
 difficulties of the soul become, through God's grace, 
 new beauties, royal apparel for her. His Bride. 
 
 Fair as the moon is she too, because whatever divine 
 light she possesses she receives from the Sun of Righ- 
 teousness, steadfast and divine, what time she places 
 herself meekly before Him ; and, like the moon, she 
 now seems to decrease and wane through temptation 
 and sufferings, and again to become new and crescent 
 when her cruel enemies have been routed. Or else 
 because she will one day fail altogether in bodily death, 
 and at the last arise again with all the righteous to 
 everlasting glory, never more to pass through phases 
 of change, but to abide immortal and most blessed. 
 Thus the second comparison exhibits progress, but two 
 things are yet lacking, the steadfastness which knows 
 no change, the light which is not merely clear, but 
 warm and quickening. Eaith has broken through the 
 
 Milton, 
 Par. Reg. 
 iv. 426. 
 
 Neale. 
 
 Philo Carp. 
 
VI. 10.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 287 
 
 clouds of night ; Hope, even in the night of this world, 
 yields a calm radiance, telling of something more glo- Dion. Carth. 
 rious and genial, teaching the world what must be that 
 splendour of which she is but the faint shadow : 
 
 Soon as the evening shades prevail, Addison, 
 
 The moon takes up the wondrous tale, The Hymn, 
 
 And nightly to the listening earth P^ spacious 
 
 Eepeats the story of her birth. firmament. 
 
 And S. Gregory dilates on this theme as follows : The s. Greg. M. 
 moon, as she illuminates the earth, shows to clouded eyes 
 the path by which man should go. So the soul which 
 parts the clouds, and puts itself forth to holy activity, 
 sheds light on darkened eyes while setting its neigh- 
 bours an example of good work. For while sinners 
 see any good thing done and set themselves to do the 
 same, they are like wanderers in the night returning 
 to the road by the light of the moon. There is another Dion. Carth. 
 cause of likeness too, for if the moon suffer aught to 
 come between her and the sun, she is straightway 
 eclipsed and darkened. Last comes that perfect like- Phiio Carp, 
 ness to Cheist Himself, attained by conformity to His 
 Passion and His will, and perfect trust looking to Him 
 alone, which make the soul, now flooded with divine 
 light, and glowing with the fervour of the Spikit, cleat' 
 as the sun. Then, too, as it is written of the wild 
 beasts, "The lions roaring after their prey, do seek Ps. civ. 21. 
 their meat from God : the sun ariseth, and they get 
 them away together, and lay them down in their dens ;" 
 so when the glory of holiness is visible in any Chris- 
 tian soul, and it arises to resist the devil, he must 
 needs flee, for then she is terrible as an army with 
 banners, and that because she comes not to the battle 
 alone, but with the examples and miracles of the 
 Saints, and the alliance of the Angels, on her side, so 
 that she may say with the Prophet to all timid wa- 
 verers : " Fear not, for they that be with us are more jgf '"^^ ^'" 
 than they that be with them." Eupert explains the Rupert, 
 verse of the Mother of God, saying, " When thou wast 
 born, O Blessed Virgin, then the true Dawn arose on 
 us, the Dawn which heralds the eternal Day ; for as 
 each day's dawn is the end of the past night and the 
 beginning of the following day, so thy nativity, of the 
 seed of Abraham, from the illustrious race of David, to 
 whom God made with an oath the promise of blessing, 
 was the end of sorrows, and the beginning of consola- 
 
288 A COMMENTARY ON [VI. 10. 
 
 tion, the end of sadness and the beginning of our joy. 
 Then we pass from dawn to morn. For when the 
 Holy G-host came upon thee, and thou, a Virgin, 
 didst conceive a Son, and bring Him forth in Virgin- 
 birth, then, and thenceforward thou wast fair with 
 divine fairness ; fair, I say, not in any wise, but as the 
 moon; for as the moon shines and illuminates with 
 light which is not her own, but derived from the sun, 
 so thou, O most blessed one, hast not of thyself, that 
 thou art so bright, but of grace divine, that thou 
 art full of grace. Lastly, we pass from the moon to 
 the sun. For when thou wast taken up out of this 
 world, and translated to the heavenly hall, then, and 
 thenceforward thou wast elect as the sun, elect, I 
 say, for us, for as we adore and worship the Son of 
 God, sprung from thee, the True Sun, the eternal 
 Sun, as Very God ; so we honour and venerate thee, 
 as the Mother of Very God, knowing that all honour 
 paid to the Mother, doubtless redounds to the honour 
 of the Son." 
 
 Keble. What glory thou above hast won, 
 
 By special grace of thy dear Son, 
 "We see not yet, nor dare espy 
 Thy crowned form with open eye : 
 Rather beside the manger meek, 
 Thee bending with veiled brow we seek, 
 Or where the Angel in the thrice great Name 
 Hailed thee, and Jesus to thy bosom came. 
 
 Henceforth, "Whom thousand worlds adore, 
 He calls thee Mother evermore ; 
 Angel nor Saint His face may see 
 Apart from what He took of thee ; 
 How may we choose but name thy name, 
 Echoing below their high acclaim, 
 In holy creeds ? since earthly song and prayer 
 Must keep faint time to the dread anthem there. 
 
 And she is terrihle as an army \vith banners. How an 
 army, one of the sweetest of English poets tells us in 
 his quaint anagram of the name Mary, 
 
 George How well her name an ar7ny doth present, 
 
 Herbert. In whom the Lord of Hosts did pitch His tent ! 
 
 With banners; since where the King's pavilion is, 
 there will be the royal standard. And accordingly S. 
 Ambrose says : 
 
VI. 11.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 289 
 
 The Lord a Maiden's worab doth fill, S. Ambros. 
 
 But keeps her stainless Maiden still, The Hymn, 
 
 The banners there of virtue shine, demptor' 
 
 Where God is present in His shrine. Gentium. 
 
 Aponiiis, continuing his reference to Christ's Hu- luc. Abb. 
 manity, says that Jesus came as the datoning after the 
 darkness of ignorance to His Baptism in Jordan, that 
 He advanced as the moon by His miraculous works, 
 and shone as the Sun after His Resurrection. And He 
 will appear on the Judgment Day to the righteous 
 with the calm beauty of the moon, to the Angels in 
 the fuller glory of Divine majesty, whilst to sinners, 
 doomed to eternal fires. He will be terrible as an army 
 with banners. 
 
 11 I went down into the garden of nuts to 
 see the fruits of the valley^ and to see whether 
 the vine flourished, and the pomegranates 
 budded. 
 
 There is some variance here as to the speaker. The 
 Targum, followed by the great majority of the Fathers, 
 ascribes the words to the Bridegroom ; while a small 
 minority, agreeing with some later critics, puts them 
 into the mouth of the Bride. Taking the former view, 
 and interpreting, as several have done, the garden of 
 nuts to be the Synagogue, Philo says, Behold, the Philo Carp. 
 Heavenly Bridegroom first iceiit doion into the Syna- 
 gogue of the Jews, to the priests and Scribes, by the 
 Manhood which He took on Him of their seed, accord- 
 ing to the oath and promise which He had sworn to 
 
 Abraha'" ^cx\ id. By the garden of nuts Jerusalem s. Epipha- 
 
 and the priesthood are rightly signified. For the rod of "''^^' 
 Aaron held the dignity of royal priesthood. And the 
 nut is an apt symbol of the Mosaic Law, for as the nut- ^^^^° ^^'T- 
 tree has bitter and trifoliated leaves, and produces its 
 fruit covered with an exceedingly bitter rind called the 
 hull, and a yet harder dry shell, within which is con- 
 tained a pleasant kernel divided fourwise by a wooden 
 cartilage, or a thin membrane while it is green ; so 
 that Law, written by the finger of God, seemed to 
 consist of those carnal sacrifices and ceremonies, as the 
 nut-tree with its bitter leaves, though mystically signi- 
 fying the Triune God. And the Law was covered 
 over with a meaning hard to be understood, and mys- 
 u 
 
290 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [VI. 11. 
 
 Ps. ex. 7. 
 
 Ps. cxxiv. 
 3, LXX. 
 
 Isa. V. 2. 
 
 tical, like a liarsh rind, and yet held veiled within it 
 that sweetest and most wholesome fruit Cheist Jesus 
 Himself, Who should come down from heaven, to be 
 made openly known through the four quarters of the 
 globe by the fourfold sense of the Gospel, and yet only 
 for those who could take Him fitly and reverently out 
 of that shell, and eat Him in the holiest manner. 
 Down to this garden came the Bridegroom to look into 
 the plants of the tory^ent (LXX.)' that is, at the time 
 appointed for His death (of which I hold that David 
 was thinking when he said, " He shall drink of the 
 torrent in the way ;" and again, " Our soul had passed 
 through the torrent," that is, had endured most cruel 
 scourges, painful tortures, and death,) to see if the nut 
 itself and the vine flourished. O wondrous mercy of 
 God ! O unspeakable goodness ! It was not enough 
 for Thee to have given the Law, to have sent so many 
 eminent Prophets and Kings, famous in learning and 
 holiness, but Thou wouldest come Thyself to see and 
 act for Thy garden of nuts and Thy vineyard, and that 
 in the jplants of the torrent, that is, in the mortality and 
 death of our flesh which Thou didst take, that Thou 
 mightest gather some fruit thence. But, alas, an un- 
 grateful and wretched Hebrew people, after slaying 
 the servants and messengers of the Lord's vineyard, 
 dared to cast the heir. His Only Son, shamefully out 
 of the vineyard (that is, Jerusalem and the Synagogue,) 
 and to slay Him most cruelly. So when He came first to 
 the garden of nuts He gathered no fruit there, but only 
 thorns ; wherefore He passed to the Gentiles, for whom 
 He made ready faithful Churches for Himself, and let 
 out His vineyard to them, having ruined and destroyed 
 those former vinedressers whom He had graciously 
 called out of Egypt. He found that the vine did not 
 flourish with them, for He Himself saith, " He looked 
 that it should bring forth grapes, and it iDrought forth 
 wild grapes." Nor had the pomegranates budded, but 
 now they blossom in the Christian Church, where the 
 
 1 So too the Arabic version. 
 The meaning is the same as 
 the A. v., because commonl)^ 
 in the Semitic languages, and 
 notably in Arabic, tlie same 
 word stands for " valley" and 
 "river," or rather "water- 
 course," a deep cleft in the 
 
 hills, dry in summer, and a 
 rapid stream in winter. The 
 second of these meanings has 
 left its mark in Spanish, where 
 the Arabic wady enters into 
 the names of several rivers, aa 
 Guadiana, Guadalquivir, Gua- 
 dalavier. 
 
Vr. 11.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 291 
 
 multitudes of the people of God lie enclosed as pure 
 white seeds in the mystical body, washed and ruddy 
 with the Blood of Jesus Christ, and full of the good- 
 ness of divine grace and the juice given by the hea- 
 venly Spieit ; and with these fruits the Spouse gives 
 holy gladness daily to the Bridegroom. Aponius 
 varies somewhat from the latter portion of this expo- Luc. Abb. 
 sition of Philo, taking the valley to be this world, the 
 fruits of the valley to be the tears of the righteous, 
 shed because of their exile and prison, and for the sins 
 of men, and the visit as intended to see whether in 
 Israel the vine of devout thought, leading to repent- 
 2ir\ce, flourished, v^]\ei\iev the jyom eg ran ates, the mystical 
 teaching of the Prophets, budded, in producing other 
 Saints besides that one Baptist Forerunner. 
 
 They also explain the garden of nuts to be that Honorius. 
 garden inclosed of which we have already heard, the Hugo Card, 
 hallowed womb of the Virgin Mother, into which the 
 LoED went down, she who kept her sweet purity shel- 
 tered in firm resolve, where the Bridegroom found 
 fruits of the valley in her lovely humility, and saw that 
 vine which bore Him, the True Vine, flourishing in 
 beauty, as it conceived Him, and the pomegranates of 
 her charity to all men, as they were budding forth. 
 
 A further sense for the pomegranates is suggested by ^y'*^"'^^- ... 
 the fact that this fruit was embroidered on the hem of 3^° .xxvin. 
 the High. Priest's robe, thus typifying the inferior 
 priests or Levites, who derived their office from him. 
 And therefore the words will here denote the visitation 
 of the Christian Church, to see whether the prelates 
 and clergy, vicars of the One High Priest, are fulfilling 
 tbeir duties, and bringing forth fruits to God. 
 
 And, applying the words to Cheist's visitation of 
 souls, S. Gregory tells us that the garden of nuts sig- s. Greg. M. 
 nifies the hearts of the Saints, who retain divine wis- 
 dom in their bodies, like a kernel in a fruit-shell, for 
 there are many in the Church, constantly busied in the 
 study of Holy Writ, tasting how sweet the Lord is, 
 desiring to taste Him more, chewing the cud of sacred 
 joy in their heart, and thereby growing ever stronger; 
 and yet to those without, who know them not, they 
 seem valueless, because that sweet food which they 
 bear within them is unknown. But why is He said 
 to come to the garden of nuts, not to see nuts but 
 apples? (poma, Vulg.) Because He comes first to 
 His perfect Saints, that He may visit the weaker 
 u2 
 
292 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [VI. 11. 
 
 Cassiodor 
 Beda. 
 
 S. Athan. 
 
 ones through tlieir ministry, and so be manifested to 
 them. 
 
 The vines fiouHsTi when children are brought up in 
 the Church in faith, and are trained to a holy life as 
 to firmness of fruit. The 'pomegranates hud when the 
 perfect edify their neighbours by their example, and 
 invite them to new and holy conversation by preaching 
 Dion. Carth. and the exhibition of good works. Or, as another 
 takes it, the vines flourish when local Churches and 
 congregations are healthy and abundant in holy medi- 
 tations and prayers, the pomegranates hud when pre- 
 lates and contemplative Eeligious, who should be 
 ruddiest with charity and zeal, give forth beauty and 
 fragrance to adorn the Church. Cassiodorus and 
 Beda, albeit ascribing the verse to the Bride, vary 
 little from the interpretation of S. Gregory, represent- 
 ing her as watching the progress of the various classes 
 of Saints in this life. Happier than this is the ex- 
 planation of S. Athanasius, followed by S. Justus of 
 Urgel, that the garden of nuts is Holy Scripture, 
 which exhibits one thing in the outer letter or rind, 
 and another in the inner spirit or kernel ; though the 
 latter agrees with the authors already cited in seeing 
 lowly Saints figured in the fruits of the valley, and 
 Martyrs in the pruned vines and ruddy pomegranates. 
 "What the especial nut is which the Bride seeks there 
 S. Augustine will tell us : The nut has three sub- 
 stances united in itself, the hull, the shell, and the 
 ■ kernel. In the hull the flesh, in the shell the bones, 
 in the kernel the inner soul, have their types. The 
 hull of the nut denotes the flesh of the Savioue, 
 which had in itself the harshness and roughness of the 
 Passion. The kernel denotes the inner sweetness of 
 His Godhead, which made the covenant with us, and 
 gives us the help of light.^ The shell signifies the 
 transverse wood of the Cross, which did not separate 
 that which was within from that without, but by the 
 interposition of its mediating wood allied earthly things 
 and heavenly, as the blessed Apostle saith, "Having 
 made peace by the Blood of His Cross, by Him to 
 reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether they 
 be things in earth or things in heaven." Similarly, 
 with his wonderful knowledge of Scripture and of 
 theology, sings Adam : 
 
 1 The Saiut is referring to the nut-oil, anciently used for 
 lamps. 
 
 S. August. 
 Serm. de 
 Temp. Dom 
 IV. Adv. 
 
 Col.i. 20. 
 
YI, 12.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 293 
 
 Nux est Christus, cortex nucis Adam. Vict. 
 
 Circa carnem poena crucis, The Se- 
 
 Testa corpus osseum, %^^mdor 
 
 Carne tecta Deitas Patris et 
 
 Et Christi suavitas figura. 
 
 Signatur per nucleum. 
 
 Christ the nut, the hull His Passion 
 Closing round His human fashion, 
 
 And His bones and frame the shell : 
 Hid in flesh, Divine completeness 
 And Christ Jesus' perfect sweetness, 
 
 In the kernel mark ye well. 
 
 Seeking Him, then, in the time of His utter humilia- 
 tion, when He was in truth the fruit of the valley, she 
 desires to know if that True Vhie can possibly be 
 Jlourisliing after the beast of the field and the wild 
 boar have done their worst upon it, if the ruddy 
 pomegranate of the Passion shows any promise of 
 succeeding produce. So too, each soul has to go down 
 into the garden of its own heart, where the Lord is 
 hidden in the shell of reticent affection, to see if the 
 vine-branch He has planted be thriving, if the graces 
 which spring from His Passion are showing signs of 
 spiritual fruit to come. And she need be at no loss 
 what to do with these fruits and flowers when she 
 finds them. She will say, as once said a faithful Bride 
 of Cheist, " And now, O only Beloved of my soul, I s. Mechthii- 
 offer Thee my heart, as a blooming rose, whose beauty jjj^ ^^^^^^• 
 may daily attract Thine eyes, and its fragrance delight 
 Thy Heart. And I also offer Thee my heart, that 
 Thou mayest use it as a cup, to drink Thine own 
 sweetness with all Thou hast done to-day for me. 
 Further, I offer Thee my heart, as a pomegranate of 
 choice flavour, fit for Thy royal banquet, that eating 
 it. Thou mayest so take it unto Thyself, that it may 
 rejoice in feeling itself thenceforth within Thee." 
 
 12 Or ever I was aware, my soul niade me 
 \like\ the chariots of Ammi-nadib.^ 
 
 The LXX. and Vulgate, in the first clause, read 
 correctly, with the margin of A. V., I knew not. The 
 
 1 The italic like, unneces- i misleading, and is therefore 
 sarily inserted after "me" in bracketed, 
 the A. v., is superfluous and 1 
 
294 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [VI. 12. 
 
 ancient versions, for the most part, oscillate in the 
 second clause between the rendering of the A. V., as 
 given above, and its marginal reading : My soul set 
 me on the chariots of my loilling [or princely~\ people. 
 Symmachus and the Vulgate, however, read My soul 
 troubled me, [or, loas perplexed^ because of the chariots, 
 &c. This most difficult verse has given rise to a great 
 variety of interpretations, and there is no more agree- 
 ment as to the speaker, whether it be Solomon, the 
 Bride, or one of the queens and concubines acting as 
 Weissbach. mouthpiece to the rest. The latest view of modern 
 critics is that the words are an exclamation of wonder 
 at the dazzling beauty of the Bride. She had been 
 compared, a little before, to an ay^my toith banners, 
 and now the speaker declares that she is stately and 
 ornate as the war-chariot of the king, so that to be 
 near her is like being set upon it. And it is easy to 
 see the mystical force of such an interpretation, if we 
 put the speech into the mouth of the Gentile world, 
 noting the progress of the Church. It had already 
 recognized her beauty, as Solomon's litter (iii. 9, 10,) 
 in her peaceful holiness and passive endurance of suf- 
 fering, saying, " See how these Christians love one 
 another." Now it was to see her as the war-chariot 
 of the Great King, to confess the resistless might 
 of her conquering advance, and to exclaim, in the 
 words of Elisha, echoed later by Joash, " My father, 
 my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen 
 thereof." And this comes very near to the explana- 
 tion of several Fathers, who ascribe the verse to the 
 Synagogue. Thus Cassiodorus comments : I kneiv not, 
 
 Bride of Cheist, that such grace and such gifts of 
 spiritual power had been given thee by thy Bride- 
 groom, and I am troubled with great anxiety of soul 
 because of this sudden preaching of the Gospel. For 
 
 1 knew that the Law and the Prophets were divinely 
 given, and therefore when all of a sudden I saw the 
 Gospel preached, I teas troubled because of the cha- 
 riots of Amminadab. Amminadab was great grandson 
 of Judah, through whom Cheist's genealogy is de- 
 rived. And the name is interpreted " The willing one 
 of my people," and consequently denotes Cheist, 
 "Who was the willing One of His people, because, 
 being God, He voluntarily was made Man, and being 
 Creator and Maker of the world, of His loving-kind- 
 ness alone He was made a part of His people. And 
 
 2 Kings ii. 
 12: Xiii. 14 
 
 Cassiodor, 
 
 Beda. 
 
 S. Greg. M, 
 
 Rupert. 
 
VI. 12.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 295 
 
 the sense is this : I am troubled because of the sudden 
 preaching of the Gospel, -^hich has suddenly sped 
 through the whole world like a very swift chariot. 
 !Bupert dwells on the phrase, My soul troubled me, as 
 meaning something different from I loas troubled, and 
 explains it that the Chief Priests, Scribes, and Pha- 
 risees, who were the soul of the Jewish people, guiding 
 them in their religious and social matters, did nothing 
 but perplex and trouble them, instead of giving them 
 wise counsel, when the preaching of the Gospel began. 
 The Latin Fathers also lay stress on the Vulgate word cassiodor. 
 here used for c\i2iV\oi&,quadrigas, or four-horse cars, and s. Greg. M. 
 interpret it for the most part as mystically referring ^ ** 
 to the Four Gospels ; though Rupert gives the further Rupert, 
 explanation that the four principal mysteries of the 
 Gospel itself, the Incarnation, Passion, Resurrection, 
 and Ascension, are indicated. Of this chariot Cheist 
 Himself is the Charioteer, and He is most fitly desig- 
 nated, as the Abbat of Deutz continues, by the name 
 of Amminadab, because it was from that descendant 
 of Judah that the royal and priestly lines were both 
 derived, inasmuch as his daughter Elisheba was wife 
 of Aaron, and mother of Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, 
 and Ithamar, from whom all the High Priests were 
 sprung, while Amminadab himself was ancestor in the 
 direct line of David, and thereby of Him Who is 
 King of Israel and a High Priest for ever after the 
 order of Melchizedek. There is also an ancient Jewish Dion. Carth. 
 tradition that when the Israelites reached the Red Sea, 
 aU the tribes hung back, till Amminadab, prince of the 
 house of Judah, seizing his standard, advanced boldly 
 between the walls of water, and won thereby the im- 
 mediate honour of leading the vanguard of the march, 
 and the later one of the kingdom for his posterity. 
 It is needless to dwell on the type this yields of Cheist 
 as the Leader and Standard-bearer of His people in 
 their pilgrimage and warfare. 
 
 De Lyra, also ascribing the verse to the Synagogue, Lyranus. 
 explains it very differently. He interprets Ammi- 
 nadab to mean My ruling people, and thus para- 
 phrases : I kneto not God's Law, but was ignorant 
 and as a beast before Him. My own self-will led me 
 into the sin of idolatry, and thereupon I was punished 
 by the Captivity, which made me like the mere chariot 
 of the conquering Assyrians and Babylonians, who be- 
 came my ruling people, with power to drive me whither- 
 
296 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [VI. 12. 
 
 Philo Carp. 
 
 Theodoret. 
 Tres Patr. 
 
 S. Ambros. 
 de Naboth. 
 15. 
 
 Id.de 
 Virgin. 
 
 Theodoret. 
 
 Henr. Har- 
 phius. 
 
 soever tliey pleased. Applied to the devout soul, the 
 earliest interpretation we meet is closely akin to one 
 already given ; saying that every faithful soul is borne 
 by the four steeds of the Four Gospels, swift and 
 strong, throughout the world, as they are driven by 
 the Holt Spieit. And this in order that the Bride 
 may be happily borne in this chariot of fire, which 
 she has ascended in faith, to heaven itself. It is to 
 be carefully noted, too, that the Bride and faithful souls 
 are not merely said to be set on the chariots, but that 
 the Church herself is made these chariots, that she 
 may understand herself to be the holy car whereby 
 multitudes are to be borne to their country. For as 
 they who are conveyed in chariots, cars, and carts are 
 lifted up above the inconveniences of the road, such as 
 mire, ruts, stones, and the like, and are often quite 
 free from them, so Christians, borne in the heavenly 
 chariot of faith, and cherished in the holy bosom of 
 their loving mother the Church, are preserved safely 
 for the kingdom of heaven. And thus she is made the 
 chariot of the Prince of the people, that she may bear 
 Him, by means of her preachers, into the hearts of 
 men. He so deals with her when she has gone down 
 from the heights of mystic contemplation into the gar- 
 den of active work, to see if she could find Him in the 
 lives and hearts of His people, but failing to see Him 
 there, she says, I knew not, and her zeal at once hurries 
 her into missionary toils. If the soul be His chariot, 
 comments S. Ambrose, beware lest the flesh be the 
 horse, but let vigour of mind be the driver, to guide 
 and check the flesh and its passions, like steeds, with 
 the reins of wisdom. But, as he says more forcibly in 
 another place, Cheist, the true Amminadab, drives 
 the soul of the righteous like a chariot, and guides it 
 from His seat with the reins of the Word, lest it 
 should be hurried down the steep by the violence of 
 untamed steeds. For its four passions are its horses, 
 anger, desire, pleasure, and fear, and when these run 
 away, the soul, as she begins to be hurried along, does 
 not know herself. There is another interpretation, 
 akin to that of De Lyra, explaining Amminadab as the 
 prince of this world, oppressing the Church and en- 
 slaving her, returning evil for good, and interfering 
 with the freedom of her operations. Or again, the 
 soul says, I knew not, I was ignorant and blind, and so 
 I became the mere chariot of my own unrestrained 
 
VI. 13.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 297 
 
 will, which hurried me away at its pleasure, until God 
 called me to return. 
 
 The view which takes the Bridegroom as the speaker 
 has the authority of the Chaldee paraphrase on its Targam. 
 side, which interprets the verse of God promising to 
 change His dealings with His people, now repentant, 
 and instead of chastening them further, to set them as 
 on the chariot of a king. Very few Christian expositors 
 have followed in this track, and the only noteworthy 
 comment is far-fetched and strained. The evil spirits, luc. Abb. 
 says Aponius, as created by God to test the endurance 
 of the Saints, are, in a sense. His people. They are 
 lUhfree-ioilUng people, because they have refused His 
 service, and have chosen to follow their own wicked 
 devices. These spirits sit like drivers on the necks of 
 sinners, forcing them to accomplish crimes. And they 
 made Pilate, Herod, Caiaphas, and their companions, 
 chariots on which Christ was carried to His death 
 with shouts of " Crucify Him, crucify Him," where- 
 fore He was troubled, as He Himself has said, "My s. Mat.xxvi. 
 soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death." And ^^' 
 He begins the sentence by protesting His innocence, s. Just. Org. 
 saying, / knew not, for in truth He knew no sin. 
 
 13 Return, return, O Shulamite; return, 
 return, that we naay look upon thee. What 
 will ye see in the Shulamite? As it were the 
 company of two armies. 
 
 The first question to be settled here is the meaning 
 of the name Shulamite. One literalist view is that it is 
 a local appellation from a supposed place Shulem, 
 formed by the same analogy as Shunammite from 
 Shunem. And in fact the LXX. does read Sunamitis, s. Just. Org. 
 and the Vulgate did read it, so that a reference to ^I^p^^J; 
 Abishag has been seen here by some ancient writers, 
 and Abishag herself by some modern ones. Another Smith'sDict. 
 opinion is that the name is strictly a proper one, the 
 personal name of the Bride, akin, perhaps, to Shelo- 
 mith, the feminine form of the name Solomon. And 
 this brings us closer to the mystical view, which takes 
 the word as an adjective, and explains it variously as Rosen- 
 " belonging to Solomon," or " daughter of Salem," or ™uUer. 
 " perfect ;" or again, most satisfactorily, as " Peaceful," 
 which last is supported by the authority of Aquila, who 
 
298 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [VI. 13. 
 
 Targura. 
 
 Lyranus. 
 
 Ezra ii. 1. 
 
 vii. 7. 
 
 Nehem. ii. 
 
 11. 
 
 1 Mace. iv. 
 
 Rupert. 
 
 Rom. iv. 3. 
 
 Luc. Abb. 
 
 Hugo Card. 
 
 translates it elprjvevovaa. One other suggested meaning 
 is that of Symmachus, who, deriving the epithet from 
 
 //tl!/, shalal, spoliavit, views it as equivalent to " plun- 
 dered," or " captive," itXKvXevix^uTi. Either of these 
 last-given meanings will suit the Synagogue, to which 
 the Targum applies the verse, paraphrasing thus : 
 " Return to Me, O congregation of Israel, return to 
 Jerusalem, return to the House of My Law, return to 
 receive prophecy from the Prophets who prophesy in 
 the Name of the Word of the Lord. Israel heard 
 and obeyed the call, notes De Lyra, and returned at 
 four several times after the Captivity ; first, under 
 Zorobabel and Ezra, in the reign of Cyrus ; secondly, 
 in the next migration headed by Ezra in the seventh 
 year of Artaxerxes ; thirdly, under JSTehemiah ; and, 
 fourthly, when Judas Maccabeus cleansed and restored 
 the profaned sanctuary. The We, then, Who desire 
 to look upon the Shulamite, and therefore call her 
 back, may best be taken, as many of the Fathers do 
 take it, of the Most Holy Trinity, calling the wan- 
 dering Church, Jewish or Christian, or the soul which 
 has gone astray, back to its true home, to the presence 
 of the Divine Countenance. It is, notes Rupert, the 
 Voice of Amminadab Himself as He sits upon His 
 chariot, saying, Thou, O Shulamite, that is, captive or 
 depised, thou, O faith, O dignity of the true Priest- 
 hood (wellnigh given up to oblivion through carnal 
 ceremonies, so that the Synagogue knows not, and 
 thinks not that her father Abraham was justified by 
 thee, and not by the Law, as it is written, " Abraham 
 believed God, and it was counted unto him for righte- 
 ousness,") return, and again I say, return, and a third 
 time I say, return, and a fourth time I say, return, one 
 call for each horse of My chariot. For I was born, 
 and I suffered to this end, that thou mightest return, 
 and rise again, and ascend into heaven to Me, and 
 therefore till thou dost return I cease not My calling 
 upon thee. 
 
 Aponius, closely agreeing with this view, adds that 
 our merciful Lord calls the Synagogue daily to re- 
 pentance by the four voices of the four Gospels, and 
 that, in order that We may look on thee, that the Image 
 of God may be reflected in thee, as in a mirror, when 
 thou art cleansed by penitence and Baptism, and con- 
 fessest the Trinity. Eeturn to the true faith, return 
 
VI. 13.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 299 
 
 to brotherly peace, return to acknowledgment of thy 
 Eedeemer, rettirn to perfection in good works. Return, ^. ^^^^- ^• 
 too, from the four quarters of the world, whither thou 
 hast been scattered, for thy sins, among the Gentiles. 
 And the call will continue till that happier cry is raised, 
 
 Rise, Sion, rise, and looking forth, S.John Dam. 
 
 Behold thy children round thee, Golden 
 
 From east and west, and south and north, Canon, Ode 
 
 Thy scattered sons have found thee ! ^"*- 
 And in thy bosom Christ adore, 
 For ever and for evermore ! 
 
 There is less beauty and force in the common inter- Cassiodor. 
 pretation, which ascribes the words to the Christian g^Q^g. ^ 
 Church, typified by the daughters of Jerusalem, and s.Ans.Laud. 
 makes her, not God, address the Synagogue. That 
 we may look on thee, standing to do penance for thy s. Greg. M. 
 sins, and acknowledging thy crime in slaying and cru- 
 cifying thy King, as one will have it ; that we may see Beda°'^°^* 
 thy beauty and purity, as others, more gently, interpret. 
 Spoken of the soul, the words may be variously taken. 
 If addressed to a perfect one, then it may be the voice 
 of God calling the preacher back from peaceful con- Theodoret. 
 templation to the harder task of converting sinners, 
 promising His aid in all time of weakness, but not the 
 less summoning him to descend from the Mount of Tres Patr. 
 Transfiguration to the plain of tlie demoniac, or it may 
 be a cry for help from weaker Christians, asking to be 
 taught how to bridle the four passions of their souls, 
 for which reason they call four times. Return, that 
 we may be cleansed with thy purity, return, that we Tho°^- Verc. 
 may be kindled with thy fire, return, that we may be 
 illuminated with thy light, return, that we may be per- 
 fumed with thy fragrance. 
 
 If, on the other hand, it be an erring soul which God is 
 recalling to the right way ; then, as S. Ambrose teaches, s. Ambros. 
 He saith well, as a driver to his chariot. Return, O Shula- ^^ ^^aac. 8. 
 w^7e,that is. Peaceful, for the soul which is peaceful turns 
 herself quickly, and corrects herself, even though she 
 sinned before, and Cheist all the more readily ascends, 
 and vouchsafes to guide her, as is said to Him, " Ride Hab. iii, s. 
 upon Thine horses, and Thy chariots were salvation." 
 And His reason for four times calling back the soul s. Bernard, 
 on which He looks, is perhaps that it ma}'- not abide in Serm. 3, 
 the habit of sin, nor in consciousness of offences, nor |/j^sL. 
 yet in the lukewarmness and sloth of ingratitude, nor in 
 
300 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [VI. 13. 
 
 Idem. 
 Serm. 58, 
 de par vis. 
 
 Hugo "Vict. 
 Miscell. ii. 
 2, 24. 
 
 Henr. 
 
 Harphius. 
 
 De Obit. 
 Valent. 
 
 Tres Patr. 
 
 Theodoret. 
 
 the blindness of conceit. Return, He says, first from 
 vain joy; secondly, from useless sorrow ; thirdly, from 
 empty glory ; fourthly, from hidden pride. The Loed, 
 says one of the profoundest of mj^stical writers, four 
 times calls her to return, as though He would say, 
 Return from what is Mine, because it is wonderful ; 
 return from thine own, for it is evil ; return from thy- 
 self, because all flesh is grass ; return to Me, for I am 
 the Supreme Good. Thou canst not see Me unless We 
 first look upon thee. Thou hast some spot upon thy 
 face, thou art foul, and bearest another image than 
 Mine, cleanse it, therefore, that We may looh on thee, 
 Heturn, as a handmaid to her master, as an erring 
 daughter to her father, as a patient to her physician, 
 as a sinful wife to her husband. E-eturn through in- 
 fusion of divine grace, through direction of thy free- 
 will to faith and love for God, of that same free-will 
 to hatred of sin, and through the expulsion and remis- 
 sion of sin itself. Return too, by the four stages of 
 true repentance, knowledge of sin, sorrow for it, con- 
 fession, and satisfaction. Or, as S. Ambrose once ex- 
 plains it of the holy soul departing out of the world, 
 return from the exile of earth to thy home in heaven. 
 What will ye see in the Shulamite ? Who asks the 
 question, and of whom ? They reply, for the most 
 part, that the Bridegroom addresses the daughters of 
 Jerusalem, and tells them of the aspect which the 
 Synagogue will present when it has returned to the 
 faith. The Three Fathers alone suppose that the 
 Shulamite herself both puts the question and answers 
 it. As it were the company of two armies. The 
 ancient versions and the English one have each lost 
 something in translating this verse. The latter, by 
 rendering 'P0TM2 mecholath, merely company, has 
 missed the true force of the word, which is dancing 
 company, preserved in the ^opol of the LXX. and the 
 choros of the Yulgate. On the other hand, these ver- 
 sions have omitted to take notice of the dual form 
 Mahanaim, found here as in Gen. xxxii. 2, and have 
 turned it merely as camps, with no mark of number. 
 There appears at first sight, says Theodoret, an incon- 
 sistency between the words choirs and camps, for the 
 one has to do with feasting, and the other with war. 
 But as the Bride is made up of many Saints, she is 
 like to camps because of her valiant soul and warlike 
 
VL 13.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 301 
 
 Eanoply, and she is at the same time the choir which 
 as in its mouth the praises of God. And after show- Ps. cxviu. 
 ing how David tells us of the Church's song and S. ]^^'^^' 
 Paul of her weapons and conflict, the good Bishop Eph. Vi. 13. 
 continues : That the Saints are not merely like camps, 
 but like choirs also, let us hear the Lord telling: 
 " Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto s. Mat. xxv. 
 ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went out to '• 
 meet the Bridegroom." He says well, then. What loill 
 ye see in the Shulamite, who cometh like choirs of camps? 
 (LXX.) He does not say, " camps of choirs," but 
 choirs of camps. For the choirs are gathered out of 
 the camps, since when brave soldiers in camps have 
 been victorious, they return singing the psean, and 
 chanting in the dance the song of triumph. So the 
 old Western hymn for All Saints : 
 
 Spouse of Christ, in arms contending, The Hymn, 
 
 O'er each realm beneath the sun, Sponsa 
 
 Blend with prayers for help ascending, Christi. 
 Notes of praise for triumphs won. 
 
 What will ye see ? Nothing else save these mill- Rupert, 
 tary choirs ? No blood of victims, no rite of circum- 
 cision ? No, all is gone save combat and praise, be- 
 cause " it seemed good to the Holy Ghost to lay upon Acts xv. 28. 
 you no greater burden than these necessary things," 
 And observe, that as in choirs it is necessary that the cassiodor. 
 singers and dancers should keep time together, we 
 have here a type of the need of harmony and union in 
 the Church. And if we dwell on the phrase dancing, 
 we shall remember how the women of Israel went out g^ , 
 after Miriam with timbrels and dances, when she 20. 
 sang of the overthrow of the Egyptians ; how the 
 Psalmist bids the children of Sion praise their King in pg. cxiix. 3 • 
 the dance and with the cymbals ; how the saddest of ci. 4, 
 Prophets can yet declare that in the day of the Loed's 
 redemption "the virgin shall rejoice in the dance." Jer.xxxi. 13. 
 But this dance, as Theodoret has already told us, is 
 not merely one of girls, nor yet of peaceful priests, 
 such as David shared in when he danced before the 2 Sam. vi. 
 ark. It is one of tried warriors, whose swords and ^*' 
 shields make the music to which they keep step ; and 
 it is of two armies, not met in deadly rivalry, but in 
 close and perfect alliance, met in her who is the 
 Peaceful, the Church Triumphant, where the two bands 
 move beneath Jacob's staff, Jew and Gentile in the Phiio Carp. 
 
302 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [VII. 1. 
 
 Dion. Carth, 
 
 Rev. XV. 3. 
 
 Silius 
 Italicus, ii. 
 595. 
 
 S. John 
 Cassian. 
 Ep.i. 11. 
 
 Bern. 
 
 Cluniac. 
 Rhythmus. 
 
 Church Militant on earth, men and Angels in the 
 Church Triumphant in heaven. Until the great day 
 of the last battle against the hosts of evil shall dawn, 
 these two choirs join in the mingled Song of Moses 
 and the Lamb, but the time will come when the Song 
 of Moses, with its echoes of war, shall be forgotten, 
 and only the new Song of eternal peace shall be heard 
 from the lips of the Peaceful as she sings the praises 
 of the Prince of Peace, her Spouse. 
 
 Pax optima rerum 
 Quas homini novisse datum est, pax una triumphis 
 Innumeris potior. 
 
 Peace, best of things 
 Granted for man to know, peace, which alone 
 Excelleth countless triumphs. 
 
 For, as a great Saint has said, it is for the glory of the 
 Prince, if peace be loved by all. For what can better 
 proclaim the ruler's virtues than a tranquil people, a 
 united council, and the whole commonweal clothed in 
 dignity of character ? 
 
 Yes, peace ! for war is needless, — 
 Yes, calm ! for storm is past, — 
 
 And goal from finished labour, 
 And anchorage at last. 
 
 That peace — but who may claim it ? 
 
 The guileless in their way, 
 "Who keep the ranks of battle, 
 
 Who mean the thing they say. 
 
 And they will truly be Mahanaim, the two heavenly 
 armies of the Lord of Hosts, for the ranks of the 
 celestial hierarchies, long broken since the fall of the 
 rebels under Lucifer, shall be filled up with ransomed 
 men, now " like the Angels which are in heaven." 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 1 How beautiful are thy feet with shoes, O 
 princess daughter ! the joints of thy thighs are 
 like jewels, the work of the hands of a cunning 
 workman. 
 
VII. 1] THE SONG OF SONGS. 303 
 
 There are three views as to the speaker and the Tres Patr. 
 person lauded here. Some hold that the virgins are 
 celebrating the loveliness of the Bride, but the majority 
 ascribe the words to the Bridegroom, varying, however, ' ^^^' 
 in explaining the Bride here either as the Christian 
 Gentile Church, or as the converted Synagogue. The 
 Chaldee paraphrast comments thus : " Solomon in the Targum. 
 spirit of prophecy said before the face of the Lord, 
 How beautiful are the feet of Israel, when they go up 
 to appear before the Loed thrice yearly with their 
 sandals of yew, and offer their vows and free-will ob- 
 lations." A more literal rendering of the Hebrew 
 than that of the A. V. is found in both LXX. and Vul- 
 gate, which read, JToiv beautiful are thy steps {ov goings) ^^'^F^'^Y' 
 in sandals. And they agree, for the most part, in ex- cassiodcfr." 
 plaining the words of the proclamation of the Gospel s. Just. Org. 
 to distant lands. Her goings are commended, but if 
 her feet stood still, their beauty would win no praise. 
 They cite, too, in illustration, the language of the 
 Prophet Isaiah, " How beautiful upon the mountains isa. lii. 7. 
 are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that 
 publisheth peace ; that bringeth good tidings of good, 
 that publisheth salvation, that saith unto Zion, Thy 
 God reigneth !" on which the Apostle gives a com- 
 ment, saying, "Stand, therefore, having your ieet^f^''^^'^'^' 
 shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace." So 
 shod, her goings are straight, and keep to the King's 
 highway alone. There is much diversity, however, in Theodoret. 
 explaining what the sandals are with which the Bride 
 hastens on her way. A favourite view is, that they Cassiodor. 
 denote the examples of departed Saints, typified by 
 the skins of dead animals, of which the sandals are 
 made. Another cognate interpretation is, that mor- s.Ans.Laud. 
 tification of the flesh is intended, which is not very far s, Hieron.in 
 from S. Jerome's view that voluntary promises of Jo"^*"- 
 chastity are the shoes of the Bride. S. Ambrose, how- ^- Ambros. 
 ever, taking a somewhat wider view, tells us that the inpT.'cxix. 
 soul which subdues the flesh, and keeps it under, using 5. 
 it as a sandal, taking good care also not to defile it 
 with mire nor to plunge it in the waters of sin, is truly 
 beautiful in its progress towards its Country. 
 
 And S. Gregory supplies us with yet another inter- s. Greg. m. 
 pretation, saying, that the Church, in her task of 
 preaching, is said to be shod, when she is strengthened 
 by the death of Christ to endure the evils which rise xhom. Verc. 
 up against her j while another, confining the words to 
 
304 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [VII. 1. 
 
 Durand. 
 Ration, iii. 
 
 S. Mat. X. 
 
 14. 
 
 Ps. cxix, 18. 
 
 Ordo Cora- 
 munis. 
 Renaudot. 
 Lit. Orient. 
 
 Hugo Card. 
 
 Irimbert. 
 
 Luc. Abb. 
 
 the faithful soul, teaches that the delight she feels in 
 drawing nearer to God preserves her feet from being 
 wounded by the thorns and stones of the steep way of 
 perfection as she climbs. Durandus enters at much 
 length into the mystical signification of the episcopal 
 sandals of the Western Church, saying, amidst much 
 else, that the sole is solid and continuous, and the 
 upper leather of open-work, to denote that the steps 
 of the preacher ought to be guarded below, lest they 
 be defiled by earthly things, according to the Lord's 
 saying, " Shake off the dust of your feet ;" while they 
 are open above, to receive the revelation of heavenly 
 mysteries, as it is written, " Open Thou mine eyes, 
 that I may see the wondrous things of Thy law." Nor 
 does the East come behindhand in this symbolism, as 
 the prayers of the priests of the Syriac rite testify 
 while they vest for the Liturgy. Putting on the left 
 sandal, they say, " Shoe me, O Lord, with the prepara- 
 tion of the Gospel of peace, that I may tread upon 
 serpents and scorpions and all the power of the enemy, 
 for evermore. Amen." And then with the right 
 sandal, " Put down, O Lord God, under the footstool 
 of my feet every high thing that lifteth up itself against 
 Thy knowledge, that through Thy help I may crush 
 the passions of the flesh for evermore." Observe too, 
 that whereas the Bride began the praises of her Bride- 
 groom with His head, and thence passes gradually to 
 His legs ; here, on the contrary, the first commendation 
 of the Bride is for her feet, and the last is her head. 
 And the reason is, because the Bride desires to extol 
 the humility and love of the Incarnate Word, in that 
 He vouchsafed to descend from His majestic throne to 
 dwell amongst mankind, while He, on the other hand, 
 wills to teach her how He intends to raise her from 
 her present lowly condition to everlasting glory. He 
 begins with the feet in shoes, says one, because the 
 beginning of spiritual life is the trampling the flesh 
 under foot, as we enter on the way of salvation and 
 put away our evil works. He begins with the feet, 
 the lowest members of the body, because the Gospel 
 was first preached to the poor and ignorant, not to the 
 mighty and wise of this world. 
 
 And as Moses was commanded to put off his shoes 
 when he drew near the holy ground of the burning bush, 
 so the time will come when the Saints, as they enter the 
 borders of the Land of Promise, will not merely do as 
 
VII. 1.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 305 
 
 Jews were wont, when reaching Palestine again after 
 a journey into Gentile regions, shake off the heathen 
 dust back on its own soil, not suffering it to pass the 
 frontier, but will cast out the very shoe of mortality 
 over Edom, and tread barefooted those streets of gold 
 where is no mire or defilement. 
 
 Our feet be shod, as pilgrims, -vv. C. Dix. 
 
 With bands of Gospel peace, The Hymri, 
 
 Till life's long march be ended, O Christ, 
 
 And strife and struggle cease : Thou Son of 
 
 Till on the ground most holy, ^«^^.' for S. 
 
 Our shoes from off our feet cnspm. 
 We put, with holy gladness. 
 
 The pilgrimage complete. 
 
 O prince's daughter. What Prince can this be, Theodoret. 
 save the Holt Ghost, the Comforter, Who says in s. Ambros. 
 the forty-fifth Psalm, " Hearken, O daughter, and give pg ^^^^ ^^ 
 ear; forget also thine own people, and thy father's 
 house : so shall the King have pleasure in thy beauty, 
 for He is the Loed thy God." Others tell us that Hugo Card, 
 Christ, the Prince of Peace, is meant, in His myste- Dion. Carth. 
 rious relation to the Bride, at once her Father, be- 
 cause she has been born to Him anew in the water of 
 Baptism, when " of His own will begat He us with g.jamesi. 
 the Word of truth," and her Bridegroom, the nearest is. 
 and dearest to her. And this close blending of dis- 
 similar ties in One to Whom all obedience as well as 
 all love is due has been figured for us in the pathetic 
 words of a loving wife, as described by the greatest of 
 heathen poets : 
 
 "E/cTop, ctTctp arv fxoi iffal irar^p Kal irSri/ia ii-f]rr}p, Hom. II. vi. 
 
 ^5e Ka<riyvr]Tos, av Se /xoi 6a\ephs TrapaKo'nrjs. 429. 
 
 Hector, to me thou father art, and mother dear, 
 And brother too, who art my gallant spouse. 
 
 The Hebrew for prince here is H^*!? nadib, which Cassiodor. 
 also means "noble" or "generous." And several of 
 the ancient commentators, dwelling on the LXX. read- serm^ 17^11 
 ing, daughter of Nadab, refer us back to the Ammi- Ps. cxix. 
 nadab of whom we heard just now, telling us that she 
 is called His daughter, because it is only of His free- 
 will and loving-kindness, not of right, that she has 
 been adopted. Theodoret boldly compares her to that Theodoret, 
 Nadab, son of Aaron, who died for offering strange Lev. x. 1. 
 
 X 
 
306 A COMMENTARY ON [VII. 1. 
 
 Numb. iii. 4. fire before the Loed. For the Bride bore no legal 
 fire into the sanctuary of God, but a new fire which 
 she received from her Spouse, that of which He spake 
 
 s. Lukexii. Himself: "lam come to send fire upon the earth, 
 
 ■*^' and what will I if it be already kindled?" The Bride 
 
 bearing this new fire of the New Testament into the 
 
 2 Cor. V. 17. Divine tabernacle, crieth out and saith, " Old things 
 are passed away, behold, all things are become new." 
 And others tell us that in her title, " daughter of the 
 generous one," we may read her own liberality and 
 
 Cocceius. nobleness. Observe, too, that as her Bridegroom in 
 this Song is both King and Shepherd, she, that she may 
 be a fitting consort for Him, is shepherdess and prin- 
 cess too.^ The whole context is also explained by S. 
 
 s. Ambros. Ambrose and many who have followed him as applying 
 
 deinst.Virg. especially to that princess of the House of David, that 
 elect daughter of God, who was beautiful with the 
 shoes of that pure body whence the Redeemer took 
 His flesh, the sandals which bore His Godhead in its 
 pilgrimage through the world, in that mystery of the 
 
 s. John i. 27. Incarnation of which the Baptist said, "Whose shoe's 
 latchet I am not worthy to unloose ;" that is, I cannot 
 solve the secret of His birth. For so the Prophet 
 
 isa. liii. 8. had foretold, saying, " Who shall declare His genera- 
 tion ?" " Thy goings, O glorious Virgin," exclaims 
 
 Alanus. ^]^g Universal Doctor, " are thy noble race, thy purity 
 of body and soul, thy fruitfulness in offspring. Thy 
 shoes are thy thoughts in meditation, thy results in 
 working, thine advance in longings, thy trances in joy. 
 For thou art the princely daughter of that Prince 
 Who is God, Prince of princes and Lord of lords, 
 Who begat thee specially by grace, and specially 
 formed thee, so that thou art as truly daughter of 
 God as thou art stainless Mother." It was by no 
 
 Guilielm. swiftness of foot, but by purity of affections, observes 
 another, that she went from strength to strength till 
 she beheld the God of Gods in Sion, uniting in herself 
 the innocence of Abel, the obedience of Abraham, the 
 meekness of Moses, the lowliness of David, the pa- 
 tience of Job, and the purity of Daniel. It is recorded 
 of S. Francis Xavier that he cited these words to 
 
 ^ This term, prince's dauffh- I pains has been employed, some- 
 
 ter, is one of the most difficult I what ineffectually, to explain it 
 
 things in the Song to square j away, by the upholders of that 
 
 with the literalist interpreta- I view, 
 
 tion, and accordingly no little j 
 
YIL 1.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 307 
 
 i 
 
 I Queen Katharine of Portugal, wife of King John III., vieyra. 
 i and sister of the Emperor Charles V., to induce her serm.de s. 
 i to forego a large sum paid annually from the Indian xav^er!*^^ 
 ( revenue to her privy purse, under the name of slipper- 
 i mone}^, that he might devote it to missionary purposes, 
 I assuring her that she would enter more easily into 
 heaven shod with the sandals of tlie prayers of the 
 poor than with the royal buskins which the tribute 
 was intended to provide. And this sense may be not 
 inaptly illustrated by the rude old Border dirge, ad- 
 dressed to the departing spirit, now setting out on its 
 dread journey : 
 
 If ever thou gavest hoseii aud shoon, Scott. 
 
 Every night and alle ; Minstrelsy. 
 
 Sit thee down and put them on, Lyke-wuke 
 
 And Christ receive thy saule. Dirge. 
 
 If hosen and shoon thou ne'er gavest nane, 
 
 Every night and alle ; 
 The whinnes shall pricke thee to the bai-e bane, 
 
 Ajid Christ receive thy saule. 
 
 The joints of thy thighs are like jewels. Instead of 
 joints, we should rather have rounding s, denoting the 
 graceful form of the limb ; aud so the LXX., which 
 has pvdixoi (JL-npiiv, explained by Theodoret as typifying Theodoret. 
 the practical virtues which carry out the intentions of 
 the will, just as the thighs bear us along upon our 
 journeys ; or, as another Greek Father takes it, the phuo carp. 
 harmonious outlines of a life guarded by temperance inmbert. 
 and holiness ; or, as a Western writer says, the two 
 thighs are lowliness and purity, the twin supports of 
 aanctification. But the Vulgate, agreeing with the 
 A. v., is usually interpreted in a different fashion. 
 Following the Targum, which explains the clause of Targum. 
 the children of the congregation, sprung from the 
 thigh (a frequent type of parentage in Holy Writ), Exod. i. 5, 
 and like the precious studs in Aaron's mitre, they take ™*'"^- 
 :he thighs of the Church to be her spiritual offspring, sS^^m. 
 born of the word of preaching and the laver of re- s! Just. Org. 
 generation ; while the joints refer to the union of two 
 aatures, Jew and Gentile, in one faith. 
 
 Like jeioels. The LXX. and Vulgate, with more s. Greg. M. 
 exactness, like necklaces. And that because as gems 
 shine set in gold, so these good works, done in 
 svisdom, are beautiful to look on ; and further, as they 
 ire not done independently of each other, but con- 
 X 2 
 
308 
 
 Hugo Card. 
 
 Cassiodor. 
 
 Honorlus. 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [VII. 2. 
 
 tinuously and regularly, so they are united with the 
 bond of charity, which joins the separate jewels into 
 the necklace which adorns the Bride. And this orna- 
 ment is the work of no human hands, but of that cu7i- 
 ning workman, the Almighty Loed Himself. And 
 applying the words to the motherhood of the Blessed 
 Yirgin, they bid us think on that costly jewel, the 
 pearl of great price, the glorious ornament of every 
 believing soul, Christ Jesus Himself, Begotten, not 
 made, as God, but made as Man by the Fathee in 
 the mystery of the Incarnation. 
 
 Targum. 
 
 2 Thy navel is like a round goblet, wliicli 
 wanteth not liquor : thy belly is like an heap 
 of wheat set about with lilies. 
 
 Here, as so often, the Chaldee strikes the key-note, 
 and gives an explanation whicli, with but slight change, 
 is that of many Christian Fathers. It paraphrases 
 the first clause thus : " The Prince of thy school,* by 
 whose merit all the ages are ruled, as the unborn child 
 is nourished in its mother's womb by the navel, is 
 resplendent in the Law, like the round disk of the 
 moon, when he comes to purify and to make unclean, 
 and to justify and condemn : and the words of the 
 Law never fail from his mouth, as the waters of the 
 river fail not when it goes forth from Paradise." Very 
 S. Greg. M. close to this is the comment of S. Gregory the Great : 
 The navel is the order of holy preachers, fitly styled 
 a gohlet, because when the people are taught from its 
 mouth, they are filled with spiritual wine by its mi- 
 nistry. It is round, because the preachers' tongue 
 must needs go round all subjects, according to the 
 character of all classes of men. It wanteth not mix- 
 ture, because it must drink more abundantly than 
 others that which it offers to them as a draught, and 
 contain more than it gives. S. Epiphanius and Philo 
 agree in holding that the Priesthood is here intended, 
 compared to a gohlet with mixture (i.e. wine and water), 
 because of the mystery of the Sacrament of the Body 
 and Blood of Christ, whereof it has charge, and with 
 which the people are mingled by faith and love. The 
 Priesthood, as in the centre of the Church, reconciling 
 
 S. Epiph. 
 Philo Carp. 
 
 Cf. S. Cyp- 
 rian. Ep. ad 
 Csecilium. 
 
 ' President of the Eabbinical 
 College which took the place of 
 
 the Sanhedrim after the fall of 
 Jerusalem. 
 
VII. 2.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 309 
 
 the people to God, is the navel ; it is a gohlet because s. Just. Org. 
 it gives them to drink of the love of God ; it is round, S.Ans.Laud. 
 because all its angles have been smoothed away ac- 
 cording to the will of God, that His Hand may find 
 no inequality in it. The womb of Mary, observes S. g Ambros. 
 Ambrose, was in truth a round goblet, wherein was de inst. 
 Wisdom, Who mingled that wine, the grace of unfail- Virg. u. 
 ing and loving knowledge of Him, the fulness of His 
 Godhead. As the navel is the weakest part of all irimbert. 
 the body, it may not unfitly typify a heart conscious 
 of its own weakness, holding, as in a goblet, the me- 
 mory of former sins, which memory, by acting as the 
 cutter of a lathe to remove all that is superfluous, ^^^ ^^^ 
 vain, and evil, makes the goblet round. It wants 
 not liquor, because it is full of the tears of compunc- 
 tion for its past offences. And so the Wise Man saith, 
 " Be not wise in thine own eyes ; fear the Lobd, and Prov. iii. 7. 
 depart from evil ; it shall be health to thy navel, and 
 marrow to thy bones." As the navel is the centre of Honorius. 
 the body, so temperance is the mean of life. It is a 
 round goblet, full of liquor, because it is rounded by 
 circumspection, and is red in wisdom. And as drink 
 assuages thirst, and gladdens the heart, so temperance 
 quenches the heat of sin, and checks unruly zeal in 
 better things. 
 
 Thy helly is liTce a heap of wheat, set about with Targum. 
 lilies. The Targum, carrying on its paraphrase, tells 
 us that this denotes the seventy members of the San- 
 hedrim, gathered round their Prince, and enriched 
 with all the tithes, oblations, and free-will offerings 
 set apart for them by Ezra, Zorobabel, and other 
 chiefs of the Great Synagogue. The helly denotes 
 the multitude of the faithful, say the Tathers, because Dion, earth, 
 the womb signifies fruitfulness, and these are here ^^^ C*^P- 
 denoted, begotten in the Gospel, and born, not of 
 blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of 
 man, but of God. This multitude is compared to a 
 heap of wheat, because the Lord saith of the fruit of 
 the Bride: "Except a corn of wheat fall into the s. John xu. 
 ground and die, it abideth alone ; but if it die, it 24. 
 bringeth forth much fruit." It is a heap, and not a 
 quantity of scattered grains, because as a heap is piled 
 up with many grains, so the one Church of all the 
 faithful is formed by the union of many natures, 
 one in the communion of one Baptism and the Sacra- 
 ment of the Body and Blood of Chbist. And as a 
 
310 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [VII. 2. 
 
 Cassiodor. 
 
 S. Greg. M. 
 S. Mat. xiii. 
 
 S. Just. Org- 
 Luc. Abb. 
 
 Hugo Card. 
 Tlieodoret. 
 
 S. Ambros. 
 ill Ps. cxix. 
 
 Irimbert. 
 Hon. Aug. 
 
 Guilielraus. 
 
 S. Ambros. 
 de Inst. 
 Virg. 14. 
 
 Ps. Ixv. 14. 
 
 lieaf is wide at tlie base, growing smaller towards the 
 summit, so in the Church there are many who live 
 self-indulgently, and but few who aim at the height 
 of perfection ; as, for instance, there are many more 
 found who will give alms of their goods to the poor 
 than will leave all their possessions for God. This 
 heap is set about with lilies, because all the good works 
 which the Saints do are for the sake of heavenly sweet- 
 ness and light. Or, as another Father puts it, the 
 heap of wheat, while awaiting here removal to the 
 granaries of the Loed, is fenced on all sides by the 
 bright and lovely examples of the Saints. Philo takes 
 the lilies to be the good works to which all Christians 
 are boimd to devote themselves, and the holy dis- 
 courses which should fit them for their dwelling in 
 . heaven. Others take the heap of wheat, pure, whole- 
 some, and nutritious, to be those divines who are versed 
 in Holy Scripture, and by their teaching win over 
 many not merely to purity, but to vows of perpetual 
 chastity. And with this latter view agrees that expla- 
 nation of Cardinal Hugo, that the lilies which fence 
 the wheat are the cloistered Orders in the Church. 
 They teach us also that memory is the belly of the 
 soul, containing the food which is her support, those 
 hidden mysteries whereof we can here but just discern 
 the beauty and fragrance. Or, more precisely, the heap 
 of wheat may symbolize the words of Holy Scrip- 
 ture stored up in the mind, and the lilies the pure and 
 lovely thoughts which they supply for meditation. And, 
 spoken of S. Mary, thej do not fail to remind us how she 
 bore within her tJiat wheat elected which was ground 
 in the mill of the Passion that it might be made into 
 the Bread of Life, and how He was fenced around by 
 the lilies of her spotless virginity. In the Virgin's 
 womb, comments S. Ambrose, there were at the same 
 time the heap of wheat and the blooming lily-flower, 
 because she bore Him Who is the corn of wheat and 
 the Lily too : The corn of wheat, according to that 
 Scripture : " Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a 
 corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth 
 alone." But in that the single grain became a heap 
 of wheat, that prophecy was fulfilled, " The val- 
 leys shall be thick with corn," for that grain djnng 
 brought forth much fruit. This grain also filled all 
 men with the perpetual food of heavenly gifts, and 
 thereby that other speech of the Prophet's mouth 
 
VII. 3,4.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 311 
 
 Tvliich the same David uttered, was brought to pass : 
 
 " He fed them also with the finest wheat-flour, with Ps- ixxxi. 
 
 honey out of the stony rock did He satisfy them." ^^' 
 
 And the Divine oracles testify that a Lily too was in 
 
 this seed, for it is written, "I am the flower of the Cant. ii. 1,2. 
 
 plain, and the lily of the valleys, as the lily among 
 
 thorns." Cheist was the lily among thorns, when 
 
 He was in the midst of the Jews. 
 
 3 Thy two breasts are like two young roes 
 tliat are twins. 
 
 _ There is but little to add here to the expositions 
 cited on the previous occurrence of these words. 
 
 Taking them, as before, to refer to the preachers of 
 the Church, twofold, as Jew and Gentile, or as deriving 
 their teaching from both Testaments, or, again, as in- 
 culcating the two great precepts on which hang all the 
 Law and the Prophets, they have yet a word or two 
 of counsel. Thus, we are reminded that preaching, Hugo Card, 
 to be useful to the hearers, must come from those who 
 draw their lessons from a living source, and have not 
 merely got up a single sermon for each occasion by 
 borrowing, or by learning the subject of the day apart 
 from all its true context ; a style of preaching often 
 hurtful to the hearers, as the milk given to Sisera out j (j j jq 
 of the bottle was the prelude of his death. Had Jael 
 fed him from her breast, she could not have slain him. 
 
 4 Thy neck is as a tower of ivory; thine 
 eyes like the fishpools in Heshbon, by the gate 
 of Bath-rabbim : thy nose is as the tower of 
 Lebanon which looketh toward Damascus. 
 
 Already the neck of the Bride has been likened to Chap. iv. 4. 
 a tower, but here the materials of which that tower is 
 formed are first mentioned. Those officers of the Cassiodor. 
 Church, whether preachers, through whom comes the 
 voice of doctrine, or priests, by whose ministry the 
 Body and Blood of Chetst pass to the people for their Phiio Carp, 
 spiritual food and drink, or Martyrs, because they put Luc. Abb. 
 their necks under the yoke of Cheist, and never with- 
 draw them, are all compared to ivory because of its 
 whiteness and purity, while the word totoer serves to 
 remind us that the grace of purity is found allied with 
 
312 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [VII. 4. 
 
 Philo Carp. 
 
 Irimbert. 
 
 strength rather than with weakness. Note, too, that 
 as only that part of ivory which is uncovered by flesh 
 is valuable, and suited for the adornment of a king, so 
 the Martyrs, by putting off their fleshly covering, be 
 came a tower of beauty in the City of God ; and simi 
 larly, all those who here mortify the flesh and live 
 while in the body, as though out of it, are more pre- 
 s. Just. Org. cious than their fellows. The knowledge of Scripture 
 observes a Saint, is also the spiritual neck of the Bride 
 and it is styled a tower of ivory, because they who oc- 
 cupy themselves with God's Word rise daily higher 
 in spiritual progress, in shining righteousness. The 
 soul has its ivory neck too, that pure and shining ob- 
 servance of the unsullied precepts of God, that perfect 
 righteousness and holy bond, which is the means of 
 union between the faithful soul and Cheist, her Head. 
 Another tells us that as the neck is the channel of 
 speech, so we may here understand penitent confes- 
 sion of sins, compared to a tower because it needs 
 strong and steadfast resolution to acknowledge our 
 transgressions, not shrinking back and cowering in 
 shame. And this tower is ivory, because confession 
 makes the soul white, firm, and clean. Thine eyes like 
 the fishpools in Heshhon. The eyes of the Church, 
 says Cassiodorus, are her Doctors, who watch for the 
 whole body, and point the way it should go. These 
 eyes are compared to jishjpools built at the gate of the 
 city of Heshbon, because holy teachers wash in the 
 bath of life the people who believe in Cheist, and re- 
 fresh them with the draught of saving doctrine. These 
 pools are hy the gates, because none can enter the 
 Church unless he be first washed in the water of Bap- 
 tism, and have been given to drink of the fount of 
 saving doctrine. This was typified by the brazen sea 
 which Solomon placed in the porch of the Temple, 
 that the priests, when about to enter the Temple and 
 to sacrifice victims, might wash themselves there. 
 The gate at which it stands is that of Bath-rabbim, 
 " daughter of a multitude," because the Church is 
 rightly so named, as daily gathering in the multitude 
 of the Gentiles. This explanation is closely allied to 
 the Chaldee paraphrase, which interprets the clause of 
 the scribes, full of wisdom and calculation, signified 
 by Heshbon, because one of their main duties was to 
 compute the occurrence of the great festivals, and 
 their post was at the door of the Great Council of the 
 
 Cassiodor. 
 
 2 Chron. iv. 
 2,6. 
 
 Philo Carp. 
 
 Targum 
 Aquila. 
 
VII. 4.] 
 
 THE SONG OF SONGS. 
 
 313 
 
 people. The spiritual eyes of the soul are also, they Theodoret. 
 tell us, like fishpools in Heshbon ; like Jishpools, be- s. Ambros. 
 cause containing the water of heavenly wisdom, ever IfJ^ix.' '" 
 full of tears for their own sins and those of others, in 
 HesJihon, because of the depth of thought with which p^^^carp. 
 she ponders in clear and pure meditation, and thus ^ion. cartii. 
 hy the gate of the daucjhter of a multitude, because she 
 draws the springs of thought from many lips and 
 various sources. Again, the eyes of devout meditation Hugo Card, 
 need to be at the gate, at the very entrance of the 
 soul, to guard against all access of foes, to catch the 
 first glimpse of the King as He draws near. And a 
 truly devout soul is called the daughter of a multitude, 
 because in her lowliness she is content to class herself 
 as but one of the meanest of God's countless elect, and 
 not to claim any pre-eminence as hers by right. 
 
 Amidst the happy chorus 
 
 A place, however low, 
 Shall show Him us, and showing, 
 
 Shall satiate evermo. 
 
 Bern. Clun. 
 Rhythmus. 
 
 Although a few of the Latin commentators rightly 
 
 follow the Greek in explaining Heshhon as " thought" 
 
 or " contemplation," yet the majority of them prefer 
 
 to interpret it as "girdle of mourning,"^ and thus 
 
 dwell much on penitential sorrow as a special grace of 
 
 the Bride. There are several reasons assigned for the 
 
 likeness of the eyes of the devout soul to fishpools. 
 
 The chief are as follows. First, that as fish is kept ^^^^ ^ Lap. 
 
 alive in these pools, so devout thoughts and afiections 
 
 are retained in the meditations of the heart. They 
 
 might well add that the fish, from its Greek name, 
 
 ixQvs, is the familiar symbol of the Ancient Church for 
 
 her LoED, as the several letters of the word are the 
 
 initials of 'Itjo-oDs Xpiarhs Oeov rihs 'ZooTvp, JeSUS CheIST, 
 
 Son of God, Savioue, and that He is the living tenant 
 of all her thought. Next, these pools are clear and 
 limpid, and reflect images, as the soul, when contem- 
 plating God, should receive His image in her bosom. 
 Thirdly, as fishpools are deep and full of water, so 
 abundant tears of devotion and contrition flow from 
 
 ^ There is a word i^-n, cin- 
 fftilum, from the same root 
 2.VT1 as Seshbon, and perhaps 
 ri:«, luxit, may be assumed as 
 
 the supposed root of the termi- 
 nation. The etymon is thus 
 not so utterly wild as it looks 
 at first. 
 
314 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [VII. 4. 
 
 PhUo Carp. 
 Cassiod. 
 
 1 Cor. xii. 
 10. 
 
 S. Just. Org, 
 
 Luc. Abb. 
 
 holy souls. Fourthly, as these pools are at the gates 
 of the daughter of multitude, so meditation and con- 
 templation are by the gates of Paradise, where is the 
 innumerable company of the elect. Fifthly, as the 
 water in such pools is still, and therefore calm and 
 peaceful, so meditation quiets and tranquillizes the 
 soul. 
 
 Tliy nose is as the toiver of Lebanon, which looTceth 
 toioard Damascus. Because with the nose we distin- 
 guish between fetid and fragrant odours, the same 
 holy teachers are rightly understood to be the nose 
 of the Church, as they know how to discern skilfully 
 the sweet teaching of the Catholic Faith, and the 
 deadly stench of heretical error. For among the di- 
 vine gifts of which distribution is made by the Holy 
 Ghost, it is said, " To another is given by the Spieit 
 discerning of spirits." This nose of the Church is 
 compared to the tower of Lebanon, because holy teachers 
 occupy the highest place in the Church, and stand, 
 as it were, on Mount Lebanon, to guard the Church 
 from the assaults of evil spirits. This tower is said 
 to be toward Damascus. Damascus is the chief city 
 of Syria, which once, under very powerful and cruel 
 kings, warred against the children of Israel. And Da- 
 mascus is interpreted, " a draught of blood" or " an 
 eye of blood. "^ They say that Abel was slain there, 
 and it therefore denotes the powers of this world, who 
 thirst after blood, because they delight in the pleasures 
 and allurements of flesh and blood. It also signifies 
 the powers of the air, who thirst for our blood. There- 
 fore this tower is against Damascus, because those for- 
 tified by the help of Cheist, always resist the devil 
 and his members. Another, slightly varying from this 
 interpretation, takes the nose to denote all those Saints 
 who perceive the sweet savour of righteousness which 
 is in Cheist, and transmit it to the body, and who are 
 likened to the tower of Lebanon because of their emi- 
 nence and purity. And if we take the toioer of Le- 
 banon, as a third does, to denote the Manhood of 
 Cheist, holding Lebanon to mean " frankincense," 
 
 ' The true meaning is pro- 
 bably "red land," contrasting 
 aptl)' enough with the white' 
 ness of Lebanon, and suffi- 
 ciently suggestive of the colour 
 of blood. If the Arabic ety- 
 
 mologj', " swiftly built," be 
 preferred, we may then see 
 another contrast, that between 
 the hasty, unsubstantial build- 
 ings of man, and the "ever- 
 lasting hills" of God. 
 
VII. 5.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 315 
 
 then those will be like Him who are filled with earnest 
 zeal and ardent faith, and, shiniug with virtues, over- 
 throw the devil-worship of the Gentiles among whom 
 they dwell. Yet another view sees here the Guardian Hugo Card. 
 Angels, keeping ceaseless watch against the enemies 
 of mankiud. The nose of the holy soul is also her Tres Patr. 
 power of discerning between good and evil spirits, like 
 a lofty tower on the summit of Lebanon, looking to- irimbert. 
 wards Damascus, to watch for the approach of any 
 enemy against Israel. It looks towards Damascus in 
 another sense also, taking that word still as implying 
 blood, in that its gaze of contemplation is ever fixed 
 on the Passion of Jesus, and His bloodshedding on 
 the " red ground " of Gethsemane and Calvary. And g. Hieron. 
 this is the view taken by S. Jerome, saying of S. Mary Ep. uo, ad 
 Magdalene, " She weeps at the Cross, she makes ready Pri"cipiara. 
 the ointment, she seeks in the tomb, she questions the 
 gardener, she recognizes the Lord, she proceeds to 
 the Apostles, she tells what she had found ; they doubt, 
 but she is trustful. Truly towered is she, truly a 
 tower of whiteness and Lebanon, which looks towards 
 the face of Damascus, that is, the Blood of the Saviour, 
 calling her to holy penitence." And another, apply- pseudo- 
 ing the words to a greater than the Magdalen, ex- Bernard, 
 claims : Thou, O Lady, art that fair nose, of which |X"ie!''^' 
 the Bridegroom saith, " Thy nose is as the tower of gi^a. 
 Lebanon." The nose hath two orifices, through which 
 it emits the breath from the head ; so thou, O Lady, 
 by thy virginity and lowliness drewest down the Son 
 of God from heaven, Christ the Lord, Whom the 
 Prophet calls " the breath of our nostrils," for He Lam. iv. 20. 
 warms us unto charity, and cools our desire, urges us 
 to will what is good, justifies us by faith. Thou there- 
 fore art the nose of the Church, and like to a tower ; 
 lofty in thy dignity, strong in thy sedateness. Thou 
 art the tower of Lebanon, for Mount Lebanon, which 
 is interpreted whiteness, signifies thine innocence, ex- 
 alted above all others. 
 
 5 Thine head upon thee is like Carmel, and 
 the hair of thine head like purple ; the king is 
 held in the galleries. 
 
 Following the Targum, which interprets this head Phiio Carp, 
 as the King, several of the Fathers tell us that Christ Cassiodor. 
 
316 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [VII. 5. 
 
 Isa. ii. 2. 
 
 is the Head here promised. They accept also, for the 
 most part, the reason assigned by the Chaldee para- 
 phrase for the comparison, which is a reference to the 
 history of Elijah. But whereas the Jewish expositor 
 dwells on the slaughter of the prophets of Baal, the 
 Christians prefer to remember the descent of the ferti- 
 lizing rain on the parched and thirsty ground. Christ, 
 s. Greg. M. comments S. Gregory, is the Head of the Church, and 
 is well said to be like Carmel, because He was exalted 
 unto the Fathee by the Passion He endured. Of 
 w^hich is written, " And it shall come to pass in the 
 last days, that the mountain of the Loed's house shall 
 be established in the top of the mountains." For 
 Elijah, praying on Carmel, obtained rain, and we, 
 praying on Carmel, ask for rain, when, believing in 
 Cheist, we long for Cheist, and obtain from the 
 Fathee the bestowal of the grace for which we intreat. 
 s. Just. Org. And as Elijah and Elisha, Saints of the Old Covenant, 
 often found a refuge on Carmel, so too the dwelling 
 of the righteous is in the Loed Jesus Cheist, the 
 Head of His Church, from Whom the multitude of 
 the people derive their food. The intellect or reason 
 is also, as many of them add, the head of the soul, as 
 ruling and guiding it, and this is like Carmel, the 
 "fruitful," because, as Theodoret adds, it is filled with 
 all good things. For God, when rebuking by His 
 Prophet the ingratitude of the Jews, saith, " I brought 
 you into the land of Carmel, to eat the fruit thereof, 
 and the goodness thereof." Thine head, then, saith He, 
 is like Carmel, bringing forth all kinds of good things, 
 and producing every fruit for Me, its Husbandman.^ 
 The hair of thy head like purple ; the King is bound 
 in the galleries. This version, which follows the Ma- 
 soretic pointing, is practically that of the LXX., save 
 that there, instead of galleries, we find irapadponais, 
 verandahs, running round the lower story of a house. 
 Phiio Carp. This hair of the Bride, observes the Bishop of Car- 
 
 Jer. ii, 7 
 marg. 
 
 ' The majority of the Fathers 
 interpret Carmel as "know- 
 ledge of circumcision," and ob- 
 serve that the Head or ruling 
 part of the Church knew cir- 
 cumcision literally under the 
 Law, and spiritually under the 
 Gospel. The marginal read- 
 ing of A. v., " crimson," is an 
 
 error, as old as Abenezra, and. 
 arises out of confounding biyii2 
 and b^iyyZ' But it is probable 
 that the reference to purple 
 which follows was suggested 
 to the poet by the resemblance 
 of these two words. 
 
11. 
 Theodoret. 
 
 VII. 5.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 317 
 
 pasia, is tlie innumerable company of the Christian 
 people, which adorns the Church as abundant tresses 
 are the glory of a woman's head. And the epithet 
 purple bears a reference to the prophecies and oracles 
 of the coming death of the Bridegroom Himself and 
 of the Martyrs, for as purple resembles the colour of 
 blood, so the Bride, who is the multitude of the faith- 
 ful, was first washed and dyed with the Blood of 
 Jesus Christ, her divine Spouse, and then was further 
 increased and stablished by the death of the Martyrs. 
 This is His royal apparel, of which Jacob prophesies 
 to his son Judah (of whom the Bridegroom was born 
 after the flesh) saying, " He washed His garments in p^^"- ^^'x- 
 wine, and His clothes in the blood of grapes." For " 
 the Holy Church is the robe and garment of Christ. 
 Theodoret, dwelling on the word ttxSkiov, " twined" or 
 "plaited" hair, and explaining the word to denote the 
 doctrine and teaching of the Church, says that it is so 
 described to point the contrast between the orderly 
 sequence of Christian dogma and the dishevelled 
 opinions of Gentilism, while he agrees with Philo in 
 holding that the purple tinge comes from the Precious 
 Blood. Both fail us in the last clause, Theodoret, 
 because he passes over it altogether, and Philo, be- Phiio Carp, 
 cause he adopts a reading peculiar to himself (at least 
 found now in no extant text,) The King is terrible 
 in Sis going s-f or th ; words which he explains, with 
 eloquence and fervour, of the Incarnation, Passion, 
 Resurrection, and Ascension of Christ. Ainsworth, Ainsworth. 
 however, may supply the lacuna, suggesting as the 
 spiritual interpretation of the A. V. that the King is 
 so tied with the cords of love to the dwelling of His 
 Bride, that He cannot, so to speak, leave it if He 
 would ; according to His own saying by the mouth of 
 the Psalmist : " The Lord hath chosen Sion to be an p^ ^^^^^ 
 habitation for Himself: He hath longed for her. This u.' 
 shall be My rest for ever : here will I dwell, for I 
 have a delight therein." But it is to be noted that 
 the Hebrew word here found, D^LPH"! rehatim, means, 
 
 in the only other places in the Bible where it occurs, £^"4,^^^' 
 gutters or troughs for cattle to drink at, and therefore Exod. ii. 16. 
 the Vulgate rendering is here to be preferred. As a 
 King's purple, hound in the conduits {eanalibus.) That 
 is, as they variously explain it, laid in the dye-troughs, wefssbach. 
 and thus in the first freshness of its colouring, before Leo Juda. 
 
318 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [VII. 5. 
 
 Tres Patr. 
 
 Rosen- 
 
 miiller. 
 
 De Wette. 
 
 Ewalfl. 
 
 Hitzig. 
 
 Cassiodor. 
 
 Targum. 
 
 S. Ambros. 
 
 Rupert, in 
 Gen. XXX. 
 
 aught has dimmed it ; or else, newly washed in run- 
 ning water, and so clean and bright, and shining in 
 the sun. Before passing to the interpretation of this 
 version, the other views proposed maybe stated. One 
 is that the word -Kapahpoixr] or canalis does not mean a 
 literal water-trough, but a gold or silver stripe, bind- 
 ing, and yet running like a bright stream across, the 
 purple robe, so that the comparison is then made with 
 the fillets wherewith the Bride's dark tresses are 
 bound. ^ The other opinion, which is that of most 
 modern critics, is that the fioimng curls of the Bride 
 are metaphorically intended, and that the Eing is 
 caught and tangled in them, as in a net. Mystically, 
 says Cassiodorus, the conduits signify the lowliness of 
 the Saints, in which the purple of the Everlasting 
 King is dyed, when those Saints, by imitating the 
 lowliness of their Eedeemer, aim at being conformed 
 to His Passion, that they may be changed into the 
 dignity of purple, that is, working for Christ may 
 attain to be crowned and to reign with Christ. And 
 this purple is said to be hound, because the hearts of 
 the Saints are fixed and stablished in the fear and love 
 of their Saviour, so that they can never be separated 
 from His love. The poor of the people, remarks the 
 Chaldee paraphrast, who surround the Prince, because 
 of their need, will one day be clothed with purple, as 
 Daniel was in Babylon and Mordecai in Susa, for the 
 sake of Abraham's merit, whom God made a king, and 
 for Isaac's righteousness, who was bound by his father, 
 and for Jacob's dignity, who peeled the rods at the 
 water-troughs. And so, rendering the words in a 
 Christian sense, it is the weakest and lowliest of 
 Christ's members who shall inherit the kingdom, and 
 are made true kings for His sake Who is the Friend of 
 God, the Father of Nations ; for His Who was bound 
 on the Cross for us ; for His, the Prince with God, 
 Who stripped the Tree of Life, in part at least, of 
 the bark or outer letter, that we might see the wood 
 itself. 
 
 1 And in support of this view 
 two facts may be cited. One 
 is that the Talmud actually 
 uses the word ccrn to denote 
 the ribbons used in decorating 
 the Paschal Lamb, (Talmud, 
 
 de AgTio Paschali, c. 3 ;) and 
 the other is that the technical 
 name in the modern Greek 
 Church for the wavy stripes 
 on a cope is Trora/xoi, "rivers," 
 (Goar. Eucholog.) 
 
Vrr. 5.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 319 
 
 And observe, that either of the meanings given to Cassiodor. 
 the conduits or ducts yields a spiritual lesson. If 
 they be the actual dye-troughs, then we learn that the 
 first true beauty of the Saints must be derived from 
 conformity with the Passion of Jesus, and that the 
 fairest loveliness of all is martyrdom for His sake. If 
 the reference be to water in which the purple, after inmbert. 
 being dyed, is washed to make it clean and bright, Dion. Carth. 
 then we have the font of Baptism for the first such 
 washing, and the tears of penitence to cleanse subse- s. Greg. m. 
 quent defilement. There is a variant of the Vulgate, R^^pert. 
 joined loith canals (Juncta canalihus,) which is ex- 
 plained to mean either Holy Scripture, or the secret 
 counsels of God which decreed the Passion and royalty 
 of Christ, or else those wise prelates and teachers, 
 who form as it were the ducts for the streams from 
 the Heavenly Jerusalem by which the precious Blood Gerson. 
 of Cheist is supplied to the people, that they may be 
 truly a kingly robe for Him, and not, as too often, a 
 tprickly hair-cloth on His sacred form ; or, yet again, 
 }as the rules and ordinances, especially of the Religious 
 jLife, which are the outer troughs in which we are placed, 
 that the costly dye may saturate us. Or, again, the s. Just. Org:, 
 examples of the Saints are not inaptly called canals, 
 because the effect of the Lord's Passion does not con- 
 jfine itself to them alone, and sink, as it were, into the 
 ground through them, but the stream passes on after 
 dyeing them, to perform the like office for others, in 
 that they become agents of conversion in their turn. 
 
 Note, too, that the praise of the Bride's loveliness is 
 iirected to ten beauties of her person successively, de- 
 loting thereby that the fairness of the Church consists 
 n fulfilling the commandments of God. And, apply- GuiUeimus. 
 ^ng the verse to the Blessed Virgin, they tell us how Card. Haii- 
 tviien the nails and spear had made the white Beloved ^™^" 
 ruddy with the purple of His Passion, then the sword of 
 Simeon's prophecy pierced His mother's heart, so that 
 ill her thoughts were dyed in the purple of her com- 
 aassion, as it lay bound by her perfect obedience in 
 :hose conduits of God's grace which flowed abundantly 
 upon her in that time of suffering, whereby she was 
 jrowned as Queen of Martyrs, and therefore fitly clad 
 n royal apparel. It remains only to mention the 
 jurious variant found in the Sj'-riac and Arabic ver- 
 lions. Thy hair is like a kingly purple awning spread 
 xbove a theatre (Arab.) or race-course (Syr.) And the 
 
820 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [VII. 6. 
 
 Heb. xii. 1. 
 
 Cassiodor. 
 
 most obvious mystical import of this seems to be that 
 the examples of the triumphant Saints, the witnesses 
 of our struggle in the arena, serve to alleviate the 
 burning heat of our trial, that we may endure to the 
 end, and conquer. 
 
 6 How fair and how pleasant art thoUj O 
 love, for delights ! 
 
 Fair in her ^aiih, pleasant in her works. Above she 
 was called " fair as the moon, clear as the sun, terrible 
 as an army with banners ;" here she is said to be fair 
 and pleasant in delights. There seems a contradic- 
 tion in this, for to be terrible as an army in array 
 and to be in delights are incompatible, since de- 
 lights enervate the valour of soldiers. But the Holy 
 Church can be both, arrayed as an army in resisting 
 unbelievers, heretics, and evil spirits, to whom she 
 is terrible by her holiness and perfection : and in de- 
 lights, because with her mental palate she ever tastes 
 the dulcet savour of heavenly sw^eetness, and amidst 
 the troubles of the world seeks to attain those delights 
 and to be ever satisfied therewith. And she who is 
 like this, is rightly said to be dearest (Vulg.) to the 
 
 Rupert. Bridegroom. She is fair and pleasant in delights also 
 in that she possesses meekness and deep lowliness of 
 heart in the abundance of grace. And all the gifts of 
 grace, and the understanding of the Scriptures, are 
 true delights, while lowliness is true beauty, a pleasant 
 
 Dion. Carth. thing, and a virtue loved by God. The Carthusian, 
 urging that the Church is never so fair and pleasant 
 in the Bridegroom's eyes as when she is thinking 
 of Him only, and bearing tribulation not merely pa- 
 tiently, but gladly, for His sake, reproduces the Chal- 
 dee interpretation, which is, " Solomon the king said. 
 How fair art thou, O congregation of Israel, in the 
 time when thou bearest the yoke of my kingdom, in 
 the time when I correct thee with sufferings because j 
 of thy sins, and thou receivest them in love, and they 
 seem delights unto thee." The LXX. rendering, as 
 A. v., love instead of dearest, gives rise to a slightly 
 different type of exposition. Thou art made/a?';', com- 
 ments a Greek Father, which thou wast not before, 
 and whereas thou wast full of all unpleasantness, now 
 thou hast at once become pleasant, and this thou hast 
 gained because thou delightest in love, for, loving the 
 
 Targiim. 
 
 Theodoret. 
 
YII. 7.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 321 
 
 Bridegroom wlio loves thee, and counting His affection 
 
 thy one delight, thou hast slighted all things besides, 
 
 and art fair and pleasant. And if so even here, what 
 
 shall be her beauty in the delights of everlasting bless- Honorius. 
 
 edness ? They apply the verse also to the Virgin 
 
 Mother, fair in her matermtj, pleasant in her virginity, 
 
 dearest to God in both, as He graced her with the 
 
 delights of tending her Divine Son, and of meditating card^Ha^f.' 
 
 on her own marvellous destiny. grin. 
 
 7 This thy stature is like to a palm tree, and 
 thy breasts to clusters of grapes. 
 
 The statnre of the Church is the uprightness of her Beda. 
 good works, because, despising to be bent down towards 
 the desires of earth, she lifts her whole form upwards 
 to attain heavenly things ; of which the Apostle coun- 
 sels, saying, " Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit ' Cor. xvi. 
 you like men." Of which the Loed also saith, " I am LeV. xxvi. 
 the LoED your God, Which brought you forth out of the is. ' 
 land of Egypt, that ye should not be their bondmen ; 
 and I have broken the bands of your yoke, and made 
 you go upright." And, besides, the hand of a con- 
 queror was decked with palm, and also, amongst the 
 ancients, the victors in a contest were crowned with 
 palm. Therefore the stature of the Bride is likened 
 to a palm-tree, when all the intention of the faithful 
 stands erect in love for heavenly things, and mean- 
 while ponders, when standing in the ranks of battle, 
 that prize which shall be the conqueror's meed when 
 the struggle is over. Moreover, because the palm is 
 rough in its lower portion, but displays its beauty and 
 the sweetness of its fruit at the summit, the stature of 
 the Church or of any faithful soul is fitly likened to it, 
 which bears upon earth harsh troubles for the Loed's 
 sake, but hopes to receive from that Loed a precious 
 reward in heaven. The palm is rough near the ground, 
 because the elect suffer persecution for righteousness' 
 sake. It is fair and sweet at the top, because they 
 rejoice and are glad in their afflictions, knowing that 
 their reward is great in heaven. And as the palm is 
 clothed with enduring foliage, and retains its leaves 
 without intermission ; who does not see that it presents 
 a type of the stature of faith, which, amidst the varying 
 conditions of the shifting world, keeps ever to the same 
 words of true confession, as leaves which will never be 
 
322 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [VII. r. 
 
 S. Greg. M. 
 Mor. xix. 
 16. 
 
 Ideminloc. 
 
 De Wette. 
 Theodoret. 
 
 Ps. xcii. 11, 
 Cassiodor. 
 
 J Cor, iii. l. 
 
 1 Cor. ii. 6. 
 Philo Carp. 
 
 Luc. Abb. 
 
 renewed nor fall, and that it preserves unharmed in 
 its elect unto the end of the world that perfection of 
 works which began from its first origin, just as the 
 palm retains its beauty ? 
 
 Further, the palm tree is slender below and expands 
 above, and similarly the holy soul begins in the depths 
 with small things, and growing slowly up to that which 
 is greater, at last branches out into the full beauty of 
 divine love. It is elastic, and springs up under any 
 weight which may be laid on it ; it grows in a dry and 
 thirsty soil. And by the palm we may understand also 
 the Cross of Cheist, for it grows to a great height, and 
 bears sweet fruit, just as the Cross of Christ prepared 
 heavenly food for us ; and the stature of the Bride is 
 likened to this, because any one who truly loves and 
 imitates Christ, does not hesitate to die for Him. 
 
 A7id thy breasts to clusters of grapes. Or rather, 
 more probably, clusters of dates, as continuing the 
 reference to the palm tree. And so Theodoret takes 
 it : " Tall and exalted as thou art, reaching to the 
 height of heaven, yet thou bowest down to the feeble, 
 and yieldest the breast of thy teaching to those who 
 are in need of teaching. For the palm tree has clus- 
 ters which hang downwards. And the Holy Ghost 
 signifies this by blessed David, saying, ' The righteous 
 shall flourish as a palm tree.' " The breasts of the 
 Church, adds Cassiodorus, are, as has been said already, 
 holy teachers, who nourish with the milk of simple 
 doctrine them who are born again in Christ. But 
 these breasts are likened to clusters of grapes when 
 these same teachers proclaim more perfect things to 
 the perfect. And so the Apostle, when speaking to 
 the less instructed, said, " I could not speak unto you 
 as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto 
 babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not 
 with meat." These are breasts full of milk, which 
 breasts were turned into clusters of grapes when he 
 said, " Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that 
 are perfect." The two breasts are also the two Testa- 
 ments, the two precepts of love, and the active and 
 contemplative lives of Christianity, all of them yielding 
 sweet and gladdening wine to cheer the heart of those 
 who imitate Christ. And as He hung. Himself, as the 
 bunch of grapes upon the pole which the spies brought 
 from the Land of Promise, so the Martyrs, who are 
 close to His heart, and are most like to Him, are fit- 
 
VII. 8.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 323 
 
 tingly styled the breasts of His Bride. Spoken of GuiUeimus. 
 the Blessed Virgin, one devout writer bids us look 
 to that verse of the Gospels, " Now there stood by the s. Johnxix. 
 Cross of Jesus His Mother," and ponder whether, as ^^• 
 she stood beside that palm tree, her stature was not 
 indeed likened to it, nay, whether she was not herself 
 a very cross of suffering then. Another, working out Alanus. 
 the simile at greater length, comments : Her outer 
 bark was rough, in that she was weak in worldly 
 honour, poor in temporal riches, but yet she possessed 
 vigorous strength in her constancy of soul. She was 
 erect in stem, because shooting upwards to heaven in 
 the resolution of her mind ; firm at the summit, by 
 reason of her exalted virginity and lowliness ; lovely 
 in flower, because with no thought of sin she conceived 
 the Flower of the plain, the Lily of the valley ; sweet 
 in her fruitfulness, because she painlessly bore the Re- 
 deemer of the world. She is set before us as an em- 
 blem of victory ; that as she overcame the world, the 
 flesh, and the devil, so we too may overcome according 
 to our power. The breasts of Mary are her virginity 
 and lowliness, wherein Cheist delights, and they are 
 set before us for our learning and instruction, that we 
 should follow her footsteps. They are compared to 
 clusters of grapes, because the grape yields perfume 
 in flower and sweetness in fruit. It warms and re- 
 freshes, and so too the Maiden's virginity and lowli- 
 ness are fragrant with the savour of devout thought, 
 warm with love, and refreshing with spiritual fulness. 
 
 And it is well to sum up all this description of the 
 Bride's comeliness with the frequent comment of Cor- com. k Lap. 
 nelius a Lapide, that all the eulogy may be interpreted 
 of the Humanity of Cheist Jesus, that Sacred Body 
 which was, in a sense, the Bride to whom the Eternal 
 WoED united Himself for ever. 
 
 8 I said, I will go up to the palm tree, I 
 will take hold of the boughs thereof : now also 
 thy breasts shall be as clusters of the vine, and 
 the smell of thy nose like apples : 
 
 It is more than merely going to the palm tree, and s. Cyprian, 
 the words denote a harder and higher task ; I ivill serm. de 
 climh up into the joalm tree, high enough to reach the ^^^^" 
 fruit which hangs near its summit. Who then is the 
 Y 2 
 
324 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [vn. 8. 
 
 Henr. 
 Harph. 
 
 Cassiodor. 
 
 Honorius. 
 
 Rupert. 
 
 Gretser et 
 Lipsius de 
 Cruce. 
 
 speaker, and when were the words said ? I said, quoth 
 the LoED, from all eternity, when I determined to die, 
 of My perfect love and free-will. I said, by the mouth 
 of My prophets, that I would go up to the palm tree, 
 that is, the Cross, itself formed in part of palm-wood, 
 and exalted on high like a palm, that Jesus, lifted up on 
 it, might draw all unto Him. Of old, too, victory was 
 denoted by the palm, which victory Christ won glo- 
 riously, as He triumphed upon the Cross. I said, unto 
 My Father, before all worlds, that I would go up to 
 the palm tree and conquer the tyrant there. And that 
 is the reason why thy stature, in thy perseverance, is 
 like to a palm tree, because I went up to the palm tree 
 for this one thing, and drew thee after Me to victory. 
 I went up to this palm tree by the hands of the sol- 
 diers, who ignorantly fought against My divine ma- 
 jesty. As regards them, they crucified a man to die 
 by a miserable death, as regards Me, I ascended the 
 palm tree as a King about to triumph. And the Jews, 
 unknowing the decrees of God, bid Me come down 
 from it, saying, If He be the King of Israel, let Him 
 come down from the Cross. I had gone up to the 
 palm tree, and therefore I willed not to come down 
 while the fruits were not yet formed — the palm tree 
 had already flowered when they so spake to Him — but 
 when, after tasting the vinegar, I said, " It is finished," 
 and bowing My head, gave up the ghost, then, the 
 fruits of redemption were upon the palm. This verse 
 has originated, or at least encouraged, two opinions 
 in the Church. One is the tradition that the Cross 
 was made of four kinds of wood : cedar, cypress, olive, 
 and palm, and that this last formed the transverse 
 beam to which the sacred Hands were nailed. So runs 
 the distich : 
 
 De cedro est truncus, corpus tenet alta cupressus, 
 Palma manus retinet, titulo Isetatur oliva. 
 
 Cedar the trunk, tall cypress holds His frame. 
 Palm clasps His hands, and olive boasts His Name. 
 
 Suarez. The other view based on this passage is that Christ 
 literally went up to the Tree, that is, that it was fixed 
 erect in the ground before He was nailed to it, as the 
 more painful and degrading mode of execution ; an 
 opinion followed by SS. Gregory JN'azianzen, Bernard, 
 Bonaventura, and Birgitta. But the view more gene- 
 
VII. 8.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 325 
 
 rally accepted is, tliat He was laid down upon the 
 
 Cross while it was still flat upon the ground, and even 
 
 then the going-up may be well interpreted of the weary 
 
 journey by the Way of Sorrows to the hill of Calvary. 
 
 There is a secondary meaning of the words, as applied 
 
 to the Redeemer, inferior to this alone. The palm 
 
 tree, observes Cassiodorus, signifies the Church, or even ^'assiodor. 
 
 the soul of any faithful believer, who is mindful of the 
 
 LoED his God, Who saith, " Be of good cheer, I have f • f °^° ^^^• 
 
 overcome the world." For she aims to be victorious 
 
 over all sin and unrighteousness. He is well said then 
 
 here to go up to the palm tree, of Whom we read before 
 
 that He went down into the garden. The garden and 
 
 the palm are the same, to wit, the one same Church. 
 
 The Lord both goes down into it, and goes up into it ; 
 
 down, when sending the abundance of that grace from 
 
 heaven ; up, by increasing His gifts to her, and lifting 
 
 her up to higher things, by progressive advances, as 
 
 though by steps. 
 
 I will taJce hold of the houghs thereof. That is, as 
 the Vulgate, with a justifiable paraphrase, reads, of the 
 fruits thereof, hidden amongst the heights (LXX.) of 
 the tree. And the fruits which the Loed gathered Henry Har- 
 there were, first, the salvation of mankind, and then, P^^i^s. 
 as regarded Himself, the glorification of His Body, the 
 hastening of His Hesurrection, the splendid pomp of 
 His Ascension, the manifestation of His Name, and 
 the acquisition of authority as Judge. But, though 
 these words belong primarily to the Bridegroom, yet 
 His Spouse, because He endows her with all He pos- 
 sesses, can take them on her lips also. She can say, I 
 will go up to the JO aim tree, to the Cross, by ever bearing 
 Christ's Passion in mind, by sharing in His sorrows, 
 by keeping them alive within me, by imitating them 
 faithfully. And that " because Christ also suffered i s. Pet. ii. 
 for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow 21 j iv. 1. 
 His steps," and " arm yourselves likewise with the same 
 mind." She can also be like Zaccheus, ascending above 
 the worldly crowd to see her Lord Who is hidden from 
 such as refuse the Cross. And take hold of the fruits 
 thereof, not only those fruits of our redemption, by being 
 grateful and giving thanks, but also the fruits of practi- 
 cal perfection, by faithfully imitating that perfection of 
 all virtues. Iicill go up, she saith to her Bridegroom, by Tres Patr. 
 imitation in holiness to the perfection of Thy teaching, 
 and will take hold of its heights by contemplation. 
 
336 A COMMENTARY ON [VH. 8. 
 
 Or, yet more deeply, interpreting the palm tree, tall 
 
 and stately, bearing luscious fruit, and growing best 
 
 Ps. ixiii. 2. in the sands of the " barren and dry land where no 
 
 water is," to be Christ Himself, the Tree of Life, let 
 
 Hugo Vict, "'^s ^^^^ Hugh of S. Victor : " The toil of the climber 
 
 de Inst. is lessened, when he perceives the fragrance of the 
 
 Mon. i. 20. frilit upon the tree, for the sweetness of its taste does 
 
 away with the difficulty of the ascent. The palm tree 
 
 is Cheist ; His fruit salvation ; the hope of salvation 
 
 is in the wood of the Cross. Ascend therefore into 
 
 the palm tree, that is, give heed to the victory of the 
 
 Cross, for by the stair of -the Cross thou shalt go up 
 
 to the throne of the victor." Keeping to the literal 
 
 Hebrew, I will take hold of the houghs, we have two 
 
 further meanings which the verse bears in the mouth 
 
 of the Bride, besides that of promised conformity to 
 
 the Passion. Palm-branches were amongst the green 
 
 Lev. xxiii. boughs commanded for use by the Jews in token of 
 
 ^^' rejoicing at the feast of ingathering of the harvest, 
 
 and also at the feast of tabernacles, in token of rest 
 
 in the fertile Land of Promise after the weary march 
 
 Neh. viii. 15. through the barren wilderness. They were used also, 
 
 as by the Greeks and E-omans, in token of victory, as 
 
 2 Mace. X. 7. when Judas Maccabeus took the citadel of Jerusalem, 
 
 1 Mace. xiii. ^nd when Simon dedicated the sanctuary, and thus 
 
 they typify a more glorious triumph of Cheist than 
 
 that entry into the earthly Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, 
 
 namely, the true feast of ingathering, of tabernacles, 
 
 of dedication, and of victory, when the Loed's harvest 
 
 shall have been gathered by His reapers, the Angels, 
 
 into His garners, when the tents of the great army 
 
 of heaven shall encamp round the pavilion of their 
 
 victorious Leader, when the true Land of Promise has 
 
 been won by the people of God under their greater 
 
 Joshua. 
 
 Qilgg Here may the band that novs^ in triumph shines, 
 
 Fletcher, And who (before they were invested thus) 
 
 Christ's Tri- In earthly bodies carried heavenly minds, 
 
 umph, xxii. Pitch round about, in order glorious, 
 
 Their sunny tents, and houses luminous : 
 All their eternal day in songs employing ; 
 Joy is their end, without end of their joying, 
 "While their Almighty Prince destruction is destroying. 
 
 And, again, it was the wont amongst the Jews, until 
 after the fall of their city, to use palm-branches as well 
 as nuptial crowns in bridal rejoicings, and therefore 
 
vn.8.] 
 
 THE SONG OF SONGS. 327 
 
 the Bride may well declare how she will prepare her- 
 self and her companions for the glad procession of 
 that great day when " the marriage of the Lamb is Rev. xix. 7. 
 come, and His wife hath made herself ready," and 
 when the great multitude, which no man can number, ^^^ ^„ 
 of all nations, and kindreds, and peoples, and tongues, 
 stand before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed 
 with white robes, and palms in their hands. And 
 that, because they have " come out of great tribula- 
 tion," for by the palm which the Bride ascends may be 
 understood the plain of combat and victory, and as 
 Chetst ascended the Cross to fight for us against the Parez. 
 devil, and gathered from that Tree the fruits of re- 
 demption and salvation, so the Church went up into 
 her battle-field to fight against tyrants and unbelievers 
 for the faith of Christ, and also to war against the 
 flesh, the world, and false brethren. Thus there were 
 four armies that went up to the palm tree for the 
 combat. "First went the choir or army of Martyrs, to 
 fight against tyrants, princes, and unbelievers. Se- 
 condly, the army of Virgins went up to war against 
 the flesh. Thirdly, the army of Contemplative and 
 Monastic Saints went up to war against the world and 
 its pomp. Fourthly went up the army of Doctors to 
 fight against heretics. And because these four bat- 
 talions so went up to the palm tree as to a battle-field, 
 the Church was said above to be " terrible as an army 
 in array." 
 
 JVoio also thy breasts shall be as clusters of the vine. 
 " For as the clusters of the vine, when trodden and ^^'^o ^^p- 
 pressed, yield the pleasant juice of wine to their hus- 
 bandman and vine-dresser, so righteous and holy men 
 of God, when afflicted and tortured like grapes, bring 
 forth and produce from themselves, through their vic- 
 tory of salvation, heavenly gladness to God their Hus- 
 bandman, and to Jesus Christ, and to the Bride ; and 
 by the fragrance of their holiness and virtue attract and 
 draw on others to be imitators of Christ in like manner, 
 for which reason it follows suitably, And the smell of thy 
 nose like apples : denoting thereby most plainly the 
 perfume of unconquered faith and hope and glowing 
 charity, according to that saying of the Apostle, ' We 2 Cor. ii. 15. 
 are a sweet savour of Christ in them that are saved, 
 and in them that perish j to the one we are the savour 
 of death unto death, and to the other the savour of life 
 unto life' everlasting. The nose denotes the Orthodox 
 
328 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [VII. 8. 
 
 S. Greg. M. 
 
 Beda, 
 
 S. Luke 
 xxiv. 27. 
 
 Acts ii. 13. 
 
 S, Luke V. 
 38. 
 
 Rupert. 
 
 Theodoret. 
 Tres Patr, 
 Cassiod. 
 Beda. 
 
 Church, which inhales the perfume of virtues with 
 both nostrils, that is, the two Testaments. So too, 
 though there is but one nose, to wit, one spirit, one 
 faith, one baptism, one life everlasting, one and the 
 same God, the goal of the blessed, yet there are two 
 Churches, divided in name, not in fact, in race, not in 
 faith, by distance of place, not by ultimate aim, to wit, 
 Greek and Latin, Eastern and Western ;^ or, if I mis- 
 take not, the Synagogue and the Church may be here 
 understood, derived from the one Author, the Spirit 
 of distribution and of unity. And for all this reason, 
 the Bride is compared to apples, because as apples 
 yield both food and drink, both which they contain, so 
 the sweet odour of the Church in true faith and love 
 unfeigned possesses the mystic drink and food of the 
 Body and Blood of Christ, and gives them to others." 
 It is by the Cross, observes S. Gregory, that the 
 breasts of the Bride become like clusters of grapes, 
 because in the death of Christ the powers of the 
 soul received the two precepts of charity, and when 
 the soul is nourished by them, she is inebriated, so as 
 to forget what is behind, and to reach forward to what 
 is before. Yes, continues Beda, expanding this thought, 
 since the first Doctors of the Church, that is, the Apos- 
 tles, obtained far more knowledge of the doctrines of 
 salvation when the Passion and Resurrection were ful- 
 filled, than they had before ; when He, appearing to 
 them after His Eesurrection, opened to them the Scrip- 
 tures that they might understand, and sending down 
 the Spirit upon them, gave them knowledge of all 
 languages, that time when it was falsely said " These 
 men are full of new wine." But they were in truth 
 made like clusters of the vine, because they were re- 
 freshed with the grace of spiritual gifts, when that 
 saying was truly brought to pass, " New wine must be 
 put into new bottles, and both are preserved." That, 
 observes Rupert, was the autumn, when men eat of 
 the grapes, and the sweet perfume is everywhere dif- 
 fused. They do not fail to remind us also of that True 
 Vine, from which these clusters hang which yield the 
 wine of salvation for mankind. The Vulgate reads 
 the smell of thy mouth, and the Latin Fathers accord- 
 ingly explain the clause as denoting the preaching of 
 
 ^ This statement of an exter- Eastern and Western Churches 
 nal severance, not incompa- in the fourth century is note- 
 tible with internal unity, of the worthy. 
 
VIL 9.] THE SONG or SONGS. 329 
 
 the Word ; and S. Gregory, wlio supposes the apples s. Greg. M. 
 
 to be pomegranates, dwells, as before, on their ruddy 
 
 hue, as typifying the Martyrs, chief preachers of the 
 
 Church either in word or example. Honorius, taking Honor. 
 
 the whole verse of the final glory of the redeemed, ^^^^ ' 
 
 comments thus : " The Church Triumphant ascends 
 
 the palm tree, because by the victory of the Cross she 
 
 reaches the Tree of Life, of which is written, ' To him Rev. u. 7. 
 
 that overcometh I will give to eat of the tree of life, 
 
 •which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.' She 
 
 hath already taken hold of its fruit, whereof whoso 
 
 eateth shall never die. Her breasts are as clusters of 
 
 grapes, because the joys wherewith she is inebriated 
 
 in return for her sufferings in the world, are like the 
 
 joys of Cheist when He was pressed out upon the 
 
 Cross. For He is the cluster of the vine, the drink 
 
 of the Church, the fount of life, wherewith she shall 
 
 be inebriated, when it shall be said unto her, * Enter ^^^k 
 
 thou into the joy of thy Lord.' Then shall her smell 
 
 be like apples, that, is, her delights shall be as those 
 
 of the Angels ; and her throat like the best wine, that 
 
 is, her praise shall be as the praise of them that feast." 
 
 9 And the roof of thy moutli like the best 
 wine^ for my beloved, that goeth down sweetly, 
 causing the lips of those that are asleep to 
 
 For roof of the mouth or palate the LXX. and Vul- 
 gate read throat. But the inner meaning, that of the Heiligstedt. 
 speech of the Bride, is alike. The preaching of the Cassiod. 
 Church is like the best ivine, because it exhibits its 
 great power to the hearers. And whereas the perfume 
 of apples is best when they are new, and that of wine 
 when it is old, this signifies that the preaching of the 
 Church possesses all sweetness and grace alike in its 
 beginning and in its perfection. And wine, pleasant 
 to the taste, and beautiful in colour, denotes also 
 cheerful and devout praise of God by His Saints, of GuiUeimus. 
 whom is written, " Let the praises of God be in their Ps. cxUx. 6. 
 mouth." Philo urges that Cheist Himself is the throat PhUo Carp. 
 or palate of the Bride, because it is only through Him 
 that she can taste how sweet He is in His own Sacra- 
 ment of love, wherein He gives her the best wine. 
 But the Bride, hearing Him thus speak, can no longer Cassiodor. 
 
330 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [VII. 9. 
 
 S. Greg. M. 
 
 Beda. 
 
 Rupert. 
 
 Cassiodor. 
 1 Tim. ii. 5. 
 
 Theodoret. 
 
 Tres Patr. 
 
 Cassiodor. 
 
 S. Greg. M. 
 
 contain herself, and catching up His words, adds. For 
 my Beloved. It is, as the Vulgate adds, loorthyfor 
 Sim to drinJc, for the preaching of the Gospel to the 
 world can be effected bj Him only, and by no other ; 
 for it is fitting that the mysteries of the kingdom of 
 heaven should not be disclosed to the world by any 
 save the " Mediator between God and man." 
 
 That goeth down sweetly, causing the lips of them 
 that are asleep to speak. In this passage there is 
 much divergence amongst the renderings, and it will 
 be most convenient to take them in order. The 
 LXX. reads, Going to my Beloved unto straightness, 
 sufficient for my lips and teeth. That is, as Theodoret 
 paraphrases it, the doctrine which flows from thy 
 throat, preferable to any perfumed wine or to all the 
 pleasures of this life, is that which Thou givest, my 
 Beloved, to guide aright the souls which believe in 
 Thee. And this Thy teaching is enough and sufficient 
 for me, that I should in part disclose it and proclaim 
 it, using the organ of my lips ; and partly guard and 
 hide it, using my teeth as a barrier to encompass it. 
 It is sufficient, say others, for my lips, in readily satis- 
 fying my desires, sufficient for my teeth also, in sup- 
 plying difficult problems for my understanding, needing 
 much careful mastication before they can be assimilated 
 as spiritual food. The Vulgate reads the whole clause 
 thus : Worthy for my Beloved to drinJc, for Sis lips 
 and teeth to ruminate. The idea here is the slow 
 tasting of very choice wine, sipping it gradually, and 
 allowing it to remain some time in the mouth, in order 
 to perceive its full bouquet and flavour ; and they ex- 
 plain it, accordingly, of sedulous meditation in the 
 precepts of the Gospel, in order to extract their full 
 meaning and beauty. And on this S. Gregory says 
 very well : " Such is the wine of the Bride, that it is 
 worthy for her Beloved to drink, because while Holy 
 Church preaches the true faith, and rouses her hearers 
 to holy works, and shows them by word and deed how 
 good it is to love, imitate, and embrace Christ alone, 
 what else does she do but make the wine worthy of 
 her Beloved, that it may taste sweet in the Bride- 
 groom's mouth ? And on this act it is to be noted, 
 that all drink, but only the lips and teeth ruminate, 
 because while the Church preaches by her Saints, all 
 hear, but not all perceive the whole force of the say- 
 ings which are uttered. The lips and teeth ruminate, 
 
YII. 9.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 331 
 
 since the more perfect, after hearing, recall the words 
 to their memory while pondering in earnest thought 
 what they have heard, as those animals which bring 
 again into the mouth the food they have received, 
 taste the full flavour of that food they had eaten. 
 Therefore it is written in the Law that animals which 
 do not ruminate are not clean, implying that any one 
 who does not ponder again on good things which he 
 hears or reads, by not being occupied with holy 
 thoughts, necessarily collects unclean ones." And S. s. Alb. Mag. 
 Albert, in a similar spirit, aptly applies the text to 
 meditation after Communion of the Blessed Sacrament. 
 The A. V. reading, Causing the lips of those that 
 are asleep to speaJc, may be explained in two ways, Deiitzsch. 
 either that the sweet wine of the Gospel breathed a "^^^gf *^°" 
 new meaning into the dark sayings of the dead Seers 
 and Prophets of the Old Testament, and gave a living 
 force to seemingly inert types and oracles, so that the 
 whole meaning of such mysteries as the sacrifice of 
 Melchizedek, the offering of Isaac, the burning bush, 
 the brazen serpent, and the fleece of Gideon ; the inner 
 sense of prophecies like Balaam's, Joel's, and Isaiah's, 
 were revealed, just as sympathetic ink, heretofore 
 hidden from the eye, stands out in relief under the 
 influence of heat ; and thus it might be said of each 
 old Seer that " he, being dead, yet speaketh," in bearing Heb. xi. 4. 
 witness to Christ. The other meaning is the revival 
 of souls dead asleep in the lethargy of sin, roused by 
 the Voice of Cheist, the sweet wine going down as a 
 medicine straightly, in the direct simplicity of the a. v. Marg. 
 Gospel message, to tell the sinner, " ' I say unto thee, s. Luke vii. 
 Arise,' and he that was dead sat up, and began to ^'*' 
 speak, and He delivered him to his mother." And this 
 interpretation, which is supported by the Targum, here Targum. 
 citing the miracles of Elijah and Elisha, and the awak- 
 ing of the dry bones which Ezekiel saw, is in the spirit 
 of that ancient hymn in honour of the Cross : 
 
 O branches rich and passing fair, sweet and noble Tree ! S. Venant. 
 
 "What new and precious fruit is that which hangs for all on thee ? 3^°^*""^*- 
 Whose fragrance breathes the breath of life into the silent dead, crlxbene-' 
 Gives life to them from whom, long since, earth's pleasant light ^ida 
 had fled ! 
 
 Two other renderings are suggested by modern critics, Hitzig. 
 gliding gently over the lips of sleepers, which seems to 
 mean that the wine has a gently lulling effect, gradu- 
 
332 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [VII. 10. 
 
 ally bringing a peaceful slumber, which may then be 
 interpreted of the tranquillizing influence of the Word ; 
 Weissbach ^^' "^^^^^^ another version, causing the lips of sleepers to 
 taste it, meaning that the wine which was so good at 
 the banquet as to go cloivn straightly (because men not 
 only made no difficulty about swallowing it, but bent 
 back the head to drain the cup,) left the memory of 
 its flavour so clear, that the banqueters seemed to taste 
 it again in dreams. And then, it will come to much 
 the same meaning as S. G-regory's explanation of ru- 
 minating, to wit, the contemplation in time of rest of 
 all that has been said or done for GrOD in the time of 
 action.^ 
 
 10 I am my beloved's, and his desire is to- 
 ward me. 
 
 s, Ambros. This is the third time that the close union and mu- 
 
 de Isaac, 8. ^^^^ affection of the Bridegroom and Bride is men- 
 tioned in the Song. And there is, observes S. Ambrose, 
 a threefold diversity in the manner of expression, to 
 denote the three stages of the Bride's progress in the 
 love of GrOD, to wit, her beginning, advance, and per- 
 
 Chap. ii. 16. fection. She said, at first, " My Beloved is mine, and 
 I am His ; He feedeth among the lilies until the day 
 break, and the shadows flee away," because when she 
 is beginning to learn, the Bride still sees the shadows, 
 not yet disturbed by the approach of the Woed, as, in 
 fact, the Gospel day did not shine upon the Church at 
 
 Chap. vi. 3. liej. origin. In the second place she says, " I am my 
 Beloved's, and my Beloved is mine ; He feedeth among 
 the lilies," for in her progress He gathers her sweet 
 perfumes, untroubled by clouds. And thirdly, in this 
 place she says, " I am my Beloved's and His desire 
 (LXX. and Vulgate turning) is toward me," because, 
 now made perfect, she makes herself a resting-place for 
 the Word, that He may turn towards her, and lay 
 His head upon her, and take His rest. And that, ob- 
 
 Theodoret. serves Theodoret, because she can say, I have con- 
 
 ^ The considerable variants 
 in the renderings of this diffi- 
 cult verse are mainly reducible 
 to two causes, viz., the reading 
 WlX!!:^ "and teeth" instead of 
 
 D>2Tri> " sleepers," and the erro- 
 neous derivation of ann? as 
 though connected with 11^ lo- 
 cutus est, instead of the true 
 etymon ^'5 rejmt. 
 
VII. 10.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 
 
 secrated myself to Him, and have looked witli loathing 
 on the common fellowship of Gentiles, Jews, and here- 
 tics. For He hath preferred me to all others, and 
 turned nnto me, and whereas He once had not where 
 to lay His head, He hath now found a place to lay it, 
 I will now, comments another, be the servant of the ^^i^o Carp. 
 Son of God, and He will reward me abundantly when 
 He shall descend at His second coming to sit as Judge 
 of all. But we must be turned to Him first, as it is 
 written, " Turn ye unto Me, saith the Loed of Hosts, Zech. i. 3. 
 and I will turn unto you." And Henry Harphius, Henr. 
 understanding the word hirning to denote turning in ^^"^p^* 
 to dwell in a place, tells us here how the Bride should 
 prepare herself to become the kingdom, temple, and 
 abode of Christ, adorned with that love in the midst 
 'of which He is ever pleased to tarry. Of such love a s. Hrabanus 
 Saint has wisely said : Love divine is fire, light, honey, ^^^"^• 
 wine, and sun. Fire, in that it purifies in meditation 
 the soul from all uncleanness. Light, in prayer, illu- 
 minating the soul with the radiance of holiness. Honey, 
 in thanksgiving, sweetening the soul with the sweet- 
 ness of God's bounties. Wine, in contemplation, ine- 
 briating the soul with sweet and pleasant delight. 
 Sun, in eternal bliss, giving splendour to the soul in 
 unclouded light, gladdening it with the genial heat of 
 unspeakable joy and everlasting jubilation. He turned Cassiodor. 
 to us here long ago in taking our flesh upon Him ; He s. Just. Org. 
 turns again and again in answering our prayers. He ^^°"- c^'^h. 
 loved us sweetly, wisely, strongly. Sweetly, in cloth- 
 ing Himself with flesh ; wisely, in being pure from sin ; |- Bernard, 
 strongly, in undergoing death. Therefore, O Christian, in cant. 
 learn from Cheist how to love Cheist ; learn to love 
 Him sweetly, that we fail not when enticed ; wisely, 
 that we be not deceived ; strongly, that no force can i<ie™» 
 make us yield. And where love is, there is no toil. 
 
 But if you will have the other rendering, JSis 
 desire is toicard me, the Psalmist can tell us how 
 it has been attracted: "Hearken, O daughter, and p^. xiv. 11. 
 consider, incline thine ear, forget also thine own people, 
 and thy father's house, so shall the King greatly desire 
 thy beauty." Hear the Word of God with attention, Ayguan, 
 obey it with alacrity, leave behind all former evil con- '" ^°^* 
 versation ; leave, if need be, country, and home, and 
 closest ties of kindred, and follow Cheist, and He 
 will desire thee, and with desire will eat His Passover 
 with thee, feeding thee with His own Body and Blood. 
 
334 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [VII. 11. 
 
 Honorius. 
 
 And when even Sacraments shall vanish, the Bride 
 will turn to her Beloved as she passes from the world 
 to heaven, and He will turn to her, welcoming her into 
 the fellowship of the Angels. 
 
 11 Come, my beloved, let us go forth 
 tlie field ; let us lodge in the villages. 
 
 into 
 
 S. Ambros. 
 Serm. 19 
 in Ps. cxix. 
 
 There are three main interpretations of these words 
 of the Bride. And first ; it is a prayer for the In- 
 carnation. Observe, comments S. Ambrose, how the 
 Bride invites the Word of God to come unto the earth, 
 and to take away the sins of the world. This field 
 was once desert, rough with the brambles of our 
 sins, bristling with thorns. It was the village whither 
 Adam was banished, and where he bound his heirs and 
 posterity in perpetual exile. Thither the Church leads 
 Christ to set Adam free ; and when the exiles were 
 loosed, the field of this world began to have competent 
 tillers, and though it once was barren, it became 
 fruitful with the everlasting plantation of the Vine. 
 s. Greg. M. Or, as S. Gregory more briefly puts it, the Bridegroom 
 goes hito the field with the Bride when the Word is 
 manifested to the world in the flesh which He took in 
 the chamber of the Virgin. He lodges in the villages 
 when He visits the Gentiles by that faith which He 
 bestows on them that receive Him. 
 
 Secondly ; the invitation is to convert the heathen. 
 The field, says Cassiodorus in his Master's words, is 
 the world. Let us go forth into the field, that is, let 
 us preach to the world. Let tis lodge iji the villages^ 
 that is, let us proclaim faith in Thee even to the Pa- 
 gans. For every one knows that Pagan is derived 
 from pagus, a village, and Pagans are fitly so named 
 because they are far from the City of God. Come, 
 saith the Bride, my Beloved. Thou hast already raised 
 Thine assumed Manhood to the heavens by the mystery 
 of Thine Ascension, yet come, visiting me often with 
 the presence of Thy divine Majesty. Let us lodge in 
 the villages, not merely passing through them as we 
 preach, but tarrying there till we make the Pagans 
 Catholics, and the aliens Thine own. 
 
 Thirdly ; they take it of the field of the Church, into 
 which the Bridegroom is called, that He may note the 
 progress of the faithful ; and as S. Ambrose aptly 
 points out, see not only flowers and spices, as in the 
 
 Cassiodor. 
 
 S. Ambros. 
 de Isaac, 8 
 
iVII. 11.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 335 
 
 * garden, but the firm and solid produce of wheat and 
 barley, denoting the more vigorous kinds of holiness. 
 Theodoret varies somewhat from this view, saying, Theodoret. 
 The Bride urges the Bridegroom to undertake the cure origen. 
 of souls as yet poor and lowly, which, as being lowly 
 'and insignificant, she typically calls by the names of 
 field and villages. For she does not say, Let us go 
 into the City, but into the field. And so Hugh of J^^g^^^^g- 
 S. Victor takes it also : The soul goeth forth from con- Ajiim^,^7? 
 templation to look round about her ; she goeth forth 
 from care for herself to care of her neighbour, to com- 
 fort the feeble, to rebuke the restless, that the field, 
 once full of brambles and thorns, may be full of virtues. 
 And she saith. Let us lodge in the villages, to wit, in 
 thorn who are villeins ; that is, clowns, and slow in 
 understanding the rules of Cheist's royal court. Let Tres Patr. 
 ?^c9 ^o/b;'^/i, showing them our spiritual union in holy 
 , principles expressed by action. Let us lodge in those 
 j souls, which, as villages, have given up all their inhabi- 
 I tants, faculties, and senses, to Thee. Make there a 
 d^^elling for Thyself in the Holy Spieit, and I will 
 give myself to them as an example that they may learn 
 to please Thee. And in this sense, let us hear what a 
 holy writer of another land and age has to tell us : 
 " We are made so to abound and be more than full, that p|J"g^g^jj 
 we ought to flow out with Jesus over all creation, that soiuoqu! 
 God may be all in all. And we should desire this to ignit. 
 be brought to pass no less in every one else than in our- 
 selves, because we ought to have as hearty a desire, 
 longing, and good will that all should have everything 
 which is good as God Himself has. And thus we 
 make all good things which belong to others our very 
 own, an easy and facile matter for them that love, 
 since wherever true love is, it is impossible for it not 
 to flow out and love, for there is nought so like and so 
 peculiar to the Image of God, as to flow forth ever- 
 more and to share with all. There is no clearer mark 
 and sign of union with the Woed, than thus without 
 any straitening of internal breadth to converse in 
 common love, giving all things, filling all things with 
 Jesus, that nothing may remain which hath not its 
 rightful share. Thus, so far as in us lies, we can fill 
 heaven and earth, and all that therein is, with our 
 love, which is God." Another interpretation sees here Parez. 
 [the Church in the days of persecution, driven out of 
 •the cities where the tribunals of the heathen judges 
 
336 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [VII. 12. 
 
 Acts viii. 1. 
 
 Honorius, 
 
 Francis 
 Quarles, 
 Emblems, 
 iv. 7. 
 
 were set up, and forced to withdraw into desert 
 places, as the Thebaid, or, as we read in far earlier 
 times, " And there was a great persecution against the 
 Church which was at Jerusalem, and they were all 
 scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judsea and 
 Samaria." Wherefore, the Bride, cut off from the 
 visible fellowship of the Saints and from the solem- 
 nities of public worship, prays her Beloved not to leave 
 her, but to go with her in her exile. And finally, the 
 Church here in the pilgrimage with Cheist desires to 
 go with Him into that flowery field, the Paradise of 
 delight, and to lodge in the villages formed of the many 
 mansions in His Fathee's House. So our own poet : 
 
 Our country mansion, situate on high, 
 
 "With various objects still renews delight; 
 Her arched roof's of unstained ivory, 
 
 Her walls of fiery sparkling chrysolite ; 
 Her pavement is of hardest porphyry, 
 
 Her spacious windows are all glazed with bright 
 And flaming carbuncles ; no need requii-e 
 Titan's faint rays, or Vulcan's feeble fire, 
 And every gate's a pearl, and every pearl entu-e. 
 
 12 Let us get up early to the vineyards ; let 
 us see if the vine flourisli_, whether the tender 
 grape appear^ and the pomegranates bud forth : 
 there will I give thee my loves. 
 
 Philo Carp. The Bridegroom had lodged during the night in the 
 villages, where up to the night of His death He was 
 a pilgrim, despised and hated, in the clownish souls, 
 the hard and obstinate minds of the Jews, and when 
 He lay in the grave for two nights, and on the third 
 day before the light got up earlv to the vineyards of 
 His disciples and the Gentiles who should believe, and 
 when He called us and His Bride from the darkness 
 of ignorance of God and from blindness of mind, from 
 the night of sin and the worship of devils, to His mar- 
 vellous light, and to the true and saving Faith. He 
 
 s. Greg. M. j.jggg early to the vineyards, because, sitting after His 
 Hesurrection in the glory of the Fatheb, He defends 
 the Churches which He has founded. He sees if the 
 vine flourish, because He tests with strict examination 
 every progress of the Church. He sees whether the 
 flowers are bringing forth fruits (Vulg.) because He 
 looks to see what progress the weak and imperfect are 
 
VII. 12.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 337 
 
 making. He sees also ivhetlier the 'pomegranates hud 
 forth, because He looks to the perfect also, and sees 
 what profit they are to their neighbours, as though 
 looking for the fruit of a tree amongst its flowers. In cassiodor. 
 the early morning of the new Gospel light. He marks 
 the first rudiments of faith in the healthy growth of 
 the vine, its progress in the appearance of the young 
 fruit, its maturity in the likeness to His Passion in 
 the ruddy pomegranate, fit emblem of His Martyrs. 
 And note, though He says. Let us get up early ; yet, Angeiomus 
 however soon she may be at the sepulchre, her Loed "^°^* 
 forestalls her, and she finds the stone rolled away ; 
 however early she is at the vineyard, the Gardener is s. Just. Org. 
 there awaiting her, lest any delay in the E-esurrection 
 should weaken her faith. 
 
 I got me flowers to straw Thy way, George 
 
 I got me boughs off many a tree ; Herbert. 
 
 But Thou wast up by break of day, 
 And brought' st Thy sweets along with Thee. 
 
 Honorius, agreeing in other respects with the inter- Honorius. 
 pretation already given, differs in one particular. He 
 takes the night to be the time of Antichrist's persecu- 
 tion of the Church, and the early morning the begin- 
 ning of the new age, when the Synagogue shall be con- 
 verted, and Cheist and the Bride will visit the new 
 Churches formed out of her. 
 
 The same commentator agrees with several others s.Ans.Laud. 
 in explaining the verse of the faithful soul, which gets 
 wp early, that is, exhibits diligence and zeal, because, 
 as is well said by one annotating this passage, " they Hugo vict. 
 who wish to urge others to rise to their tasks must get de ciaustr. 
 up early themselves, not sluggishly, but taking the ■'^^'^*' 7- 
 lead in example and activity." Early, in the dawning 
 of life, as it is written, " It is good for a man that he Lam. m. 27. 
 bear the yoke in his youth ;" early, because the manna 
 must be gathered in the cool of the morning, since 
 
 when the sun waxed hot, it melted ;" early, because Exod. xvi. 
 
 oshua must beset Ai before its inhabitants are aware, j^-^^^ ^^ 
 must come suddenly, by a forced march all night, on 10 ; x. 9.' 
 the unprepared forces of the confederate kings ; early, 
 in the most literal sense, that the first-fruits of the day 
 may be offered to God. 
 
 When first thine eyes unveil, give thy soul leave 
 To do the like ; our bodies but forerun 
 Z 
 
338 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [vn. 13. 
 
 Henry 
 Vaughan, 
 Rules and 
 Lessons. 
 
 Tres Patr. 
 
 Angelomus. 
 Philo Carp. 
 
 Tres Patr. 
 Cassiodor. 
 
 S. Just. Org. 
 Honorius. 
 
 Idem. 
 
 The spirit's duty. True hearts spread and hears 
 
 Unto their God, as flowers do to the sun. 
 
 Give Him thy first thoughts then, so shalt thou keep 
 Him company all day, and in Him sleep. 
 
 Yet never sleep the sun up. Prayer should 
 Dawn with the day. There are set, awful hours 
 'Twixt heaven and us. The manna was not good 
 After sun-rising ; far-day sullies flowers. 
 Else to prevent the sun ; sleep doth sins glut, 
 And heaven's gate opens when this world's is shut. 
 
 Then, in qniet self-examination, it is possible to learn 
 whether the True Yine is flourishing in the soil of our 
 hearts, if the flower promise fruit in the formation of 
 character, if the pomegranate of outward self-restraint 
 and inward fervour be developing within us, if purity 
 of life and true confession of faith be ours. 
 
 There loill I give Thee my loves. Or, with LXX. and 
 Yulgate, my breasts. In the field, in the scene of la- 
 bour, not in the palace of rest, is it that my love and 
 devotion will be chiefly kindled, there only can I bring 
 forth children to suckle and bring up for Thee, there 
 only shall I be able to train them for martyrdom. 
 Or, taking the vineyards,^ with Honorius, to denote 
 the cloisters of the Religious Life, there, apart from 
 the disturbances of the city, in the still quiet of the 
 field, will the love of God be best nourished in the 
 soul. And there comes a time too when this world's 
 night is ended, and the Bride rises early to the vine- 
 yards, lifting herself up to the Churches on high. 
 The Day of Judgment is the morn of that everlasting 
 day, which is better than a thousand years ; or, you 
 may take it that man's life is the night, and the life 
 to come is the morning, in which morning each of the 
 faithful gets up to the vineyards when he arrives after 
 death at the Heavenly Churches. There he beholds 
 the flowers of the vineyard, the fruits of these flowers, 
 and the buds of the pomegranates, that is, the reward 
 for the faithful and righteous, given to those who la- 
 bour diligently, and the wages which shall be paid to 
 the Martyrs. And there the Church will give Christ 
 Tier breasts, because she will, in eternal glory, present 
 to Him the teachers of the Old and New Law. 
 
 13 The mandrakes give a smell, and at our 
 gates are all manner of pleasant fruits^ new 
 
VII. 13.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 339 
 
 and old, which I have laid up for thee, O my 
 beloved. 
 
 j The mandrake, or love-apple, a narcotic fruit, was 
 ' supposed to have the powers of a philtre, to excite 
 
 love and to produce fruitfulness ; and for this latter ^ 
 ' reason E-achel asks Leah to give her the mandrakes 14.^' ^^^' 
 which Keuben had gathered. The root is also said 
 to resemble a headless human body, and these two 
 opinions about the plant have influenced much of the 
 exposition of this passage. Theodoret, confining him- 
 self to the notion of an opiate,^ holds that the words Theodoret. 
 here imply a further progress in grace beyond that last 
 stage of the previous verse, and denote deadness to the 
 world and sin, and tranquil sleep, free from all dis- 
 turbance and passion, attained by quaffing the chalice 
 of holy doctrine. S. Gregory, also holding to the view g. Greg. m. 
 that advance in religious perfection is here intended, 
 refers, following Cassiodorus, to the medicinal use of 
 the mandrake, and takes the plant here to denote those 
 more perfect Saints who are not merely fruitful in 
 good works themselves, but are able to heal others s. August, 
 with the wholesome odour of their good example. He j^ Faust, 
 does not, however, dwell on the special use which 56^^' ^^"" 
 Cassiodorus ascribes to the mandrake, that of being cassiodor. 
 given as an anaesthetic to persons about to undergo 
 severe surgical operations, which, he hints, signifies 
 the power of faith in overcoming the tortures of mar- 
 tyrdom. Philo sees in the shape of the mandrake's Phiio Carp, 
 root, the buried Saints of the Old Testament, hidden 
 from the glory of God, but yielding a sweet savour 
 until the early morning of Cheist's Resurrection, 
 when they received the reward of their fragrance in 
 the gift of everlasting life. The Vulgate couples this 
 clause with the succeeding one thus, The mandrakes 
 give a smell at our gates. These gates, says Cassio- Cassiodor. 
 dorus, are the Apostles and their successors, because 
 no one enters the Church, which is the City of God, 
 save he who has been regenerated in Baptism and 
 taught the doctrine of life by holy teachers. Of these 
 gates the Psalmist said, " The Loed loveth the gates Ps.ixxxvii. 
 
 ^ "Not poppy, nor mandra- 
 
 gora, 
 Nor all the drowsy syrups of 
 
 the world. 
 
 z2 
 
 Shall ever medicine thee to 
 
 that sweet sleep 
 "Which thou ow'dst yesterday." 
 Othello, Act ill., so. 3. 
 
340 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [YII. 13. 
 
 Rupert. 
 
 Isa. Uv. 1 . 
 Gal, iv. 27 
 
 of Sion more than all tlie dwellings of Jacob." Tlie 
 mandrahes denote the perfume of holiness, and thus 
 the mandrakes gave a smell at the gates of the Church 
 when the Apostles and their successors spread far and 
 wide the fame of their sweet teaching, the fragrance of 
 their holiness. And Eupert, who accepts the view 
 that the mandrake produces fruitfulness, adds : The 
 reason why they give a smell in our gates is because 
 that is now at hand to be fulfilled which the spirit of 
 prophecy spake to the yet barren Gentile race : " Ee- 
 joice, thou barren that bearest not, break forth and 
 cry, thou that travailest not, for the desolate hath 
 many more children than she which hath an husband." 
 In our gates, while we are still within our own borders, 
 in the land of the Jews, we smell this odour. The 
 Ethiopian eunuch had come to Jerusalem to worship 
 and was returning sitting in his chariot and reading 
 Esaias the Prophet, when, lo, the Holy Spirit, smell- 
 ing the odour, said unto Philip, " Go near, and join 
 thyself to this chariot." We were even then in our 
 gates when the alms of Cornelius the Centurion gave 
 their smell in the sight of God. And to this smell 
 too belongs that vision which appeared in the night to 
 one of the Bridegroom's friends, " There stood a man 
 of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over 
 into Macedonia, and help us." In these and other 
 like ways the mandrakes gave a smell at our gates, 
 denoting fruitfulness where sterility had been. And 
 the resemblance to a headless body is dwelt on by 
 more than one commentator. The mandrakes, says 
 an early writer, were the Gentiles, living by the law 
 of nature, and so far like natural men, but without the 
 head of faith. These, not in the field, but at our gates, 
 at the very utmost limit of our tenure, that is, near the 
 end of the world, will be converted to God, and yield 
 their perfume to Him. Another, not dissimilarly, 
 tells us that in the evil times of the latter days. Anti- 
 christ will be for a time the visible head of the faithful, 
 but when he has been smitten off, when the body lies 
 as it were headless, then the Bride will call on her 
 Beloved to go with her again for a new preaching 
 of the Gospel and the new foundation of Churches 
 amongst the helpless people lying at her gates. And 
 s.Ans.Laud. S. Anselm of Laon reproduces this idea, confining it, 
 however, to the Jews, as lacking Christ their true 
 Head, but who will give a pleasant smell at our gates 
 
 Actsviii.29 
 X. 4. 
 
 Actsxvi. 9. 
 
 Luc. Abb. 
 
 Hoiiorius. 
 
Vn. 13.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 341 
 
 when tliey exhibit signs of conversion, and seek ad- 
 mission by faith into the Church. 
 
 At our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits, new 
 and old, wJiich I have laid up for Thee, O my Beloved. .j^gQ^joret 
 There is a general agreement here that the substantial s. Greg. m. 
 unity of the Church under the Law and the Gospel is Beda. 
 intended, and that the Bride tells her Beloved that Hononus. 
 she will bring Him her children, the Saints of both 
 covenants, that she will preserve the types and pro- 
 mises of the Old Testament along with the fulfilment 
 of them in the New. There are, however, some ad- 
 ditional meanings which tliey draw from the words. 
 One reminds us that the Church offered her Loed His Parez. 
 sacrifices without distinction of sex or age, that child- 
 martyrs like Agnes and Cyriac, young maidens as 
 Lucy and Agatha, and aged prelates such as Polycarp, 
 Urban, and Marcellinus, alike were given as choice 
 fruits for the Master's garners. Another interpreta- '^^^ p**^- 
 tion sees here the comparison made, by co-ordinate 
 study, of secular literature and natural religion along 
 with the teachings of the Gospel, that the superiority 
 of the latter may be clearly manifested, and the soul 
 may profit by all. And a modern commentator wisely 
 adds that the Church has not merely to keep in mind Thrupp. 
 the records of former achievements of the Saints and 
 the imitation of their examples, but also to employ new 
 methods, and to practise duties formerly neglected or, 
 at any rate, not brought into prominence. At our 
 gates. Many are these gates of the Bride, whether 
 Church or soul, where the fruits must be piled as an 
 offering for her Bridegroom and King as He enters 
 His own City in triumph, that He may accept her 
 service and laud her devotion, according to that say- 
 ing, " Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her ;[°''- '''''''• 
 own works praise her in the gates." These are the ^..^ Argent, 
 gates of faith, hope, and charity ; the gates of the Sa- 
 craments ; the teaching of Holy Scripture and of the 
 Saints ; the eight Beatitudes ; the two low and narrow 
 gates, through which few are to enter, of patient suf- 
 fering and of perfect meditation on God alone. There 
 are, besides, the five senses, gates through which 
 thoughts pass from the body to the soul. At all these 
 the Bride lays tip, in the recesses of a devout and 
 thankful heart, fruits for her Beloved, since she knows 
 not where He may choose His place of entrance, and Hugo Card, 
 she brings new and old alike, all the works she once vieyra. 
 
342 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [VIII. 1. 
 
 Beda. 
 
 S. Mat. 
 xiii. 52. 
 
 did for God in fear, and all those slie now does in love, 
 all those of her early life and those of her later years, 
 and she lays them up not for herself, but for Him, not 
 because He is her Lord, but because He is her Be- 
 loved, and all that she has done, all the fruits she has 
 stored, come from Him and are perfected in Him. 
 One and all, they illustrate their expositions by citing 
 those words of the Redeemer : " Every scribe which 
 is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto 
 a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth 
 out of his treasures things new and old." 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Cassiodor. 
 
 S. Athan. 
 S. Ambros. 
 
 S. Epiphan. 
 Philo Carp. 
 
 Theodoret. 
 
 I O that thou wert as my brother, that 
 sucked the breasts of my mother ! when I 
 should find thee without, I would kiss thee ; 
 yea, I should not be despised. 
 
 Cassiodorus justly remarks that the expression of 
 this wish, so inconsistent with the conditions of earthly 
 love and marriage, is an incidental proof of the spiritual 
 intention of the Song. Accordingly, the usual expo- 
 sition of the verse is that it is the prayer of the Syna- 
 gogue for the Incarnation of Cheist. There is, how- 
 ever, no little variety in the details of this interpretation. 
 Thus S. Epiphanius and his pupil Philo agree in alleg- 
 ing that the mother of the Bride is eternal Wisdom, 
 and her brother the Loed Jesus Cheist in the human 
 form which He took and bore ; and that when Cheist 
 comes to the newly-baptized, as though to the infants 
 of the Church, by the grace of His visitation, then He 
 is said to sticJc the breasts, while, in their persons. He 
 begins, as it were, to know God and taste heavenly 
 things, that is, to suck the two breasts of the Old and 
 ^New Testament and of the twin precepts of love. 
 And Theodoret points out that the Loed condescended 
 even more than in this wise, since He did not merely 
 learn in the persons of those with whom He was 
 pleased to identify Himself, but that He " grew, and 
 
VIII. 1.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 343 
 
 waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom," that He s. Luke u. 
 " increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with ■*^' ^^" 
 God and man." Thou wast willing to suck the same 
 breasts as I, that in this also thou mightest avouch 
 Tli}^ brotherhood. Thou didst suck, not because Thou 
 neededst it, but to teach me how I should suck, and 
 from what breast I might draw grace. Therefore, too, 
 Thou camest to Baptism, not to wash away the stain 
 of sins, for Thou didst no sin, nor was guile found in i s. Pet. ii. 
 Thy mouth, nor that Thou mightest receive the grace ^'^* 
 of the All-holy Spibit, for Thou wast full thereof, but 
 to show me what are the gifts of Baptism, and how I 
 might suck the grace of the Spirit. Others take the Cassiodor. 
 mother of the Bride to imply the substance of human ^^'^*- 
 nature, and give a literal turn to the clause, as denot- 
 ing a longing for the nativity of the Infant Savioue. 
 And only the mother is named, because it is only 
 through the Blessed Virgin's flesh that the Redeemer Rupert, 
 is our Brother, since by the Father's side He is 
 Almighty God. Another view, however, is that the xres Patr. 
 mother of whom the Bride speaks is neither the Syna- 
 gogue, nor human nature, nor yet S. Mary, but the 
 Heavenly Jerusalem, " the mother of us all," and Gal. iv. 26. 
 that her breasts, which Christ is prayed to suck, are 
 that new wine which He has promised to drink with s.Mat.xxvi. 
 us in His Kingdom, so that the prayer is for the has- 
 tening of His second Advent. With this agrees the luc. Abb. 
 view of several commentators, that we are to look in ^.^nTi^aud 
 this place not to the original proclamation of the Gos- Rupert, 
 pel, but to the final conversion of the Jews. 
 
 I should find Thee loithout. Where ? Some take li^JP'^a?"* 
 it literally, outside Jerusalem, and remind us that ° ^'^^' 
 " Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with Heb. xm. 12. 
 His own Blood, suffered without the gate. Let us go 
 forth therefore unto Him, without the camp, bearing 
 His reproach." Or, as S. Ambrose prefers to explain s. Ambros. 
 it. He was ivithin from all eternity, in the bosom of the y^j-g^^f ' 
 Father, without, when He was manifest to the world, Dion, earth, 
 coming to seek us, heal us, and be again within us ; loith- 
 out, ruling among the Gentiles, Who was once within 
 the Jewish people only. Again, He was within, when 
 hidden under the types and prophecies of the Old Tes- 
 tament, witliout, when the veil was withdrawn and the Hugo Card, 
 types fulfilled. Or, once more, I should find Thee 
 without this world, myself quitting the flesh in order to s. Ambros. 
 find Thee j either spiritually, as S. Ambrose, in another de Isaac, s. 
 
344 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [VIII. 1. 
 
 Corn, a Lap. 
 Lyranus. 
 
 Dion. Carth. 
 
 S. Epiphan. 
 
 S.Ans.Laud. 
 Rupert. 
 
 Ghislerius. 
 
 S.Ans.Laud, 
 
 Dion. Carth 
 
 Philo Carp. 
 
 place, observes : That soul is happy, which is without, 
 that the Woed may be within ; without the body, that 
 the WoED may dwell within us ; or else literally, pass- 
 ing without the body through the gates of the grave, 
 that the spirit may flee away and be with Cheist. I 
 would find Thee tvithouf, publicly honoured, and openly 
 worshipped, as when peace was at last granted to the 
 Church, no longer within, hidden in the secret rites of 
 the catacombs and other lurking-places. I would fain 
 find Thee without, even in all my external actions, and 
 the active occupations of my life, being ever mindful of 
 Thee, and doing all for Thee, and unto Thee. I would 
 gladly find Thee ivitkout, in all Thy visible creation, 
 contemplating Thee as the glorious Maker of all, mar- 
 velling at Thy wisdom, majesty, and honour. I would 
 see Thee in the beauty of the order of the universe, in 
 flowers, and shrubs, and trees, in grass, and in jewels, 
 in the fruitfulness of the earth, in the vastness of the 
 ocean, in the wide expanse of air, in the blaze of fire, in 
 founts, and rivers, and seas, in sky, and stars, and pla- 
 nets, and in all living things, fain would I contemplate 
 with pure heart Thy boundless excellence, reverence it 
 fitly, love it fervently, praise it devoutly, and ever 
 honour it with all my might, and so be caught away to 
 inner things, and kiss Thee, my Bridegroom, clasping 
 Thee to my heart, embracing Thee with the fondest love. 
 
 Iivoidd kiss Thee, reaching up to Thy lips upon the 
 Cross, to receive that parting kiss of peace and love 
 which Thou didst offer when, bowing the head. Thou 
 gavest up the ghost ; kiss Thee, in intimate fellowship 
 with Thy Humanity ; kiss Thee, in bearing Thy re- 
 proach ; kiss Thee, in loving reception of Thy Sacra- 
 ments ; kiss Thee, with the mystical kiss of everlasting 
 peace in the heavenly Country. 
 
 J should not he despised. If the words be those of 
 the Synagogue, they mean that the contumely which 
 has for nineteen centuries been the lot of the Jewish 
 race will be turned into honour when their conversion 
 to the Gospel has taken place ; if the speech be ascribed 
 to the Church, she, in like manner, looks from her time 
 of depression and suffering to the first ingathering of 
 the Gentiles by the conversion of the Eoman Empire, 
 and the later and more ample one yet to come, which 
 will shut the mouths of unbelievers. Applied to the 
 faithful soul, the words are variously taken. Philo 
 supposes the meaning to be that the Angels will no 
 
Vin. 2.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 345 
 
 I longer regard lier with contempt, when they see how 
 great a Deliverer has condescended to interest Himself 
 in her salvation. But Theodoret takes a deeper view, Theodoret. 
 I which also avoids the unsuitableness of ascribing such 
 a feeling to the heavenly host. He represents the 
 Bride as saying, " Intoxicated with love for Thee, not 
 only in my chamber, nor in the poj'tico of my dwelling, 
 but in the market-place and publicly I would find 
 Thee, embrace Thee, and kiss Thee, nor would the 
 spectators blame me for it, when they knew the ardour 
 of my love." And in this wise the words may be 
 aptly taken of those pure virgins who were not ashamed 
 to confess their Loed in the arena, stripped before the 
 gaze of myriad spectators, and lying gladly down 
 upon the bridal-bed of martyrdom. There is yet ano- 
 ther sense in which the faithful soul utters the words, 
 O that tJiou toert as my brother. She desires not 
 merely union with her Lord, but likeness to Him ; 
 I she asks not merely for His love, but for the perfect 
 I interchange of thought, the unclouded intimacy, which 
 i can come only of unbroken fellowship from childhood ; 
 ' the thorough familiarity which, born of kindred, has 
 grown through the advancing years. A bridegroom, 
 however loved and honoured, is most frequently unlike 
 his bride, and is a comparative stranger to her up to 
 the time of marriage. It is only afterwards, in the 
 course of a long and happy union, that the likeness 
 in thought, expression, and even in feature, which is 
 often seen in long-wedded pairs, is slowly developed, 
 that mutual trust and confidence is perfected. But 
 the Bride has no mind to wait for all this. She de- 
 sires to be conformed to her Beloved at once ; to know 
 all His thoughts, even as He knows all hers, to have 
 been His from her tenderest years, and not merely 
 won to Him in later life. And in this sense it is also 
 true that she escapes being despised, since the con- 
 tumely and derision frequently heaped on one who 
 turns to Christ from the world, are rarely directed, 
 even by scoffers, against such as have been always 
 consistent in devotion. 
 
 2 I would lead thee, and bring thee into nay 
 mother's house, who would instruct me : I 
 would cause thee to drink of spiced wine of 
 the juice of my pomegranate. 
 
346 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [VIII. 2. 
 
 Cassiodor. 
 Beda. 
 
 Honorius. 
 1 Cor. ii. 9. 
 Cassiodor. 
 
 S. Greg. M. 
 
 Luc. Abb. 
 
 S.Ans.Laud 
 
 Rupert. 
 
 S. Epiphan. 
 Philo Carp. 
 
 The favourite interpretation of this verse by the 
 Fathers is that the Bride is looking forward to the 
 joys of heaven. I icoidcl lead Thee, not in the sense 
 of guiding or influencing, but of processional attend- 
 ance, clinging to Thee in faith and love, following Thee 
 with eyes and prayers, as did the Apostles, when re- 
 turning unto heaven at Thine Ascension, back to that 
 Jerusalem which is above, the mother of us all. I 
 would follow Thee even more perfectly, not ceasing till 
 I joined Thee ; and there Thou wilt teach me (as the 
 Vulgate correctly renders the next clause, mistrans- 
 lated in the A. V.) all that truth and wisdom which 
 man cannot learn in the present life, all that " eye hath 
 not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the 
 heart of man." I will cause Thee to drink of spiced 
 ivine, the wine of my love and devotion, spiced with 
 good works and holiness, of the juice of my pome- 
 granates, because I would offer Thee the passion of all 
 the holy Martyrs in proof of the fervour of my affection. 
 
 A second view, explaining the verse of the return of 
 the Jews, represents the Church as promising to lead 
 and bring Christ, by her preaching, into the house of 
 her mother the Synagogue, and there receive His 
 teaching. She will then give Him spiced wine to 
 drink, in that she will offer the Synagogue the strong 
 rough wine of the testimony of the Law softened and 
 blended with the sweet tidings of the Gospel, and will 
 also bring forth the juice of her pomegranates, by using 
 the examples of the Martyrs as arguments on behalf 
 of the Faith for which they were glad to die. And 
 Kupert, preferring to see here the final conversion 
 of the Gentile world, explains analogously, that the 
 mother s house of which the Gentile Church speaks, is 
 to be taken as denoting the palaces of idolatrous kings 
 and the temples of heathen worship, while the spiced 
 wine which she will offer is that Cup of salvation which 
 she takes as the reward of her Bridegroom for all that 
 He has done for her, the Sacrifice of thanksgiving 
 wherein she unites His Passion with that of His Mar- 
 tyrs. And in that case, the spicing of which the Bride 
 speaks, will not be honeyed, but the bitter myrrh of 
 death, the same which was blended in the cup offered 
 to Him on the Way of Sorrows. There is a singular 
 exposition, connected with the idea of the Passion, 
 which sees in the mother of the Bride, the earth, as 
 the parent dust out of which human nature was formed. 
 
VIIL 3.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 347 
 
 and in the motliers house the grave, wherein the Saints 
 are treasured till the Resurrection. Thither the Bride 
 is ready to go with her Loed, thither she did go down 
 with Him, when she brought Him in to conquer the 
 realm of death, and to spoil it of its accumulated wealth. 
 A widely diflferent interpretation sees here the Holy 
 Scriptures, the dwelling of that wisdom whence the 
 Bride has sprung, wherein she holds frequent collo- 
 quies with her Divine Spouse, and is refreshed by 
 Him with the wine of understanding and of endurance. 
 Theodoret, who explains the verse of the devout soul, Theodoret. 
 will have it that the Church, God's temple, imitating 
 the heavenly Jerusalem, is her mother s house, wherein 
 is the wine of wholesome doctrine, and the pome- 
 granate juice of practical benevolence, drawn from the 
 fruits of charity. This exposition is akin to that of 
 the Targum, which, as it explains the previous verse of Targum. 
 Messiah the King, showing Himself as the brother of 
 the Jewish nation, and studying the Law with them, 
 takes this of His being brought into the sanctuary 
 to teach the will of God, and to sit down with His 
 subjects at the mystical banquet prepared from the 
 creation for the chosen people. The Three Fathers, Tres Patr. 
 also taking the clause of the holy soul, will have it 
 that her mother s house is that higher understanding 
 in which dwells the grace of the Holy Spieit, of 
 which she was born in Baptism. There she offers her 
 Loed that knowledge of Him which she holds within 
 her, spiced, because mingled of various ingredients, of 
 natural religion, which contemplates Him in His crea- 
 tures, and of Holy Scripture, where He is seen in 
 revelation. And as the juice of pomegranates has a 
 mingled flavour, sweet and yet tart, so the love which 
 the Bride offers her Loed, and which is the one glad- 
 ness of her spirit, is blended with reverential awe and 
 longing for full possession. And there is yet another Dion. Carth. 
 way in which the devout soul can bring her Loed into 
 her mother s house, when by her own holy conversation 
 and example, she wins those of her own earthly kin- 
 dred, or of her own local Church, or, again, as another Honorius. 
 takes it, her own cloister, to serve Him faithfully, and 
 to offer Him the cup of their conversion and instruc- 
 tion, the juice of their zealous works, to drink. 
 
 3 His left hand should be under my headj 
 and his right hand should embrace me. 
 
348 A COMMENTARY ON [VIII. 4. 
 
 Honorius. The left hand of the Bridegroom, notes Honorius of 
 Autun, shall be under the Bride's head, because she 
 will see all the glory of the world under the sway of 
 Christ ; and His right hand shall embrace her, be- 
 cause the fellowship of the Angels and the unity of 
 the Saints, who are to stand at Chbist's right hand in 
 the Judgment, will join her to their company, and in 
 the clasp of that right hand she rests free from all dis- 
 s. John xvi. turbance, and no one will rouse her from that rest, 
 22. ' because her joy no man taketh from her. 
 
 4 I charge you^ O daughters of Jerusalera, 
 that ye stir not up^ nor awake my love until he 
 please. 
 
 Hugo Card. This is the third time these words occur, to impress 
 on us the alternations of religious training, and the 
 reciprocal succession of the parts of our holy calling. 
 
 Gen. i. 5. Yov, as " the evening and the morning were the first 
 day," so the soul ought to enjoy seasons of contem- 
 ]3lative rest, with nevertheless a set purpose of return- 
 ing at the proper time and place to active work, and 
 
 Job vii. 4. conversely, according to that saying, " When I lie 
 down, I say. When shall I arise, and the night be 
 gone?" And the verse occurs thrice, because sleep is 
 threefold. First in the devotion of love, brought on 
 by memory of bounties, and thanksgiving for them. 
 Secondly, in the contemplation of the truth, which is 
 caused by anxious search and fruitful toil. Thirdly, 
 in the foretaste of future blessedness, brought on by 
 eager longing for our Country, and forgetfulness of 
 earthly things. Wherefore the first of these three 
 adjurations checks the restless, lest by their irreve- 
 rence they should break the holy repose of their devout 
 Mother, rather than wait patiently till she return from 
 the house of wine, full of blessings for them. Next, she 
 warns the uninstructed, who have no capacity for un- 
 derstanding exalted subjects, that they maybe no hin- 
 drance to those who can attain to them. And this third 
 adjuration is addressed to the angelic hosts, to which 
 they who have a foretaste of eternal bliss are united as 
 in the third heavens, which hosts are said to stir up or 
 awake the faithful soul when they oblige her to come 
 down and pay attention to the needs of human nature. 
 And in saying until she (Vulg.) will, it is signified, that 
 
vm. 5.] 
 
 THE SONG OF SONGS. 
 
 349 
 
 she ought sometimes to be willing to be roused, for 
 sleep draws on work, and work sleep. And it is to be 
 noted that in the two former adjurations it is said, By 
 the roes, and hy the hinds of the field, by which are 
 signified the angelic hosts, in whose name the adjura- 
 tions are made ; but it is not said here, because the 
 Angels themselves are adjured, and cannot be so by 
 their own name. For as the less is always blessed by the 
 greater, so also is the less always adjured by the greater. 
 And others more briefly tell us that this triple warning s. just. Org. 
 against untimely waking is to remind us that the Loed Rupert, 
 prefers the tranquil listening of Mary to the busy ser- 
 vice of Martha, cumbered about many things. 
 
 5 Who is tins that cometh up from the wil- 
 derness, leaning upon her beloved? I raised 
 thee up under the apple tree : there thy mother 
 brought thee forth : there she brought thee 
 forth that bare thee. 
 
 It is, says Cassiodorus, the voice of the Synagogue, cassiodor. 
 marvelling at the Church gathered out of the Gentiles. 
 She had been given up by God to idolatry and igno- 
 rance of the truth, and she ascended from the tvilder- 
 ness, that is, from the error of unbelief, wherein she 
 had been left up to that time, by the gradations of 
 holiness. Here the Vulgate amplifies a little, by giving 
 a double sense to one phrase, and adds, abounding in 
 delights,^ while the LXX. omits wilderness, and reads 
 made white.^ She is abounding in delights, because Rupert. 
 full of holiness and of the graces and gifts of the Spirit, ^^ijo ^arp. 
 she is made white in the waters of Baptism, not by her serm^ uia 
 own power or merit, but by His mercy Who saith, ps. cxix. 
 " Though your sins be as scarlet, yet shall they be white iga, i. ig. 
 as snow," and so she is leaning on her Beloved, because, nic. Argent. 
 unlike the elder Synagogue, which trusted in the Pa- s. August. 
 triarchs and the ceremonial Law, she puts her whole cL^fodor." 
 trust in Christ, and ascribes all her virtues and good 
 works to His grace, knowing that she can do nothing 
 of herself, and therefore saying with the Apostle, " By i Cor.xv. lo. 
 
 The verb 
 
 found 
 
 here only, means "leaning on 
 the elbow ;" but some Jew- 
 ish interpreters explain it as 
 
 signifying 
 self." 
 
 'delighting one's 
 
 « Eeading, possibly, r.y^jq, 
 
 or rather ri23bn, 
 
 1 ■; ■: : 
 
350 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 (Tin. 5. 
 
 S, Greg. M. 
 
 Phil. iii. 20. 
 
 Alanus. 
 
 Hugo Vict. 
 Erudit. 
 Theol. Misc, 
 iii. 82. 
 
 Theodoret. 
 
 S. Bernard. 
 Serm. 86 in 
 Cant. 
 
 Rupert. 
 
 Ps. xxvii. 1. 
 
 the grace of God I am what I am." The holy soul, 
 observes S. Gregory, cometh up from the wilderness, 
 because set as she is in the exile of pilgrimage here, 
 she strives towards heavenly joys in spirit and medi- 
 tation, whence Paul saith, " Our conversation is in 
 heaven." She abounds in delights, because, occupied 
 in study of Holy Scripture, she constantly feeds her 
 spirit with heavenly food. She leaneth on her Be- 
 loved, because, trusting in the help of Christ alone, 
 she is translated by His bounty from exile to her 
 country. She went down into that wilderness, com- 
 ments another, by her birth ; she comes up through it, 
 by advancing from one virtue to another ; she comes up 
 over it, despising all worldly pride ; she comes up from 
 it with everlasting blessedness. And this wilderness 
 is threefold : that of the passing vanity of the world, 
 out of which the Bride comes ; that of humility, truly 
 a wilderness, because so few Christians are willing to 
 dwell there, through which she must pass ; and that of 
 pure and simple innocence, to which she must attain. 
 And akin to this last remark is the stress laid by the 
 Greek Fathers on the LXX. reading, made tchite. It 
 is not white simply, but made white, for the Bride, 
 herself black, saith of the Bridegroom, " My Beloved is 
 white ;" not " made white," because He is such by 
 nature. But though she was dark, since the sun had 
 looked upon her, she hath been made white, and par- 
 taker of the whiteness of her Bridegroom, Who, being 
 Himself Light, hath made her and calls her light, be- 
 ing holy, hath made her holy, being the Resurrection, 
 hath counted her worthy of the resurrection, and thus 
 shared His own whiteness with her. S. Bernard sug- 
 gests yet anotlier meaning of ascending through the 
 wilderness, when the prayer of the Bride goes up in 
 the silent watches of the lonely night. 
 
 She is leaning on her Beloved, that she may not 
 dread the fear of men, that she may not fail in tribu- 
 lations which find her out, or in the persecutions of 
 her seen and unseen foes. How would she hold her 
 ground amidst all these, unless she were leaning on 
 her Beloved ? Ought she to lean on herself, or on any 
 chance arm ? If she did so, she would surely fall, not 
 stand. But now she saith, " The Loed is my light and 
 my salvation ! whom shall I fear ? The Loed is the 
 strength of my life ! of whom then shall I be afraid ? 
 Though an host of men were laid against me, yet will 
 
|Vni. 5.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 351 
 
 I put my trust in Him." And observe further that 
 this is the third ascent of the Bride mentioned in the 
 I Song. The first was when she came up out of the Hugo Card. 
 I wilderness like a pillar of smoke, denoting compunc- 
 : tion and suffering, and answering to the Bridegroom 
 ' going up to Jerusalem to be crucified. Next is her 
 ; advance in holiness, when she arose as the morning, 
 ': and became as the moon and sun, even as her Lord 
 arose in early morning from the grave, in the twofold 
 , glory of His Manhood and Godhead ; and thirdly, 
 ' this coming up, when she is abounding in delights, 
 ; filled with heavenly contemplation, and thus typifying 
 I the Ascension of Jesus to the celestial throne. Parez Parez. 
 I sees here, not inaptly, but with far less beauty, the 
 three stages of the Christian Church : in its first ob- 
 scure birth, in its long trial and suffering, and its final 
 victory under Constantine. The whole of the picture, 
 representing the Bride as slumbering, as desiring and 
 receiving the kiss of her Bridegroom, and as then 
 leaving all to go with Him, finds a curious type in that 
 old nursery tale, itself a relic of a vanished creed, 
 which tells of the Prince who found the Sleeping 
 Beauty in the wood, and waked her from her mystic 
 slumber to be his bride. 
 
 And on her lover's arm she leant, Tennyson, 
 
 And round her waist she felt it fold, The Day-' 
 
 And far across the hills they went dream. 
 In that new world which is the old. 
 
 Across the hills and far away 
 
 Beyond their utmost purple rim, 
 And deep into the dying day 
 
 The happy princess followed Him. 
 
 *' eyes long laid in happy sleep !" 
 
 " happy sleep, that lightly fled !" 
 *' happy kiss, that woke thy sleep !" 
 
 " Love, Thy kiss would wake the dead !" 
 
 "A hundred summers ! can it be ! 
 
 And whither goest Thou, tell me, where ?" 
 " seek My Fa-ther's court with Me, 
 
 For there are greater wonders there." 
 
 And o'er the hills, and far away 
 
 Beyond their utmost purple rim, 
 Beyond the night, across the day, 
 
 Through all the world she followed Him. 
 
353 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [VIII. 5. 
 
 Targum. 
 
 Honorius. 
 
 Guilielmus. 
 Card. Hail- 
 grin. 
 
 Hymn, in 
 Assumpt. 
 B.V.M. 
 
 Theodoret. 
 
 Chap. ii. 3. 
 
 Cassiodor. 
 
 The Targum, wliich explains tlie passage to mean 
 the resurrection of the dead of Israel, coming forth 
 from the valley of Jehoshaphat and passing through 
 the opened Mount of Olives, abounding in delights 
 through the mercy of God, finds a parallel in the Chris- 
 tian view that the migration of the holy soul from the 
 wilderness of earth to the full enjoyment of the glories 
 of heaven is here intended, viewed with loving admira- 
 tion by the choirs of Angels. And it has been espe- 
 cially applied to the passage of the Blessed Virgin to 
 her home in a happier world. So runs the mediseval 
 hymn: 
 
 Affluens deliciis 
 David regis filia, 
 Sponsi fertur brachiis 
 Ad coeli sedilia, 
 Et arnica properat 
 Sponsum, quo abierat, 
 Quserens inter lilia. 
 
 She, abounding in delights, 
 Child of David's kingly line, 
 Borne to the celestial heights 
 In the Bridegroom's arms divine, 
 Hastes to seek Him, as His love. 
 Thither, where He passed above, 
 Where the mystic lilies shine. 
 
 I raised thee up under the apple tree. It will be 
 easy for us, observes Theodoret, to understand these 
 words, if we remember what the Bride said in the 
 earlier part of this Book. For she said to the Bride- 
 groom, "As the apple tree among the trees of the 
 wood, so is my Beloved among the sons. I sat down 
 under His shadow with great delight, and His fruit 
 was sweet to my taste." For when we, believing 
 the preaching concerning our Savioue, have come to 
 Holy Baptism, so coming, we receive regeneration, 
 wherefore is added, Thei^e thy mother brought thee 
 forth, for it is the grace of the Holy Ghost which 
 hath borne us. But the general consent of the Latin 
 Fathers takes the words differently, following also, as 
 they do, the Vulgate reading in the second clause, 
 There thy mother was defiled, there ivas she forced 
 that hare thee} By the apple tree, notes Cassiodorus, 
 we should understand the Lobd's Cross, under which 
 
 Perhaps reading nbnn for ^n^^n. 
 
VIIL5.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 353 
 
 tree the Synagogue was raised up, because she was 
 redeemed by the Cross of Cheist from the rebellion 
 of original sin, and from the power of the devil ; she 
 was raised up, who had been dead in sin. I raised GuUielmus. 
 tliee up, saith the Bridegroom, for My redeeming 
 Blood poured on thee in five streams from My Body 
 as it hung upon the Tree. And as the LXX. and 
 Arabic read. There thy mother bore thee with pangs, a 
 Greek Father adds, The Church was brought forth phiio Carp, 
 with pangs of heart and body on the Cross ; for the 
 Flesh of Cheist, suflfering the torture of the Cross, 
 brought forth a Bride for itself redeemed with His 
 Blood, regenerated and washed with the water from 
 His side, united and bound to Him, and to His abid- 
 ing Godhead, by the Holy Ghost. 
 
 When we remember how He sought His love, the 
 Church, while she was still under the rule of her mo- 
 ther the Synagogue, how He made His first visit to DeMo. 
 woo her when He went up to Jerusalem at twelve years corn. L Lap. 
 of age, and sat in the midst of the doctors in the Temple, 
 and how He died by the sin of His people, we may see 
 the aptness of that citation from a heathen poet which 
 several of the later commentators adduce : 
 
 Sepibus in nostris parvam te roscida mala Virg. Eclog. 
 
 (Dux ego vester eram) vidi cum matre legentem, viii. 37. 
 
 Alter ab undecimo turn me jam ceperat annus ; 
 Jam fragiles poteram a terra contingere ramos, 
 Ut vidi, ut peril, ut me mains abstulit error ! 
 
 I saw thee, yet a child, 
 (Myself your leader) by our garden hedge 
 Plucking the dewy apples with thy mother, 
 Then my twelfth year of life was just attained, 
 And I could reach the frail boughs from the ground, 
 I saw, I died, ill error wrought me woe. 
 
 Another interpretation, closer to the Hebrew text, Ainsworth. 
 ascribes the words to the Bride, who is here represented 
 as it were in travail with Cheist, and therefore an 
 especial type of His Mother. She raises her Beloved Lyranus. 
 up under the apple tree when she invokes Him to aid 
 her, in the words, " By Thy Cross and Passion, (>ood 
 LoED, deliver us." And under that Tree His dear 
 Mother was outraged, when the cruelty of the Jews 
 iaused the sword of Simeon's prophecy to pierce her 
 virgin heart. The Vulgate rendering of the latter 
 clause finds its interpretation in that the Synagogue 
 
 A A 
 
354 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [YIII. 5. 
 
 Cassiodor. 
 S. Greg. M. 
 Dion. Carth 
 S. Ambros. 
 de Isaac. 8. 
 
 was defiled and defloioered under the Tree by her own 
 sin in crucifying her Lokd, and imprecating the curse 
 of His Blood on herself and her children. S. Ambrose, 
 taking the whole verse in a slightly different sense, 
 understands by the apple tree public confession of 
 Cheist's Passion and triumph, and by the mother 
 who there brings forth the devout soul, the Church, 
 
 s, John i. 48. or divine grace. And as the Loed saw Nathaniel 
 under the fig tree, so, he adds, happy is that soul 
 which rests beneath a fruitful and fragrant tree, for if 
 Nathaniel was good, in whom was no guile, and who was 
 seen under a fig tree, doubtless that soul is good which 
 is raised up under the apple tree by the Bridegroom, 
 for it is a greater thing to be raised up than to be 
 seen, and greater still that the raiser should be the 
 
 s Ans L ud Si'i^isgroom. S. Anselm of Laon will have it that 
 . ^j^^ Cross is called an apple tree, to remind us of that 
 tree of knowledge in Paradise whereby our first pa- 
 rents sinned, and he recounts the twofold legend that 
 the Cross was actually made of wood sprung from a 
 bough of that tree, and that it was set up on the very 
 spot where Adam lay buried. And though we may 
 not receive the legend itself, yet there is no need to 
 turn away from the allegory it contains : 
 
 Donne, 
 Divine 
 Poems, 
 
 "We think that Paradise and Calvary 
 
 Christ's Cross and Adam's tree, stood in one place ; 
 
 Look, Lord ! and find both Adams met in me : 
 As the first Adam's sweat surrounds my face, 
 May the last Adam's Blood my soul embrace. 
 
 So in His purple Avrapped, receive me, Lord ! 
 
 By these His thorns give me His other crown ; 
 And as to others' souls I preached Thy Word, 
 
 Be this my text, my sermon to mine own ; 
 
 Therefore, that He may raise, the Lord throws down. 
 
 Com. h. Lap, 
 
 Delitzsch. 
 Renan. 
 
 Canta- 
 cuzene. 
 
 But, whereas the all but universal consent of the Fa- 
 thers ascribes the verse to the Bridegroom, the He- 
 brew text, as now read, makes the suffixes masculine, 
 and therefore holds that the Bride is the speaker, 
 though many scholars have urged that the points 
 ought to be changed, as the sense clearly makes for 
 the traditional interpretation. If, however, the pre- 
 sent pointing stand, there are not wanting expositions, 
 I raised Thee up, that is, I brought Thee forth, that 
 Thou mightest in turn bring forth the fruit of life ; I 
 raised Thee up under the apple tree, because my sin 
 
VIII. 6.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 355 
 
 in eating of the forbidden fruit was the cause of Thy 
 death upon the Cross. Or, I raised Thee up, myself Tigurinus. 
 being under Thy Cross, crying to Thee in prayer to y . ^j 
 help me in my need, that the Cross might be to me 
 for pardon, grace, and salvation. 
 
 6 Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a 
 seal upon thine arm ; for love is strong as 
 death ; jealousy is cruel as the grave : the coals 
 thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most 
 vehement flame. 
 
 There is in this verse also a diversity of opinion as 
 to the speaker. The Hebrew points ascribe it to the 
 Bride, the great majority of the Fathers to the Bride- 
 groom. Taking these views in their order, we find, 
 in the first place, that the Targum paraphrases thus : Targum. 
 " The children of Israel will say in that day unto their 
 LoED : I pray Thee, set us as the graving of a ring 
 upon Thine heart, and as the graving of a ring upon 
 Thine arm, that we may be exiles no longer." 
 
 The Bride desires to be ever close to her Bride- 
 groom's person, to be His peculiar property, to bear 
 upon herself the inscription of His Name, to be the 
 means wherewith He stamps and marks the sheep of 
 His pasture. Signets were worn upon the breast or 
 upon the arm, amongst the ancient Hebrews and 
 Egyptians, suspended by a cord, as well as set in 
 rings for the finger, and it is to this custom that the 
 verse refers. And the force of the metaphor is clearly 
 brought out in one passage of Holy Writ, " As I live, Jer. xxii. 24. 
 saith the Lord, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, 
 King of Judah, were the signet upon My right hand, 
 yet would I pluck thee thence." Another meaning of Ainsworth. 
 the petition may refer to the " breastplate of judg- 
 ment" worn by the High Priest, with its twelve jewels 
 " with the names of the children of Israel, twelve, ac- j, , 
 cording to their names, like the engravings of a signet," 21. " 
 that he might never forget them when pleading the 
 sacrifices before God, as is written in another place, 
 
 Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of My jgg^ ^^^ jg 
 
 hands, thy walls are ever before Me." The Bride 
 
 therefore implores the love of her Spouse and Priest, 
 
 ll signified by His heart, and His power, denoted by His 
 
 arm, to aid her and commemorate her unceasingly in 
 
 aa2 
 
 I 
 
356 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [VIII. 6. 
 
 Rupert. 
 
 Philo Carp. 
 
 S. Mat. xvi. 
 24. 
 
 Theodoret. 
 
 Exod. xxix. 
 27. 
 
 Cassiodor, 
 S. Just. Org, 
 
 Luc. Abb. 
 
 tlie perpetual mediation of His everlasting Priesthood 
 before the golden altar in heaven. The one old com- 
 mentator who takes the words as spoken by the Bride 
 gives, however, a different explanation from this. "O 
 my Beloved," says he, speaking in the person of the 
 Bride, "what is Thy heart in this world, and what 
 Thine arm, save the Scriptures of truth, which are 
 written after Thine own heart, and the record of Thy 
 wondrous works, whence is known how great and 
 mighty is Thine arm ? Set me as a seal upon that 
 heart of Thine, set me as a seal upon that arm of 
 Thine. Wherefore ? Because of the triple rage which 
 lifts its voice against me, Jewish, pagan, heretical. I 
 am ready, I am prepared, I am sworn, on my part, to 
 defend that heart of Thine, to guard that Thine arm 
 as Thine imperial signet, as Thy faithful testimony, 
 with wondrous vigour, with wondrous hardness, which 
 no man can break through." But the more usual 
 view has been copiously illustrated by the Fathers, 
 and that with sufficient diversity. It is, one of the 
 earlier commentators on the Song of Songs tells us, the 
 seal and sign of the Cross which needs to be impressed 
 first on the heart, and then on the arm of the Bride, 
 that we may learn to imitate our Head, so far as may 
 be, by giving up our own will and all desire of earthly 
 things beyond mere necessaries, as the Bridegroom 
 Himself has taught us, saying, " If any man will come 
 after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, 
 and foUow Me." The heart is the contemplative, the 
 arm the active portion of the soul, which is the reason 
 why the breast and the shoulder of sacrifices were set 
 apart for the priests from the offerings of the people. 
 Our Savioue therefore desires that we should have 
 Him impressed as a seal upon all our thoughts and 
 reasonings, and to stamp His mark upon our words 
 and deeds. Tor so shall they be royal medals, and no 
 false coin, but bearing the image of the King. Cas- 
 siodorus, less forcibly, explains the words merely of 
 keeping Cheist's benefits to us in our memories ; but 
 another gives fresh point to the idea, by comparing 
 the impress on the heart to the private watchword 
 given by a general to his soldiers, by which to distin- 
 guish friend from foe, and the seal on the arm to be 
 an outer badge of his service, that none may in error 
 wound his fellow-soldier. And the soul needs to have 
 as the seal on her heart the devout belief that Cheist 
 
VIII. 6.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 357 
 
 is the Wisdom of God, upon her arm the not less deep 
 certainty that He is the Power of God too. Again, s. ciem. 
 as one use of a seal is to protect secrets from prying Alex, 
 eyes, so Christ, as the Bridegroom, gives His spouse ^^^^^- "^• 
 a signet whereby she may seal up the treasures of 
 their house, which are intrusted to her charge. And ^- ^^^^s- m. 
 He is Himself this seal, set upon our heart, when the °^-^^^-*- 
 mysteries of the Faith are committed to our charge, 
 in such wise that when the enemy sees that our hearts 
 are sealed with faith, he dares not attempt to force 
 them open by temptation. We are then to keep our Beda. 
 dear Loed as a seal upon both heart and arm, by re- 
 membering that all His words and all His actions are 
 alike secrets and mysteries, belonging to Divine Wis- 
 dom, and given to us to ponder and imitate. Also, as 
 a seal gives authenticity and force to a deed, so we 
 have Christ set as a seal upon our heart and arm, 
 when we accept and follow His commandments as 
 the sure pledges of the reward He prepares for us. 
 Christ, observes a Western Father, is a seal on our g ^mbpos, 
 foreheads, a seal on our heart. On the forehead, that de Isaac, 8. 
 we may ever confess Him ; on the heart, that we may 
 ever love Him ; and a seal on our arm, that we may 
 ever work for Him. And as the seal is also a mark of 
 ownership, another Saint paraphrases thus : " Set Me S-Ans.Laud. 
 as the ruler of thy heart and thoughts, that My friends 
 may plainly see that thou boldest My secrets, and 
 Mine enemies may as plainly know that the secrets 
 thou possessest are closed to them, and that thou hast 
 Me as thy guide in all thy works." The power which 
 presses down this seal, so that it leaves its stamp 
 indelibly upon heart and arms is, they wisely tell 
 us, love. " Be thou printed by Me, as by a seal, Guilieimus. 
 clinging to Me closely by love, that thou mayest 
 receive Mine image as from a seal, and derive likeness 
 unto Me from that clearly-cut impression. And as 
 forcible as is the impress of love, so distinct will be 
 the expression of likeness, and the more eagerly thou 
 clingest to Me by love, the more like Me shalt thou 
 be. The more forcibly thou pressest thyself against 
 Me, the more clearly shall I, Christ, be formed in 
 thee, and thou be transformed and reformed in Me." 
 So S. Jane Frances de Chantal branded the Holy 
 Name upon her heart, that she might never forget her 
 Lord, but ever ponder upon His marvellous grace, 
 and on the yet more painful graving of our names on 
 
358 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [VIII. 6. 
 
 Cassiod, 
 
 Hupton, 
 The Hymn, 
 Come, ye 
 faithful. 
 
 S. Ambros. 
 Serm. 15 in 
 Ps. cxix. 
 
 His Heart and arms, by the nails of the Cross and the 
 spear of the soldier. 
 
 For love is strong as death. Whose love ? We 
 may take it in two ways, — the love of God towards 
 man, or the love of man towards God. The love of 
 ofon^Carth. Cheist for US was strong as death, because it made 
 Him, though immortal and impassible in His divine 
 nature, endure bitter pangs and death for our redemp- 
 tion. 
 
 Ere He raised the lofty mountains, 
 Formed the sea, or built the skj'^, 
 
 Love eternal, free and boundless, 
 Forced the Lord of Life to die, — 
 
 Lifted up the Prince of princes 
 On the throne of Calvary. 
 
 And man's love to Him, though falling infinitely short 
 of His, may yet be as strong as death, and that in two 
 ways, by the mortification of sin, and by the endurance 
 of martyrdom. Love, observes S. Ambrose, (taking 
 the former of these views,) is strong as death, for love 
 slays guilt and every sin ; love destroys the blows of 
 death. And, besides, we die to our vices and to sin 
 when we love God's commandments. God is love, 
 love is the Woed of God, which " is quick, and power- 
 ful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing 
 even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of 
 the joints and marrow." And so too another Saint, 
 working the idea out further : That which death ef- 
 fects in the bodily senses, love does in the desires of 
 the mind. For there are some who so love God as 
 to take no heed of any visible things, and while strain- 
 ing in soul towards that which is eternal, they become 
 almost insensible to all temporal matters. In such as 
 these, without doubt, love is strong as death, because 
 as death destroys all the natural properties and desires 
 of the outward bodily senses, so love in men of this 
 stamp, forces them to desjDise all earthly inclinations, 
 and to keep the thought fixed elsewhere. To those 
 who are dead and yet alive in this way the Apostle 
 saith, " Ye are dead, and your life is hid with Cheist 
 in God." And in the other sense they remind us 
 of the joy with which the Martyrs faced torture 
 and death for the sake of their Loed, not merely bear- 
 ing, but welcoming the pangs which were bringing 
 them to Him. So in many of their Acts, so in many 
 of the hymns which commemorate them. There is a 
 
 S. Greg:. M. 
 
 Col. iii. 3. 
 Philo Carp. 
 
VIII. 6.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 359 
 
 third reason why love is strong as death, common to _ . , , 
 God and man ; namely, its constraining might, for 
 God's love compels man's salvation, man's love wins an- 
 swer from God to prayer. And therefore the Doctor 
 of Grace, summing up all these, observes, " Love is s. August, 
 rightly called strong as death, either because no one s.^i/ieron. 
 can conquer it, any more than death, or because in 
 this life the measure of love is until death, as the Loed g j x^ 
 saith, ' Greater love hath no man than this, that a man 13. 
 lay down his life for his friends,' or rather, that as 
 death forces the soul away from the bodily senses, so 
 does love force it from carnal desires." That great 
 light of the Church of France, who earned by learning 
 and holiness the title of the Most Christian Doctor, 
 closing his life, like S. Gregory Nyssen, S. Bernard, 
 Gilbert of Hoyland, and S. Thomas of Villanova, while 
 labouring on the Song of Songs, repeated these words 
 over again and again in his last sickness, as he medi- 
 tated on the Passion which had ransomed him, and fell 
 asleep at last, saying, " Love is strong as death." 
 
 Jealousy is cruel as the grave. The word hard, as 
 given in the margin of A. V., is better than cruel, and 
 agrees with the LXX. and Vulgate. The varying 
 meaning of the first word in the two great versions has 
 led to different treatment by the Eastern and Western 
 Fathers. The LXX. f^Aos is usually explained as zeal, 
 the Vulgate cemulatio as rivalry or as envy. Taking 
 the former, we observe.further that the LXX. correctly 
 renders the Hebrew /liStZ^ sheol, which means the 
 place of all departed spirits, by Hades. Neither the 
 Vulgate infernus, which in Christian language denotes 
 the place of punishment, nor the A. V. grave, which 
 goes no further than the idea of sepulture, is at all so 
 exact as this. Two widely different interpretations 
 are found in two nearly contemporary Greek Fathers. 
 One tells us that the zeal for God which we ought to poiychro- 
 feel and display against sin, should be as relentless as nius. 
 death, and like that of Phinehas and Elijah, who slew 
 the rebels against God, a view not very unlike that of 
 Eupert, who explains the words of Ecclesiastical cen- Rupert, 
 sures and excommunication. Another, in a far more Phiio Carp, 
 loving spirit, tells us that zeal is hard as Hades, for 
 that just as Hades itself formed no obstacle to the 
 Bridegroom, when He descended thither to deliver the 
 souls of them who had gone down there before His 
 
360 A COMMENTARY ON [VIII. 6. 
 
 Advent, so it is no barrier now to our prayers, which 
 we can still offer for the faithful departed, who are 
 there undergoing the purification which is to fit them 
 for their dwelling in heaven. The same Father shows 
 that our zeal may be as strong as Hades in another 
 way, that as those who pass into the unseen world are 
 stripped thereby of all their earthly possessions, so too 
 such as are inspired with true zeal for Christ are 
 ready to give up father and mother, wife and brethren, 
 houses and lands, for His sake and the Gospel's, and 
 to follow Him with neither staff, nor scrip, nor purse, 
 
 Dion. Carth. a thing which is, as a Western writer notes, hard as 
 hell to those who do not truly love God. Akin to this 
 
 s. Just. Org. is one Latin exposition, which says that as rivalry 
 is hard as hell, so the Saints, imitating Cheist, do not 
 hesitate to undergo suffering and death in loving emu- 
 
 Cassiodor. j^tion of Him. His rivalry with hell in contending 
 for man's redemption was hard as it, for as hell never 
 yields up those it has once received, so Christ's love 
 never lets go those it has ever embraced ; wherefore 
 
 Rom. viii. ^]^g Apostle saith, " Who shall separate us from the 
 love of Christ ? shall tribulation, or distress, or per- 
 secution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword ?" 
 And as hell knows not pity, nor any alleviation of the 
 pains of sufferers, so Christ's love can never cease to 
 be merciful, nor can it be wrenched from the love of 
 mankind by any wickedness on the part of those that 
 
 S.Ans.Laud. persecute Him. Again ; the yearning of the devout 
 soul for God is hard as hell, because of the pain and 
 restlessness it occasions, knowing no satiety in doing 
 and giving all for the Beloved. And so S. Teresa : 
 
 S, Teresa, Oh, what a bitter Hfe is this, 
 
 TheRhythm, Deprived of God, its only bliss ; 
 
 Vivo, sin ^^^ what though Love delicious be, 
 
 ^i^^rinme. Not so is Hope deferred : 
 
 Ah then, dear Lord, in charity, 
 
 This iron weight of misery 
 From my poor soul ungird. 
 
 For evermore I weep and sigh, 
 
 Dying because I do not die. 
 
 Absent from Thee, my Saviour dear, 
 
 I call not life this living here, 
 But a long dying agony, 
 The sharpest I have known ; 
 
 And I myself, myself to see 
 
 On such a rack of misery. 
 For very pity moan, 
 
 And ever, ever, weep and sigh. 
 
 Dying because I do not die. 
 
Vni. 6.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 361 
 
 And in that other sense of envy, they explain this jea- Cassiodor. 
 lousy to denote the bitter hostility with which the 
 Synagogue pursued the Lokd and His disciples, per- 
 secuting them even unto death ; an envy manifested 
 still by false Christians in the relentless hatred they ^^^' '^^^• 
 bear to the Church, the Bride of the Lamb. Tlie coals 
 thereof are coals of fire. For coals, (more properly 
 glowiiigs) the Vulgate reads lamps, and theLXX., per- 
 haps having regard to the rapid flashings of fire, or to 
 the whirling of sparks, reads wingings round, TTepiTrrepa. 
 And this the Greek Fathers interpret as meaning that Phiio Carp, 
 love of God serves as wings to the Bride to lift her Theodoret. 
 above the world and waft her to heaven. And S. Am- s. Ambros. 
 brose, following the same reading, adds, " Good is that ^^ Isaac, 8. 
 love which has burning wings of fire, whereon it flies 
 through the hearts of the Saints, scorching up what- 
 ever material or earthly is there, and tries whatever is 
 genuine, purifying what it touches with its flame. This 
 is the fire which Jesus sent upon earth, and therewith 
 faith glowed, devotion was kindled, love enlightened, 
 and righteousness made glorious. And with this fire 
 He inflamed the hearts of His Apostles, as Cleophas 
 beareth witness, saying, ' Did not our heart burn s. Luke 
 within us, while He opened to us the Scriptures ?' " ^^^'" 
 Following the Vulgate reading, Her lamps are lamps Cassiodor. 
 of fire and flames, we find the more usual exposition to 
 be that which sees here a type of the Saints. The 
 lamps of love are the hearts of the Saints, in which 
 love dwells, as though in vessels. These lamps are o/'Beda. 
 fire and fiames ; ot fire, because they glow in hearts 
 through love ; oi fiames, because they shine outwardly 
 in their works. It is the Lord's will that they should 
 do so, for He said to us, " Let your light so shine be- s. Mat. xx\ 
 fore men that they may see your good works." These ^• 
 are the lamps which the virgins must have when the 
 Bridegroom cometh, and they are to enter with Him 
 into the chamber of His everlasting kingdom. These 
 virgins have set His love and fear on their hearts and 
 arms, that is, have put all their thoughts and deeds 
 under His commands. Then are the lamps of the 
 foolish virgins extinguished, because the works which 
 they seemed to do before men shall be darkened, when 
 the inward Judge shall appear and make manifest the 
 secrets of all hearts, because they did their good works luc. Abb. 
 for the sake of human praise. The fire with which the 
 true lamps shine is the glow of the Holt Ghost, Who 
 
362 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [VIII. 6. 
 
 s. Just. Org. makes tliem bright in precept and example, and es- 
 pecially in the fervour of chastity, inasmuch as flame 
 is always pure. And in this sense the title of lamps 
 is given to eminent Saints, as to the Baptist in Holy 
 Scripture, and to the Apostles in ancient offices of the 
 Church, as, for instance, in the hymn, 
 
 S. John V, 
 35, Xv^vott 
 
 The Se- 
 quence, 
 Alleluia 
 nunc de- 
 cantet, in 
 Comm. 
 Apost. 
 
 Targdm. 
 
 These are lamps, with splendour shining 
 In the Face of God most High, 
 
 These the nobles of the Monarch, 
 Who is throned above the sky, 
 
 Salt of earth and light of mortals, 
 Stars that beam eternally. 
 
 And if, following the Targum, jealousy be here taken 
 in a bad sense, of the hostility of unbelievers to the 
 s. Greg. M. people of God, S. Gregory will tell us what its lamps 
 are, " As fire consumes what it kindles, so their envy 
 destroyed all the power of faith in the Jews. This fire 
 of envy shot forth flames when, by the examples of 
 those amongst whom it was kindled, it spread through 
 all the world, even amongst the Gentiles, to the mar- 
 tyrdom of Christians." Which hath a most vehement 
 Jlame. This clause is practically omitted by the LXX. 
 and Vulgate, because they both take it as no more 
 than an amplification of the word fii^e, occurring just 
 before. Nor does the A. V. do it much more justice. 
 The whole passage should run, *' The glowings thereof 
 are glowings of fire, aflame of Jah." This is the one 
 solitary place in the Song where the Great Name 
 occurs, and then only in a compound word, for it 
 would be a violation of the strict laws of allegory to 
 unite type and antitype in the one composition. The 
 flame of His love, then, which melted the hard hearts 
 of men, purging away the dross and leaving the pure 
 gold behind ; the flame of His love, which descended 
 in tongues of fire on the Apostles ; the flame of His 
 jealousy, burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire; 
 are alike divine, eternal, the emanation of His justice 
 and His mercy. A devout servant of God has coupled 
 these two ideas together in a hymn to the Holy 
 Paraclete : 
 
 Ains worth. 
 
 Cocceius. 
 
 S. Mat. iii. 
 12. 
 
 Bianco 
 da Siena, 
 The Hymn, 
 Discendi 
 Amor santo. 
 
 Come down, Love divine, 
 
 Seek Thou this soul of mine, 
 And visit it, with Thine own ardour glowing 
 
 Comforter, draw near, 
 
 Witliin my heart appear. 
 And kindle it, Thy holy tiame bestowing. 
 
Vin. 7.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 363 
 
 let it freely burn, 
 
 Till earthly passions turn 
 To dust and ashes in its heat consuming ; 
 
 And let Thy glorious light 
 
 Shine ever on my sight, 
 And clothe me round, the while my path illuming. 
 
 And therefore it follows most fitly : 
 
 7 Many waters cannot quench love^ neither 
 can the floods drown it : if a man would give 
 all the substance of his house for love, it would 
 utterly be contemned. 
 
 The waters and floods might perchance quench the Hugo Card. 
 lamps, but they cannot quench the exhaustless fountain 
 of heavenly fire at which those lamps are kindled, for 
 that fountain and stream of fire is Christ Himself. 
 The Targum here again gives the tone to the most Targum. 
 usual patristic interpretations. In it the many waters 
 are the nations of the world gathered together against 
 Israel, and the floods are the kings of the earth, en- 
 deavouring to uproot the chosen people, but alike un- 
 able to overcome the mercy of God. So the Christian Cassiodor. 
 teachers tell us that the waters and floods are the ^^'^■^°^^- 
 fierce threats of persecutors, or even their flatteries, 
 whereby they endeavour to separate the Saints from 
 the love of God. And of these threats the Lord saith 
 in the Gospel touching the man who built his house 
 on a rock : " The floods came, the winds blew, and S- Mat. vU. 
 beat upon that house, and it fell not, for it was founded 
 upon a rock." The holy Martyrs, comments S. Gre- s. Greg. M. 
 gory the Great, burned so with charity as to blaze 
 forth marvellously in love of God and their neigh- 
 bours. Many waters could not quench this love, be- 
 cause their sufferings, how great soever, could never 
 change them into hatred. For this would have been 
 the quenching of love, if by the sufferings heaped 
 upon them, they could have been lowered so far as to 
 hate God or their neighbours. And Theodoret gives Theodoret. 
 another part of the same picture to our view, by citing 
 the troubles through which the Saints of the Old 
 Covenant, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses and Joshua, 
 Samuel and David, Elijah and Elisha, Daniel and the 
 Three Children passed. The last example is also cited 
 by S. Ambrose, showing that the miracle wrought in s.Ambros. 
 
364 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [VIII. 7. 
 
 Dan. iii. 25. 
 Hugo Card. 
 Isa. xliii. 2. 
 
 Ps.lxix. 1,2 
 
 Honorius. 
 
 Guilielmus. 
 
 S. Leo M. 
 
 Henr. Har- 
 phius. 
 
 Wisd. xvi. 
 17. 
 
 Hugo Card. 
 
 S. Mat. 
 xxvii. 34. 
 
 Targum. 
 
 Cassiod. 
 
 the fiery furnace is the exact converse of the spiritual 
 marvel here described, and identical with it in mean- 
 ing. It is the same thing if fire fail to burn and if 
 waters fail to quench. And the reason is the same in 
 both cases, because beside the sufferer stands the Form 
 of the Son of God, Who saith, " When thou passest 
 through the waters, I will be with thee ; and through 
 the rivers, they shall not overflow thee : when thou 
 walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned ; 
 neither shall the flame kindle upon thee." And we 
 know that we can trust His promise, for His love was 
 not quenched nor overwhelmed when that was fulfilled 
 which He spake by the Psalmist : " The waters are 
 come in, even unto My soul ; I am come into deep 
 waters, so that the floods run over Me." And as 
 they distinguish between ivaters and floods, as noting 
 severally temptations and persecutions, striving to put 
 out the fire of love, so they distinguish also between 
 quenching and overivlielming , as the first is effected when 
 the light of holiness flickers, wanes, and goes out, ut- 
 terly exhausted, through the allurements of sin ; and 
 the second when terror or violence from without over- 
 throws the lamp, leaving it dark and useless for the 
 time within the heart, the mere corpse of itself, but 
 capable of being rekindled, as it was in S. Peter after 
 his fall. Not only do the waters and floods fail to 
 quench love, but " which is most to be wondered at, 
 the fire had more force in the water, that quencheth 
 all things, for the world fighteth for the righteous." 
 Cardinal Hugo, with a certain aptness, reminds his 
 readers of the Greek fire used in the warfare of his 
 days, which was said to burn fiercely in water, and to 
 be extinguishable by vinegar alone ; whence he draws 
 the lesson that though temptation and suffering cannot 
 hurt love, yet hatred, which is the vinegar put to 
 the lips of the dying Saviour, can quench it, and there- 
 fore, " when He had tasted thereof, He would not 
 drink." 
 
 If a man were to give all the substance of his house 
 for love, it tvould utterly he contemned. Once more 
 the Chaldee paraphrase will help us. " If a man give 
 all the substance of his house, that he may gain wis- 
 dom in the Captivity, I will render him twofold in the 
 world to come, and all the spoil which he shall take in 
 the camp of Gog, shall be his." The verse, says Cas- 
 siodorus, needs no explanation, for no worldly sub- 
 
iii 8. 
 
 VIII. 7.] '^H^ ^^^'^ ^^ SONGS. 365 
 
 stance and no riclies are auglit in comparison \vitli 
 love. We read that the Saints gave up all ior the 
 love of Cheist, and yet they seemed to themselves to 
 give up nothing in comparison with that love which 
 was so dear to them. Wherefore the Apostle, when 
 he had not only given up worldly possessions, but the 
 traditions of his fathers, for Cheist, said, " I count all pm 
 things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge ot 
 Cheist Jesus my Loed ; for AVhom I have suflered 
 the loss of all things, and do count them but dung 
 that I may win Cheist." - O love,' exclaims a ho y Hugo vic- 
 writer of a later time, " if I knew thy worth, I should t«>^"^- 
 be ready to pay the price. But it may be that thou ex- 
 ceedest my narrow means, and thy price is not m my 
 power. Yet I will give that I have, and all that 1 have, 
 and will barter all my house for thee, and when I have 
 given all, I will count it as nothing. All the pleasures ot 
 my flesh, all the enjoyments of my heart, I wiU cheer- 
 fully give up for thee, that I may possess thee alone. 
 Thou alone art dearer to me, thou alone more valuable, 
 sweeter, more pleasant, more delighting, more satis- 
 fying, preserving more safely, protecting more hap- 
 nHv '' It needs not, adds another, takmg up this Henr 
 saying, that thou shouldest doubt, O man; for He Harph. 
 wills that all should be satisfied with this love Who 
 graciously invites us all to this fountain of life, say- 
 mg "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the isa.iv.i. 
 waters, and he that hath no money ; come ye, buy, 
 and eat ; yea, come, buy wine and milk without 
 money and without price." But we must buy the 
 pearl of great price with our own money, not with 
 that which is the Loed's, Whose is the earth and 
 the fulness thereof, to wit, all things temporal, bo- 
 dHy, spiritual, and eternal. The price of this pearl 
 lies hid within ourselves, and we must therefore open 
 our purse, and produce our own money. Our purse 
 is our heart, in which lies hid our money, that is, 
 our faults and sins, which, paid out by lowly con- 
 trition and true confession, the Loed and Fount ot 
 Love willingly accepts as the price of love. Hear 
 David paying this price, " I said, I will confess my ps. xxxU. 
 sins unto the Loed." Hear him receivmg the pearl 
 of Divine love, " And so Thou forgavest the wicked- 
 ness of my sin." O boundless sea of love, what doest 
 Thou, what dost Thou endure ? O height of the wis- 
 dom of God, which passest all understandmg, how 
 
366 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [VIII. 8. 
 
 Tliou seemest as though made foolish by love, gladly 
 receiving the coins of our sins, and mercifully bestow- 
 ing the plenteous gift of Thy love, to make us blest 
 therewith for evermore ! 
 
 The LXX. reading somewhat differs from the Vul- 
 gate and A. V., and runs. If a man give all his sub- 
 stance in love, they will contemn him with cd^temjpt. 
 That is, says Theodoret, whoever gives away all his 
 goods in charity, will be despised by those who are 
 1 Cor.iv. 12. not charitable, as the Apostle saith : " Being reviled, 
 we bless ; being persecuted, we suffer it ; being de- 
 famed, we intreat : we are made as the filth of the 
 world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this 
 day." The Three Fathers say that those who will so 
 despise the liberal giver are the evil spirits. S. Am- 
 ser. 2iinPs. l^^ose sorrowfully adds, that such mockers will be 
 ^^^^* found even in the Church of God, and among the 
 
 followers of the Crucified. And no marvel, as another 
 observes, for Christ Himself, the Head, fared no 
 better than His members, when He counted all the 
 substance of His house, all the Divine glory of His 
 G-odhead, all the time of His mortal sojourn, as no- 
 thing, but gave up all for love, and was despised and 
 mocked, spitted on, scourged and crucified by the 
 Chief Priests and Pharisees, who utterly contemned 
 Him. 
 
 Theodoret. 
 
 Tres Patr. 
 S. Ambros 
 
 Philo Carp. 
 
 Theodoret. 
 
 8 We have a little sister^ and she hath no 
 breasts : what shall we do for our sister in the 
 day when she shall be spoken for ? 
 
 There is a variance as to the speaker here. The 
 Targum and some of the Greek Fathers take the verse 
 as uttered by the Bride, the majority of Latins wiU 
 have it that it is the Bridegroom's, and S. Ambrose 
 gives it to the daughters of Jerusalem, agreeing therein 
 with Theodoret, who assumes the Saints of the Old 
 Testament to be the speakers. There is no real an- 
 tagonism between the first and second of these views, 
 since at this part of the Song the Bridegroom and 
 Bride are represented as so united that their posses- 
 sions are in common. Hence, whichever speaks, says 
 w^e, not I have a sister. There is complete agreement 
 in the next point, which is that the condition of an 
 imperfect Church or soul, not yet fitted for spiritual 
 
YIII. 8.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 367 
 
 bridal, incapable of producing offspring, or supplying 
 milk to babes, is here symbolized. But the views 
 again diverge as to the particular object intended. 
 The most satisfactory view is also one of the oldest, s*Gre*^°M 
 that the Gentile Church, in its lowly beginnings, when * ^* 
 it depended on the Apostles and other Jewish teachers 
 for all instruction in Divine things, is represented 
 under this figure of an immature maiden. Another Tres Patr. 
 view sees here the Synagogue, converted at the close Honorius! 
 of the world, a younger sister of the Church, as but 
 recently born again in Baptism ; little, because few in 
 number and weak in faith and steadfastness, and with- 
 out breasts, as having few or no preachers of her own 
 nation, and rather leaning on the aid of the elder 
 sister to teach her children. She is Cheist's sister Guiiieimus. 
 too, not only because of His descent from Abraham, 
 but because she will come in the latter days to the full 
 glory of being so entitled by Himself. The soul which Luc. Abb. 
 is just beginning to believe in Christ and to be fed p^^.^^ ^ 
 with the milk of faith, but is yet uninstructed in the 
 two Testaments and in the two great precepts of the 
 Gospel, is also a little sister of the more advanced and 
 perfect Christians, and is not rejected, but permitted 
 and encouraged to pray for increase of knowledge and 
 charity. 
 
 What shall toe do for our sister in the day ivhen she 
 shall he spoTcen for ? That is, in the day when she cocceius. 
 shall be asked in marriage, as may be seen by com- Ainsworth. 
 paring that other text, " And David sent and com- i Sam. xxv. 
 muned (lit. " spake concerning") with Abigail, to take ^9- 
 her to him to wife ;" and the difficulty proposed is that 
 which so long disturbed the early Church, as to the 
 relations which were to exist between the new Gentile 
 communities and the race and polity which gave them 
 their doctrines and laws ; whether the new Churches 
 of Asia Minor, Greece, and Italy were to be retained 
 in a sort of tutelage nnder Jewish supremacy, like the 
 proselytes of the old Law, or to be given full powers 
 of self-government, and exempted from the ceremonial 
 precepts of the Mosaic dispensation. But the Hebrew, 
 being a little vague in expression, may be rendered 
 also, when speech shall he made of her, whether for or 
 against ; or even in her. The former of these is the 
 Chaldee explanation, which represents the Angels as Targum. 
 asking what shall be done for Israel in the day when 
 the Gentile nations shall speak together of warring 
 
368 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [VIII. 9. 
 
 Rupert. 
 Hugo Card. 
 Dion. Carth. 
 
 Cassiodor. 
 
 S. Greg. M, 
 
 Philo Carp. 
 
 Ains worth. 
 
 Honorius. 
 
 against lier. And not unlike this is the explanation 
 of some Latin writers, though following the Vulgate 
 rendering, when she shall he spoJcen to ; namely, that 
 the words refer to the interrogation put by Nero and 
 other Pagan rulers to the Church, asking her concern- 
 ing her belief and practice. And when the question 
 was first put, in the earliest persecution at Home, the 
 Gentile Church was indeed little, and without breasts, 
 in that she had no native teachers and but small ac- 
 quaintance with the Law out of which the Gospel had 
 sprung. Another view is that the little sister is spoken 
 to when God addresses the Church or any faithful 
 soul either by secret inspiration or by outward preach- 
 ing, and that the Holy Teinity debates, as it were, 
 whether she is to be intrusted with only the minor 
 precepts of the Faith, or, to the end that she may be- 
 come great, with the deeper mysteries of heavenly 
 secrets. And in this sense the day in which she was 
 so spoken to was that Day of Pentecost, when Christ 
 sent the Holy Ghost on the Apostles, and speaking 
 to them inwardly, taught tliem all the languages of 
 the world. And Philo, explaining the LXX. reading, 
 in the day wherein if it he spohen in her, as though it 
 stood for when she hath sjpoTcen within herself, inter- 
 prets the words as denoting that stage of spiritual pro- 
 gress which leads to careful self-examination and to 
 calls for the aid of the brethren of the young sister, 
 those teachers of the Church whose task it is then 
 to assist her with counsel and prayer. There are 
 yet two other interpretations ; one somewhat resem- 
 bling this, namely, that the words are those of long- 
 established Churches, considering what is to be done 
 to help and encourage a newly-planted one, in the day 
 when its progress and good works are such as to cause 
 it to be spoken of and praised for its zeal. The other, 
 conversely, takes the day to be that of temptation and 
 trial, when the adversary is speaking against the youth- 
 ful maiden, and there is need that she should be de- 
 fended against his craft by older and wiser friends, 
 so that nothing may hinder her from being, in good 
 time, the Bride of her Beloved. 
 
 9 If she be a wall, we will build upon her 
 a palace of silver : and if she be a door^ we 
 will inclose her with boards of cedar. 
 
Vni. 9.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 369 
 
 The Bride of Cheist, whether Church or soul, is 
 both toall and door, and therefore fitted to receive the 
 costly decorations promised by the speakers, whether 
 these be the Blessed Teinity, the Angels, (as the 
 Targum holds) or the daughters of Jerusalem. The s. Ambros. 
 Church, comments S. Ambrose, is a wall, which has fn^'^x^x 
 twelve Apostolic gates, through which access into the ^^ 
 City is afforded to the nations. But even though a 
 wall include the circuit of the entire city, yet it is all 
 the stronger, if it have hattlements (LXX. and Vulg.) 
 prepared, whence the garrison can safely keep a look- 
 out. Yet as this city is rational, and all its hope is in 
 God, it needs not iron battlements, but silver ones, 
 since it is more wont to repel the attacks of the enemy 
 with the sacred writings than with bodily pleasures. 
 Defended with such a bulwark, shining with such splen- 
 dour, she is counted fitter for union with Cheist. And 
 since Cheist is the Door, Who saith, " By Me if any s. John x. 9. 
 man enter in, he shall be saved," so the Church also 
 is called a door, because through her there is a way 
 made to salvation for the people. Lest this door 
 should be eaten away by the moths and worms of 
 heretics, the daughters of Jerusalem, or the Angels, 
 or the souls of the righteous, say, We will inclose her 
 with hoards of cedar, that is, the sweet perfume of a 
 lofty faith, which neither worm nor moth can injure. 
 Cassiodorus prefers to divide, instead of blending, the Cassiodor. 
 two metaphors, and will have it that the wall de- 
 notes the abler and more learned disciples won over 
 by Apostolic teaching, to whom, as capable of defend- 
 ing others as well as themselves, the custody of Holy 
 Writ is assigned. The door represents the weaker 
 converts, unable to resist any powerful attack, but 
 useful in their degree, as teaching the easier and sim- 
 pler doctrines of the Faith, and admitting fresh disciples 
 by Baptism and the other Sacraments into fellowship 
 with the Church. These are to be fortified with the 
 examples of the Fathers who preceded them, who, like 
 cedars with their incorruptible timber, have works 
 which fade not, and who are broad like hoards in the 
 width of their knowledge and charity. For the width 
 of the boards denotes the width of the heart (wherein 
 there ought to be width of charity and knowledge,) as 
 the Psalmist saith, " I have run the way of Thy com- pg ^xix. 32, 
 mandments, when Thou didst widen mine heart." Viiig, 
 With these boards of cedar, then, we inclose this door, 
 
 B B 
 
370 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [vin. 10. 
 
 S. Just. Org, 
 
 Delrio. 
 
 Philo Carp. 
 Ps. xcii. 11. 
 
 Sanchez. 
 Corn. kLap 
 
 Rosen- 
 m tiller, 
 Hitzig, &c. 
 
 Guilielmus. 
 Card. Hail- 
 grin. 
 
 Hugo Card. 
 Cantacu- 
 zene. 
 
 Ezek. xliv. 
 2. 
 
 that is, with the examples of the Saints, that by imi- 
 tating them, there may be a gate or door of entrance 
 opened for others into the Church. Another ingenious 
 explanation of the door is, that as a door is opened and 
 shut only when wanted, so those members of the 
 Church who know when to speak and to be silent are 
 doors too, and are inclosed with boards of cedar when 
 they are taught to glory only in the Cross of the Loed 
 Jesus Cheist. Again, as the wall denotes firmness 
 and constancy, so the door is the type of docility and 
 obedience, admitting only the Master of the house and 
 His friends, while excluding all others, wherefore the 
 one is adorned with the pure and shining virtues of 
 holiness, and the other with the incorruption of that 
 practical life of devotion whereof is written, " The 
 righteous shall spread abroad like a cedar in Liba- 
 nus." 
 
 So far it is obvious that all the ancient commenta- 
 tors have taken the twofold clauses of this verse as 
 parallel, not as antithetical. But a theory was sug- 
 gested in the seventeenth century that the two sets of 
 ideas are opposed to one another, and that the mean- 
 ing is. If our sister remain pure, and resist all tempta- 
 tion, we will reward her with great gifts, but if she 
 allow ready access to every one, and yield to pressure, 
 then we will punish her by confining her closely. This 
 view has been adopted by most of the modern literalists, 
 but rejected by others on the very sufficient ground 
 that the silver battlements and cedar panels answer to 
 one another as costly decorations, and are not opposed 
 in any way as rewards and punishments, independently 
 of the tameness and obscurity of this new idea thus 
 introduced into the Song. It only remains to point 
 out the further meaning, that as some commentators 
 have seen in the preceding verse the Angels discussing 
 what should be done for the Blessed Virgin, in the 
 face of her vow of perpetual purity, on the day when 
 she should be addressed by Gabriel's greeting, so they 
 see here the pledge of those graces of shining and 
 constant faith and of incorruptible purity of soul and 
 body wherewith she was endowed, who was that temple 
 through whose gate the King alone had passage. 
 
 10 I am a wall, and my breasts like towers ; 
 then was I in his eyes as one that found favour. 
 
VIII. 10.] THE SONG OP SONGS. 371 
 
 The younger sister, be slie the Gentile Church, the 
 newly-converted Synagogue, or the elect soul, makes . 
 joyous and thankful reply to the doubts expressed by ^^^^° °^' 
 her elder, and declares the strength and increase she 
 has obtained through the Bridegroom's love. I am a 
 wall, because I am founded upon a sure Rock, and 
 cemented with the mortar of divine love. I am a tvall, 
 because built up of living and elect stones, the Saints 
 of God ; and my breasts like towers, because I have 
 those within me who are able to nourish others with 
 spiritual instruction, and defend and guard them like 
 towers, and who stand eminent, like towers on a high 
 wall, amongst my other members by virtue of their 
 learning and godliness. And this I have not of my 
 own merit or free-will, but by the gift and grace of my 
 Bridegroom, for then, from the time when He shed His 
 Blood for me, and propitiated the Father on my behalf, 
 I IV as in Sis eyes as one that findeth peace, (LXX., 
 Vulg., A.V. marg.,) for He put an end to the enmity 
 between God and man, and made peace for me with 
 heaven. And so the Apostle saith, "Being justified Rom. v. i. 
 by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord 
 Jesus Christ." The wall of the Church, observes luc. Abb. 
 another, is the Manhood of Christ ; the towering 
 breasts, supported on that wall, and containing within 
 them the arms of the garrison, are the Apostles, whose 
 example and teaching are the weapons of our Christian 
 warfare. Philo, applying the words to the holy soul, phUo Carp, 
 represents her as saying : I am now fortified in faith 
 and filled with charity, and my breasts (I call them 
 mine, for they are given to me and to all who do after 
 them,) namely, the two Testaments and the two pre- 
 cepts of love, and moreover the two kinds of life, active 
 and contemplative, are tested by the workings of righ- 
 teousness. And these, under the guidance of divine 
 grace, have raised me like a tower to the highest grade 
 of approval, and there I have begun to be a stranger to 
 all anxiety, disquiet, and care for human things, and to 
 take my rest. And I was in Sis eyes as one that findeth xheodoret. 
 peace, for He who foreknew me also foreordained me, 
 and knowing that I should seek peace and ensue it, 
 and ensuing, obtain it, called me then Peaceful, and 
 Shulamite, and made me an impregnable wall, terrible 
 to the enemy ; and lifted on high my breasts, that 
 is, my moral and theological teaching, and made them 
 like a tower, that warring thence, I might repel the 
 bb2 
 
372 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [VIII. 10. 
 
 S. Ambros. 
 
 Philo Carp. 
 
 S. Johu xiv, 
 2;. 
 
 Honorius. 
 S. Hieron. 
 Ep. 7, ad 
 Lsetam. 
 S. Ambros. 
 de Virg. 
 lib 1. 
 
 Philipp. 
 Harveng. 
 
 Honorius. 
 
 S. Luke ii. 
 14. 
 
 S. John XX. 
 19. 
 
 Bridegroom's foes. Findeth peace, as the LXX. and 
 Vulgate more correctly read, for, as a Saint tells us, 
 we are here only searching for it. We know where it 
 is, but so long as we are in this world, we cease not 
 from all kinds of sin, and so long as we are in sin, we 
 do not yet enjoy perfect peace with Him Who lived 
 in the flesh without sin. When we do find peace, it 
 is only as His gift Who said, " Peace I leave with you, 
 My peace I give unto you ; not as the world giveth, 
 give I unto you." The verse has also been applied 
 to various classes of Saints, and especially to Religious. 
 S. Jerome bids Virgins take it on their lips when 
 temptation assails them, and S. A.mbrose had already 
 taught them how the Church had been their bulwark 
 and nurse through all the days of persecution, until 
 peace was at last granted to the people of God. This 
 peace, however, is not perfect. It is merely truce from 
 outer suffering, peace from sin, peace in grace, peace 
 from the noise of carnal nature, not the peace of the 
 Vision, not the peace of an abiding mansion in eternal 
 glory. But that will come too. " For the Church 
 Triumphant, when she sees herself built up with living 
 stones as a dwelling-place for God, and that she has 
 been chosen to repair the angelic tower of the Hea- 
 venly Jerusalem, says exulting, I am a wall, and my 
 breasts totvers. I am built up by Christ the Builder, 
 of the elect of mankind, a wall of stone to compass the 
 Heavenly Jerusalem, as a wall in the circuit of a city ; 
 and my breasts, that is, my Doctors, who yielded me 
 the milk of instruction, are erected like towers in the 
 place of the angels who fell thence ; and so the City 
 began to be built by skilled workmen, the Apostles 
 and their successors, from that time token I ivas in 
 Sis sight as one that findeth jpeace. Mankind had no 
 peace with God and the Angels after it transgressed 
 by its first parent the commandment of God in Para- 
 dise, but it was as one that found peace with Him 
 when it believed in Christ, Who is Very Peace. This 
 is the Peace of which the choir of Angels sang to men 
 of good will, when Christ the Prince of Peace came 
 from the heavenly hall into the prison of this world. 
 This is the Peace which He left His disciples when 
 He ascended hence. This is the Peace which He 
 brought back to the children of peace, the peace-makers, 
 when, after conquering death and overthrowing the 
 devil, who is the author of wars, He said, * Peace be 
 
VIII. 11.] 
 
 THE SONG OF SONGS. 
 
 373 
 
 unto you.' This is tlie Peace wherewith the Church 
 ever desired to be reconciled to God, saying, ' Let Him 
 kiss me with the kisses of His mouth,' that is, let Him 
 restore me, through Cheist, that peace which I have 
 lost. This peace she now hath in hope, and after shall 
 have it in deed, when she shall see face to face Cheist 
 Who is Peace itself, and when all the borders of Jeru- 
 salem shall have peace." 
 
 11 Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon ; 
 he let out the vineyard unto keepers ; every one 
 for the fruit thereof was to bring a thousand 
 pieces of silver. 
 
 That is, the Church, which is the spiritual vineyard Tres Patr. 
 of the faithful, was planted by the Peaceful King in 
 the multitude of the nations, for such is the meaning of 
 Saal-hamon} lie let out the vineyard unto keepers, 
 that is. He intrusted the Church to the Apostles and 
 Doctors, who keep it vigilantly, that the multiform 
 sects which arise against it may not lay it waste, and 
 divide its unity into divers opinions. Every one for 
 the fruit thereof loas to bring a thousand pieces of silver. 
 A man (Heb., LXX., and Vulg.) shall bring this rent, 
 that is, every one who is of the number of the perfect, 
 who is a teacher of holiness, a hearer and doer of the 
 law, and who has put away, in his bringing, the things i cor. xiii, 
 of a child, will bring a thousand pieces of silver, that n. 
 is, all the saving fulness of God's law and command- 
 ments, pure and shining, with him in his hand as his 
 reward in his Country, where he will eat in eternal ^^^^ ^^^ 
 life and perpetual blessedness of the fruit of his hands. ° ^^^' 
 Or, if you prefer it, you may take it that it is we who s. Just. Org. 
 must bring the fruit, and that the Man Who will give 
 a thousand pieces of silver for it, is the Loed of the 
 vineyard Who rewards the labourers, at the close of 
 their toil, with the perfect gift of wisdom and love, inmbert. 
 Again, that man who spends his goods upon the poor, Cassiodor. 
 and gives his whole substance in charity, leaving all 
 
 • So Aquila and Symmachus, 
 severally reading eV ^x^vti 
 irK-fiOT] and eV Karox'f} ox^ov, 
 both close to the Vulgate, Quce 
 habet populos. But the strict 
 
 meaning is, " Lord of the 
 multitude." And so reads a 
 variant of the LXX., iv rep 
 Bea-irSrri tov 6x?^ov, 
 
374 A COMMENTARY ON [VIII. 11. 
 
 that he possesses, that he may obtain the fruit of the 
 heavenly vineyard, brings a thousand pieces of silver 
 for it, according to the Lord's parable in the G-ospel. 
 s. Mat. xiii. " The kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in 
 '*'*■ a field ; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, 
 
 and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, 
 Corn, a Lap. and buyeth that field." In that the vineyard is said to 
 s. Greg. M. be in that which hath peoples, we are taught that the 
 Luc. Abb. whole Church, uniting the nations of Jew and Gentile, 
 is here depicted, though some of the Fathers prefer to 
 see the Synagogue alone here, because of that saying, 
 isa. V. 7. " The vineyard of the Lord of Hosts is the house of 
 Israel, and the men of Judah His pleasant plant." 
 Theodoret. And the holy soul also, which is Solomon's vineyard 
 Cocceii^. in the midst of a gainsaying world, (for the full mean- 
 om. ere. ^^^ ^£ Baal-hamon is the " Lord of the multitude," the 
 Prince of this world,) is intrusted to keepers, earthly 
 ones, who are the priests of His Church ; heavenly 
 Nic. Argent, ones, who are the guardian Angels ; and yet He Him- 
 self is the chief husbandman and keeper, ever present 
 s. Mat. with His vineyard, as He promised, saying, " Behold, 
 Hugo Card. I ^^^ with you, even to the end of the world." It is 
 not said to whom the man will bring the thousand 
 pieces of silver, but it is doubtless to Him Who in- 
 trusted the vineyard to him, and thus, if Christ be 
 the Man spoken of. He will bring His elect Saints, 
 purified seven times in the fire, and stamped with His 
 image and superscription, to His Father, that they 
 may be stored in the heavenly treasury ; and we shall 
 bring the fulness of our works to Christ, in return for 
 what He has given us, that at His coming. He may 
 receive His own with usury. His own, for it is Solo- 
 mon's vineyard, and we are not more than keepers. 
 And being keepers, it behoves us to remember that 
 the rent is fixed beforehand, at a thousand pieces of 
 silver, the perfection of a pure life. If we be neglect- 
 ful, if we allow His vineyard in our hands to be as 
 Prov. xxiv. that of a man of no understanding, and the stone wall 
 31- thereof to be broken down, then, " it shall come to 
 
 Isa. vii. 23. pass in that day, where there were a thousand vines 
 at a thousand silverlings, it shall even be for briars 
 and thorns." Then, too, we shall be debtors, unable 
 to pay M^hat is due, and must abide what followed in a 
 
 xvm ^34 "^^^® ^^^^ • " -^^^ ^^^^ ^^^ wroth, and delivered him 
 to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due 
 unto him." Nor shall we prosper more, if, while cul- 
 
VIII. 12.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 375 
 
 tivating the vineyard sedulously, we desire to keep all 
 
 the fruits for ourselves, and not to pay the King His 
 
 dues. For then we shall be like those husbandmen s. Mat. xxi. 
 
 who beat, slew, and stoned the servants, and even the ^^' "*'' 
 
 Son of their Loed, when He came to receive the 
 
 fruits. And that because a life of selfishness does, as 
 
 it were, kill the Loed Jesus within us, and cast Him 
 
 out of our hearts, that His inheritance, our nature, 
 
 may be ours to employ as we please. Wherefore the 
 
 doom which follows is : " He will miserably destroy 
 
 those wicked men, and will let out His vineyard unto 
 
 other husbandmen, which shall render Him the fruits 
 
 in their seasons." 
 
 12 My vineyard, which is mine, is before 
 me : thou, O Solomon, must have a thousand, 
 and those that keep the fruit thereof two hun- 
 dred. 
 
 My vineyard, that same vineyard which of old I had Theodoret. 
 not kept, is mine, because the Peaceful One has given 
 it back to me, and with it the thousand pieces of silver 
 which I brought Him, because His sole reason for de- 
 manding the fruit is His desire for my salvation. Or, ^°^"- * ^^P* 
 as others prefer to take it, this vineyard is distinct 
 from that in Baal-Hamon, belonging to Solomon, which 
 typifies the Synagogue, whereas this one is the Church, 
 called hers, because she is given a co-ordinate share in 
 its management, such as was not permitted to the 
 Church of the elder dispensation, bound down as it 
 was by a special and immutable code received from 
 the Loed of the vineyard. It is, she says, mine, not 
 only because of its freedom from any other owner but 
 Cheist, but by reason of the Communion of Saints, ^ceius 
 which is so perfect that each elect soul can truly say of 
 all that the entire body possesses. It is mine ; for every 
 grace, every blessing, every promise, every interces- 
 sion, every thanksgiving made by any one member of 
 the Church belongs to all the rest, and the aggregate 
 of that which the whole enjoys or efiects, is the special 
 property of each single partner in that great firm, 
 alike in this world and the next. Wherefore is added, 
 is before me, to denote the common vigilance, interest, 
 and care felt by all alike in tending that mystic vine- 
 yard whose fruits are common to all without excep- 
 
376 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [Yin. 12. 
 
 tion. And so S. Peter Damiani sings of the unity of 
 the CLurcli Triumphant : 
 
 The Hymn, They know Him WTio knoweth all things, nothing from their 
 Ad perennis ken may flee, 
 
 vita fontem. ^-^^^ jj^g thoughts of one another in the inmost heart they see ; 
 One in choosing and refusing, one are they in unity. 
 
 And though each for divers merits there hath won a various 
 
 throne, 
 Yet their love for one another maketh what each loves his own, 
 Every prize to all is common, yet belongs to each alone. 
 
 Cassiodor. 
 Beda. 
 Tres Patr. 
 
 S. Mat. 
 xxviii. 20. 
 S. Just. Org, 
 
 Ps. xxxiv. 
 15. 
 
 Tres Patr. 
 
 Theodoret. 
 
 The more usual interpretation of the Latin Fathers, 
 hovrever, assigns these words to the Bridegroom, and 
 represents them as a reply to the remark of the Bride 
 that He had let out His vineyard to keepers. It is 
 true that He has so done, but He is nevertheless con- 
 stantly present with His vineyard Himself, according 
 to His own saying already cited, " Behold, I am with 
 you always, even unto the end of the world," so that 
 He says, My vineyard which is Mine. He ever super- 
 intends all that is done therein, for " the eyes of the 
 LoED are over the righteous, and His ears are open 
 unto their prayers," and therefore He adds, is before 
 Me. And it is not only before Him here, but in the 
 world to come it will be before Him in another and 
 yet more blessed sense, because of the open vision of 
 Him which the Saints will enjoy. 
 
 Thou, O Solomon, must have a thousand, and those 
 that keep the fruit thereof tioo hundred. This, say the 
 Three Fathers, is the Bride's reply to the King's claim 
 to be the true Lord and Husbandman of His vine- 
 yard. Thou, O Solomon, must have a thousand, be- 
 cause perfection is Thy gift. Who art the beginning 
 and end of all things, Who art Peace itself, and the 
 bestower of peace. And they that keep the fruit 
 thereof two hundred. For the renewal of our nature 
 is effected by the keeping Thy commandments, which 
 is the fruit of the Church. And this renewal is de- 
 noted by the number two hundred, because it is made 
 up of twenty, the product of four and five, (signifying 
 human nature, endowed with five senses and formed 
 of four elements) multiplied by ten, the number of the 
 moral commandments. The Latin Fathers have nearly 
 all mistaken the meaning of this passage, by reason of 
 an ambiguity in the Vulgate rendering, which is, Mille 
 
VIII. 12.] 
 
 THE SONG OF SONGS. 377 
 
 tui pacijlci et ducenti his qui custodiunt fructus ejus. 
 Tliis should be read with the second and third words 
 in the genitive case singular, thus : A thousand are of 
 Thee, the Peaceful One. But as these same words 
 may, so far as form goes, be the nominative plural, the 
 Westerns have mostly supposed the meaning to be, 
 Thy peaceful ones are a thousand. Cassiodorus, seeing 
 plainly enough that the thousand must have reference 
 to the pieces of silver mentioned in the preceding verse, 
 and yet failing to note the true construction of the 
 sentence, gives the very forced explanation that the 
 thousand silverlings are the reward and gifts of peace 
 which certainly await the faithful soul ; and that the 
 tivo hundred silverlings are also the peaceful reward 
 of those who have earned a double prize for that per- 
 fection which a hundred denotes, either by holiness in 
 faith and works, or by personal devoutness of life and by 
 the conversion of others through preaching. And this g ^^^^ ^^ 
 double remuneration is implied by the Loed, saying, s.Ans.Laud. 
 " Verily I say unto you. There is no man that hath |^ Mark x. 
 left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, 
 or wife, or children, or lands, for My sake and the 
 Gospel's, but he shall receive a hundredfold now in 
 this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mo- 
 thers, and children, and lands, with persecutions ; and 
 in the world to come eternal life." A hundredfold is 
 promised to all who take up the Cross, and it will be 
 doubled for them that persevere. Others, going yet 
 further from the literal construction, suppose that the 
 numbers refer to persons, not to coins, and explain it 
 as though it were. Thy peaceful Saints are a thousand, j^jg Argent, 
 that is, attain to the perfection of bliss which the mysti- 
 cal number denotes ; and very nearly the same meaning 
 comes out of another construction. Thy peaceful ones 
 shall have a thousand. Yet again, there are some of 
 the Latin Doctors who see the true form of the sen- hu&o Card, 
 tence, though failing to supply the right word after a ^yion. Carth. 
 thousand ; and interpret either. They who are a thou- 
 sand, who have reached perfection of life and holiness, Cocceius. 
 are Thine, O Peaceful One ; or, closest of all to the 
 genuine sense of the passage, A thousand fruits, that 
 is, all good things done in the vineyard of the Church, 
 shall he Thine, O Peaceful One, because every such 
 good thing does as it were return to Cheist, whence 
 it flowed out, and rewards Him ; and two hundred 
 fruits, the far less perfect, though yet superabundant 
 
378 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [VIII. 13. 
 
 Theodoret. 
 
 S. Ambros. 
 Serm. 22, 
 in Ps. cxix. 
 
 S. Mat. XXV. 
 34, 
 
 Cassiodor. 
 
 glory, shall be given to His servants, the keepers, 
 whether they have been, like prelates and pastors, set 
 over the charge of great tracts in His vineyard, or 
 merely placed to tend the single vine of an individual 
 soul. 
 
 13 Thou that dwellest in the gardens^ the 
 companions hearken to thy voice : cause me to 
 hear it. 
 
 The LXX. and Yulgate are at variance here in the 
 Hebrew text which they have severally followed. The 
 LXX., reading the first verb in the masculine form, 
 takes the Bridegroom to be the dweller in the gardens, 
 Whose voice the Bride desires to hear. The Vulgate, 
 conversely, following the present reading of the He- 
 brew, makes the Bridegroom the speaker, and the 
 Bride the person addressed. Taking the former view, 
 Theodoret paraphrases thus : " O my Bridegroom, 
 Thou Who restest in Thy spiritual and Thy visible 
 creation, planted, like gardens, with them that do Thy 
 will, there are others besides us, who gaze unceasingly 
 on Thee, because not drawn aside by the fetters of the 
 body, namely, the ranks of the Angels, altogether im- 
 material. But I, who am bound by this chain, am in 
 dread of change, and therefore, eagerly looking for 
 Thy second Advent, I beseech Thee, make me to hear 
 that desirable voice, ' Come, ye blessed of My Father, 
 inherit the Kingdom prepared for you.' " But the 
 Vulgate reading, which is also that of the Chaldee, of 
 Aquila, and of Symmachus, is to be preferred. It is, says 
 Cassiodorus, the voice of the Beloved, addressing the 
 Bride, that is, the Church : O Church, that divellest in 
 the gardens, which art busied in cultivating the plants 
 of holiness, cause Me to hear thy voice, that is, preach 
 the Gospel to all thou canst, declare the precepts of 
 My law, and also the promise of heavenly rewards. 
 And the companions hear thee, for the angelic spirits 
 delight to listen to thy voice, they whom I made thy 
 companions by the shedding of My own Blood, whom 
 I have appointed as thy helpers and guardians against 
 evil spirits. And those other thy companions, the 
 spirits of the just, whom I have taken out of thy con- 
 gregation to Myself in heaven, they hear thy voice 
 also, for they delight in thy preaching and in the sal- 
 vation of their brethren. Others will have it that the 
 
VIII. 13.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 379 
 
 gardens in which the Bride dwells are those of Holy Rupert. 
 Scripture, and of delight in holiness ; or, as the Eastern 
 Fathers tell us, the churches for public worship, the Tres Patr. 
 shrines of the Martyrs, the convents of ascetic life. 
 And Holy Scripture itself is divided into four gardens, Hugo Card. 
 — that of herbs, which is the literal sense ; that of 
 apples, which is the moral interpretation ; that of nuts, 
 denoting the difficult, yet sweet lessons of allegory ; 
 that of spices, which is anagoge, the foretaste of 
 heavenly things. And the Religious Life also has 
 this same fourfold classification of its gardens. Its 
 kitchen-garden of pot-herbs denotes the temporal ad- 
 ministration of the house, and the supply of necessa- 
 ries for its inmates, especially the sick. And this 
 garden is to be kept small. No vineyard is to be de- 
 stroyed, as Naboth's was by Ahab, to widen it. The 
 apples, comely and fragrant, denote ready and cheerful 
 obedience. The nuts, hard without and sweet within, 
 are the austerities of the rule ; and the spices the joys 
 of devout contemplation. In all these gardens dwells 
 the truly cloistered soul. 
 
 And observe that there are two distinct and co- 
 ordinate methods of interpreting the verse. It may 
 imply that the Bride is entirely silent, or that she 
 is speaking to the companions only, and not to the 
 Beloved. In the former case, the meaning is, that Phiio Carp, 
 she is commanded to preach, because she, and she |-^^gf|j;jj|^* 
 only, is sure to be listened to by those who are 
 willing to love and obey G-od. She is not to spend 
 her time, as she would prefer, in silent meditation 
 and prayer, but must occupy herself for the benefit 
 of her companions. The other sense, conversely, is 
 that in the zeal of active life and the work of bring- 
 ing in neophytes to the fold, she has forgotten the 
 care of her own vineyard. She has been speaking, Amsworth. 
 earnestly and devoutly enough, in teachings and warn- 
 ings, to the multitudes : she has failed in her more 
 directly personal service to her Beloved, in prayer, 
 praise, and thanksgiving. Make Me hear thy voice. 
 He then saith. Let Martha leave her serving for a time, 
 and sit down with Mary at My feet. And therefore 
 the vow of elect souls must be that which the Apostles 
 made, " We will give ourselves continually to prayer, Acts vi. 4. 
 and to the ministry of the Word." And He calls on 
 her to speak for yet another reason. He it is Who njc. Argent. 
 has made her to dwell in those pleasant gardens where 
 
Esth. V. 3. 
 
 380 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON 
 
 [vni. 14. 
 
 grow His lilies and spices, He lias clothed her in royal 
 attire, He has made His companions, the Angels, 
 ministering spirits for her service. They are waiting, 
 watching, listening, to know what they are to do for her 
 next, and He wishes to heap yet more blessings upon, 
 her. Make Me, then, to hear thy voice. "What wilt 
 thou, and what is thy request ? it shall be even given 
 thee to the half of the kingdom." And the Bride 
 makes answer at once : 
 
 Philo Carp 
 Cassiodor. 
 
 S. John xvi 
 
 7. 
 
 14 Make haste^ my beloved, and be thou 
 like to a roe or to a young hart upon the 
 mountains of spices. 
 
 MaTce haste. The Hebrew is rightly given in the 
 margin, and by the old versions, Flee away. But why 
 does the Bride, who has all along been desiring the 
 presence of her Beloved, and union with Him, reply 
 thus to His invitation to speak ? They give many 
 reasons, but the best of all seems that of Philo and Cas- 
 siodorus, which may be conveniently cited in the 
 Nic. Argent, words of Nicolas of Strasburg. The Primitive Church, 
 because of those words of Christ, " If I go not away, 
 the Comforter will not come unto you ;" and again, 
 " It is expedient for you that I go away," desired her 
 Beloved, Xofiee away in His Manhood, that she might 
 more clearly comprehend Him according to His God- 
 head. And thus she was able to say : Since Thou 
 hast come, and hast kissed me by Thine Incarnation, 
 and hast tarried with me on earth, no-w Jlee away again, 
 my Beloved, from me to the Fathee, that I may know 
 Thy Godhead, and one day be able to follow Thee 
 thither, where Thou hast ascended, since not till then 
 canst Thou hear my voice, for not tiU Thy earthly 
 work is ended, can I begin to preach Thee. And 
 this is curiously in accord with the Chaldee paraphrase : 
 "At that time shall the elders of the congregation of 
 Israel say. Flee, O my Beloved, Loed of the world, 
 from this unclean earth, and let Thy Majesty dwell in 
 the highest heavens." Or it may be the voice of hu- 
 mility saying with Peter, " Depart from me, for I am 
 a sinful man, O Loed ;" and with the centurion, 
 " Loed, I am not worthy that Thou shouldest come 
 under my roof." Flee aioay, then, wy JBeloved, I seek 
 not for glory in this life, but I long for grace. I seek 
 not the renown of working miracles, but I desire the 
 
 Beda. 
 
 Targum. 
 
 Rupert. 
 S. Luke V. 8 
 
 S. Mat. viii. 
 
VIII. U.] THE SONG OF SONGS. 381 
 
 remission of my sins. Flee away also, that thou may- 
 
 est ever be incomprehensible, that Thou mayest always 
 
 be desired and desirable, that we may never know, 
 
 while in this body, how great is the abundance of Thy 
 
 goodness which Thou hast hidden for them that fear 
 
 Thee. Flee, flee, in Thy care and providence for us, 
 
 that we may never fancy while we live that we have 
 
 attained Thee, but that we may still follow in order to 
 
 attain, " Draw me, we will run after Thee." It is not 
 
 that she wishes Him to flee, observes a Saint, but that Beda. 
 
 she sees it to be His wont to do so, and her only will 
 
 is that His will may be done. Or, once more, as others 
 
 will hdjve,jlee away from hard and sinful hearts which 
 
 refuse to admit Thee, unto the hearts of the elect, open Di(S*^carth 
 
 to welcome Thee, flee from the unbelieving Synagogue 
 
 to the faithful Church. Flee aimy, too, by withdraw- ^^^ ■■ . 
 
 ing Thy visible dispensation, Thine earthly kingdom, t^^°^°^^*- 
 
 retiring, as it were, into the heights of heaven, on the 
 
 Day of Judgment, and drawing us with Thee from the ^°"^' ^ ^^^' 
 
 perishing world. And he Thou like to a roe or a young 
 
 hart. We have here again in the Greek that ' word ^"^° ^^'^• 
 
 SopKos, meaning the "clear-eyed," and therefore the 
 
 Bride asks her Beloved to flee away in such fashion as 
 
 nevertheless to see her, and not lose sight of her during 
 
 her toils, that she may be comforted with the thought 
 
 of His ever- watchful eyes. Though I be unfit for Thy Nic. Arg. 
 
 continual presence, yet show Thyself often and swiftly yeSi 
 
 to me on the mountains of spices, in moments of con- Alvarez. 
 
 templation, in the lives of those great Saints whom Thou S- Greg. m. 
 
 visitest and inspirest ; mount, O Loed, ever higher and "^° ' 
 
 higher above the mightiest Angels, that I, though far 
 
 o^, may behold Thee surpassing all, and perfect in 
 
 majesty, and myself haste after Thee to those true Lyranus. 
 
 mountains of spices, on which the Heavenly Jerusalem 
 
 stands, and whence the incense of perpetual adoration 
 
 ascends before the throne of God. 
 
 Now, on those eternal mountains Hapten, 
 
 Stands the sapphire throne, all bright, The Hymn, 
 
 "Where unceasing Alleluias S^°'"/; H^ 
 
 They upraise, the sons of light ; faithful. 
 
 Sion's people tell His praises, 
 Victor after hard- won fight. 
 
 Bring your harps and bring your incense ; 
 
 Sweep the string, and pour the lay; 
 .Let the earth proclaim His wonders, 
 
 King of that celestial day ; 
 
382 A COMMENTARY, ETC. 
 
 He the Lamb once slain, is worthy, 
 Who was dead and lives for aye. 
 
 [VIII. 14. 
 
 S. August. 
 Meditat. 
 cap. 22. 
 
 Lyranus. 
 
 Rev. xxii, 
 17, 20. 
 
 " O truly blessed kingdom," exclaims the Doctor of 
 Grace, " free from death, having no end, where no sea- 
 sons follow one another for ever and ever, where the 
 perpetual day without night knows not time, where 
 the victorious warrior, united with the tuneful choirs of 
 Angels, sings to God unceasingly the Song of Songs of 
 Sion, while the crown evermore encircles his ennobled 
 brow!" Make haste, then, O my Beloved, for "the 
 Spirit and the Bride say. Come. And let him that 
 heareth say. Come." And Thou, O dear and wor- 
 shipped Lord, art not deaf to the call, " He which tes- 
 tifieth these things saith. Surely I come quickly; 
 Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus." 
 
 J. MASTEES AND. SON, PRINTERS, ALDERSGATE STREET, LONDON. 
 
Vol. I. Post 8to., cloth, 10s. 6d. 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS : 
 
 From Primitive and Mediaeval Writers ; and from the Various Office 
 Books and Hymns of the Roman, Mozarabic, Ambrosian, Gallican, 
 Greek, Coptic, Armenian, and Syriac Eites. 
 
 By the late Eev. J. M. NEALE, D.D. 
 
 Vol. 11. IDs. 6d. 
 Completed by the Eev. E. F. LITTLEDALE, LL.D. 
 
 •' Without any reference to different systems of Biblical exegesis, this Com- 
 mentary is, both theologically and devotionally, an immense advance upon 
 any Commentary upon any portion of Holy Scripture— not even excepting 
 Dr. Pusey's Minor Prophets — which has yet been written." — Church Review. 
 
 " To Clergymen who are willing to give time to its study it will prove in- 
 valuable for homiletical purposes, as an abundance of new trains of thought 
 will be suggested by the various texts incidentally introduced which will give 
 their sermons that freshness which is as unusual as it is desirable in pulpit 
 utterances. And no less a boon will it be to those of the laity who enjoy a 
 book which, without requiring any great amount of continuous reading, will 
 give food for meditation, and enable them to enter with more interest into 
 that book of Holy Scripture which they are probably more familiar with than 
 with any other." — Church Times. 
 
 London : J. Masters, Aldersgate Street. 
 
September, 1869. 
 
 CLASSIFIED INDEX. 
 
 BIOGRAPHY. 
 
 Autobiography of John Brown . . .2 
 Baines' Life of Archbishop Laud . . 2 
 
 Brechin's (Bp. of) Memoir of Helen Inglis . 4 
 Brett's Doctrine of the Cross . . ,5 
 
 Memorial of M. C.B. ... 6 
 
 Brownlow's Memoir ..... 6 
 Heygate's Memoir of Rev. J. Cook . .15 
 
 Life of Sister Rosalie 33 
 
 Livesof Englishmen (4 Series) . . .20 
 Memoir of M. E. D. and G. E. D. . . 21 
 
 Memorial of Elizabeth A . . . .21 
 
 Newland's Memoir 25 
 
 Suckling's Memoir 35 
 
 Teale's Lives of Eminent Divines . .35 
 Walcott's Life of Bishop Racket . . .15 
 
 BOOKS FOR THE SICK AND 
 AFFLICTED. 
 
 Brett's Devotions for tlie Sick Room . 5 
 
 Companion for ditto .... 5 
 
 Instructions and Prayers for Sick . 5 
 
 Leaflets for Sick and Dying . . 5 
 
 Few Words to a Christian Mourner . . 12 
 
 Manual for Mourners 21 
 
 Method of Assisting the Sick . . .21 
 Monro's Readings and Lessons for Sick 
 
 Rooms 23 
 
 Prayers and Maxims, in Large Type . .28 
 Short Prayers for the Sick . . . .29 
 Short Devotions from Prayer Book for do. . 29 
 Stretton's Guide to Sick and Dying . .34 
 
 BOOKS FOR THE USE OF THE 
 CLERGY. 
 
 Brechin (Bp. of) Memoriale Vitoe Sacerdo- 
 
 talis 4 
 
 Brett's Suggestions for Burial of the Dead 5 
 Devotional Aids for the Clergy . . .10 
 Newland's Essays on Conhrmatiou . . 25 
 Paget's Memoranda Parochialia . . .26 
 
 Parish and the Priest 27 
 
 Plenderleath's Priest's Visiting List . . 2/ 
 Priest's Prayer Book 30 
 
 Responsal to 30 
 
 Questions for Self-Examination for Clergy 30 
 
 Sermons Re^fister 32 
 
 Tliompson's Concionalia . . . .35 
 Visitatio Infirmorum 9 
 
 CATECHISMS AND CATECHETI- 
 CAL WORKS. 
 
 Arden's Catechetical Manual . . .1 
 
 Brechin's (Bp. of) First Catechism . . 4 
 
 Catechism on the Unity of the Church . 6 
 
 Catechism on the Incarnation . . ,1/ 
 Catechism of Theology . ... 7 
 
 Chanter's Exposition of the Catechism . 7 
 
 Catechism of the Chief Truths . . .7 
 
 Church Catechism, illustrated . . .8 
 
 Collects Catechetically Explained . . 9 
 Easy Catechism on the Old Testament . 11 
 Hicks' Lectures on the Incarnation . .15 
 Holden's Anglican Catechist . . .16 
 Hyde's Church Catechism with Notes . 17 
 
 Catechism with Easy Explanations . 17 
 
 Johns' Collects and Catechisings . .18 
 Johns' Questions on the Pentateuch . . 17 
 Lea's Catechisings on the Prayer Book . 19 
 Malan's Exposition of the Creed . . .20 
 Phipps' Catechism on the Holy Scriptures 27 
 Questions on Church Catechism . . 30 
 
 Questions on Christian Doctrine . .30 
 Smith's Church Catechism . . . .33 
 Stretton's Church Catechism explained . 34 
 
 Child's Catechism . . . .34 
 
 Catechism of First Truths . . .34 
 
 Brief Catechism of the Bible . .34 
 
 W^atson's Catechism on the Prayer Book . 37 
 West's Questions and Answers on Chief 
 
 Truths 37 
 
 Questions for Higher Classes . . 37 
 
 Catechism on the Church . , .37 
 
 ^ CHRISTIAN MEMORIALS. 
 
 Carter's Christian Gravestones . . .7 
 Forsyth's Monumental Designs , . .13 
 Hallam's Monumental Memorials . . 15 
 Paget's Tract upon Tombstones . . .26 
 Stride's Sketches for Cliristian Memorials . 34 
 Sunter's Designs for Headstones, &c. . 35 
 
 CHURCH HISTORY. 
 
 Blackmore's History of tiie Russian Church 3 
 Book of Church History . . . . 3 
 Bro-wnlow's History of the Church . . 6 
 Neale's History of the Eastern Church . 24 
 
 Voices from the East . . . .24 
 
 Popoff's Council of Florence . . .28 
 Pye's Short Ecclesiastical History . .30 
 Wilkins' Lecture on Early Church History. 37 
 
 , COMMENTARIES. 
 
 Acts of Apostles, Exposition of . . .1 
 Book of Genesis, Exposition of . . .3 
 Brechin's (Bp. of) Commentary on Litany 4 
 
 on Te Deum 4 
 
 on Canticles 4 
 
 ou Penitential Psalms . . .4 
 
 Cottage Commentary g 
 
 Deane's Proper Lessons with Commentary 10 
 Ford's Commentary on the Gospels . . 13 
 
 on Acts 13 
 
 on Romans 13 
 
 Littledale's Commentary on Song of Songs 19 
 Malan's Gospel of S. John . . . .20 
 Neale's Commentary on the Psalms . . 24 
 
 on Hymnal Noted . . . .25 
 
 „ ^. CONFIRMATION. 
 
 Brechin's (bp. ol) Seal ot the LoBD . . 4 
 Brett's Guide to Confirmation . . . 6 
 Certificate of Confirmation ... I 7 
 
CLASSIFIED INDEX. 
 
 Confirmation Medal 9 
 
 Ellis' Font to the Altar . . • .11 
 
 Helps for Confirmation and Communion . 15 
 
 Illuminated Memorial of Confirmation . 63 
 
 Laving on of Hands . . . _ . .19 
 
 Milman's Meditations on Confirmation . 22 
 
 Monro's Preparation for Confirmation . 23 
 
 Manuals and Prayers ditto . .23 
 
 Newland's Confirmation and Communion . 25 
 
 Pott's Confirmation Lectures . . .28 
 
 Prynne's Plain Instructions . . .30 
 
 Suckling's Manual for Confirmation . . 35 
 
 Tracts on Confirmation . . . .60 
 
 DEVOTIONAL BOOKS. 
 
 Avrillon on the Holt Spirit . . .32 
 Bourdaloue's Spiritual Exercises . . 32 
 Brechin's (Bp. of) Christian's Converse . 4 
 
 Nourishment of the Soul . . .4 
 
 - Meditations from Pinart . . .4 
 -^— Mirror of Young Christians . . 4 
 ^— Meditations on the Passion . . 4 
 
 Brett's Meditations on the Life of our Lobd 5 
 Brettingham's Anniversaries . . .4 
 Butler's Meditations on the Life of our Lord 6 
 Clarke's Watch Tower Book ... 8 
 Daily Events of Holy Week . . .10 
 
 Divine Master 10 
 
 Edmonstone's Portions of Psalms . . 11 
 Eighty-fourth Psalm, Treatise on . .11 
 Familiar Instructions on Prayer . . .12 
 Footprints of the Lord .... 6 
 Footsteps of the Holy Child . . .6 
 
 Gerhard's Meditations 29 
 
 GreatTruthsof the Christian Religion . 14 
 Heygate's Evening of Life . . . .15 
 
 Wedding Gift 15 
 
 Hidden Life 16 
 
 Holy Child Jksus 16 
 
 Holy Childhood of our Lord . . .16 
 Kalendar of the Imitation . . . .18 
 Kempis' Soliloquy of the Soul . • .18 
 
 Valley of Lilies 36 
 
 Ken's Practice of Divine Love . . .19 
 Kettlewell's Companion for the Penitent , 29 
 
 Legenda Domestica 19 
 
 Lowder's Penitent's Path . . . .20 
 Malan's Meditations on the Passion . . 20 
 
 Companion for Lent . . . .20 
 
 - Meditations for Lent . . . .20 
 Milman's Voices of Harvest . . .22 
 Monro's Readings for Holy.Week . . 23 
 Paget's Christian's Day ". . . ,26 
 
 Pathway of Faith 27 
 
 Patrick's Parable of the Pilgrim . . 27 
 
 Practice of the Presence of God . . .28 
 Shipley's Daily Meditations . . .32 
 
 .^— Meditations for a Month . . .32 
 Skinner's Heads of Christian Duty . .33 
 Spiritual Voices from the Middle Ages . 34 
 
 ECCLESIOLOCY. 
 
 Best's Plea for Daily Worsliip . . . 2 
 
 Badger's Nestorians and their Rituals . 2 
 
 Book of Comraou Prayer (Sealed Book) . 3 
 
 Ditto, Church of Scotland . . . 3 
 
 Browne's I^ecture on Symbolism . , ,5 
 
 Chamberlain's Chancel . . .51 
 
 Church Floral Decoration . . . ,8 
 
 Dickinson's List of Service Books . .10 
 
 Dlrectorium Scoticanum et Anglicanum . 27 
 
 Ecclesiastical Kmbroidery . . . .11 
 
 Ecclesiological Society's Publications . 51 
 
 Ecclesiologistjthe 11 
 
 Formof Consecration of Churches . .13 
 Form for Laying Foundation Stone ditto . Id 
 Form of Consecrating Cemetery Chapels . 13 
 Freeman's History of Architecture . .14 
 Goodwin's Art of Polychrome . . .14 
 Gresley's Treatise on English Church . 14 
 Handbook of Ecclesiology . . . .11 
 Helmore's Church Choirs . . . .15 
 
 Hierurgia Anglicana \° 
 
 Hopkins' (Bp.) Law of Ritualism . .1" 
 
 Liturgies J' 
 
 Masters' List of Daily Services . . • ^J 
 Maunsell's Church Bells and Ringing . 21 
 
 Neale's Introduction to Eastern Church . 24 
 
 Ecclesiology of the Isle of Mau . 24 
 
 Church Tourists 24 
 
 Organs, a Short Account of. . . .25 
 Poole's Churches described . . .28 
 
 Popofif's Origin of Roman Liturgy . .58 
 Practical Hints on Church Embroidery . 11 
 Pratt's Letters on Scandinavian Churches . 28 
 Reverence due to holy places . . .31 
 Spelman's History of Sacrilege . . .33 
 Sperling's Church Walks in Middlesex . 33 
 Walcott's Interior of a Gothic Minster . 36 
 
 Precinct of a Gothic Minster . .36 
 
 Cathedralia 36 
 
 EDUCATIONAL. 
 
 Bezant's Geographical Questions . .2 
 
 Key to ditto 2 
 
 Chamberlain's English Grammar. . . 7 
 Child's New Lesson Book .... 7 
 Couper's Hints on Management of Children 9 
 Easy Lessons for younger children . . 11 
 
 Ditto, Questions on 11 
 
 Finchley Manuals of Industry . . .12 
 Hints on Early Education . . . .16 
 Hopwood's School Geography . . .16 
 
 Child's Geography . . . .16 
 
 Johns' Dictation Lessons • . . .18 
 Lessons for every day in the Week . . 19 
 
 Companion to ditto for Teacher . .19 
 Lessons in Grammar for a Child . . .19 
 Sankey's Bible Exercises . . . .31 
 
 Ditto, Teacher's Copy . . .31 
 
 Sunday Alphabet 35 
 
 Wakefield's Charades from History, &c. . 36 
 
 Mental Exercises . . . .36 
 
 Voung Churchman's Alphabet . . .38 
 
 EUCHARISTIC MANUALS. 
 
 Altar Book for the Young .... 9 
 Companion to Altar for Scottish Church . 9 
 Devotions for Choristers at Holy Commu- 
 nion 10 
 
 Devotions for Holy Communion . . .10 
 
 Eucharistic Month 11 
 
 Form of Self-examination before Holy 
 
 Communion 13 
 
 Guide to the Eucharist .... 8 
 
 Holy Eucharist, a Manual, &c. . . .16 
 Laurence's Assistant at Holy Communion 19 
 Malan's Prayers for Holy Communion . 20 
 
 Preparation for Holy Communion . 20 
 
 Manual for Communicants . . . .21 
 Nelson's Guide to the Holy Communion . 29 
 Prynne's Eucharistic Manual . . .30 
 Scottish Communion Office in Greek . . 4 
 Scudamore's Steps to the Altar , . .34 
 Shipley's Eucharistic Litanies . . .32 
 
 Eucharistic Meditations . . .32 
 
 Divine Liturgy 32 
 
CLASSIFIED INDEX. 
 
 iii 
 
 FAMILY PRAYERS. 
 
 Book of Family Prayera from the Liturgy . 3 
 
 By a Layman . • • • -3 
 
 Bowdler's Family Prayers .... 3 
 Carter's Family Prayers .... 6 
 Domestic Offices for the Use of Families . 11 
 Family Prayers by a Priest . . . .12 
 Family Prayers for Children of the Church 12 
 Hooper's Prayers for Family Worship . 16 
 Monsell's Prayers and Litanies . . .23 
 Mornine and Evening Prayers for a Family 29 
 
 For a Household . . . .23 
 
 Rose's Family Prayers 31 
 
 Short Services for Families . . .33 
 
 Suckling's Family Prayers . . . .35 
 
 HISTORY. 
 
 Arnold's History of Ireland . . . 18 
 
 Baines' History of England . . . .2 
 
 Cranborne'a History of France . . .10 
 
 Flower's History of Scotland . . .18 
 
 Fox's History of Rome . . . .18 
 
 HaskoH's History of France . . .18 
 
 Jenkins' Annals of the Kings of Judah . 17 
 
 Johns' History of Spain . . . .18 
 
 Lectures on History of England . . 19 
 Moore's Easv Readings on English History 23 
 
 Neaie's English History . . . .18 
 
 History of Greece . . . .18 
 
 History of Portugal . . . .18 
 
 Poole's History of England. . . .28 
 Wilbraham's Kingdom of Judah • . .37 
 
 HYMNS. 
 
 Hymns for Little Children .... 1 
 Hymns Descriptive and Devotional . . 1 
 Hymns for Infant Children . . . .17 
 Hymns on Scripture Characters . . .17 
 Hymns of the Holy Feast . . . .17 
 Narrative Hymns for Schools ... 1 
 Neaie's Mediaeval Hymns . . . .24 
 
 Hymns for the Sick . , . .24 
 
 Hymns for Children . . . .24 
 
 Raine's Verses for Church Schools . .30 
 Williams' Hymnson the Catechism . .38 
 
 HYMNS FOR PUBLIC WORSHIP. 
 
 Anthems, Words of 1 
 
 Chamberlain's Hymns for Minor Festivals 7 
 Fallow's Psalms and Hymns . . .29 
 
 Hymns and lutroits 17 
 
 People's Hymnal 27 
 
 JUVENILE TALES. 
 
 Archie's Ambition 1 
 
 Baines' Tales of the Empire ... 2 
 
 Baptismal Vows 2 
 
 Baron's Little Daughter, &c. ... 1 
 
 Beginnings of Evil 2 
 
 Bishop's Little Daughter ... .2 
 
 Bonus's Beatrice 3 
 
 Chapters on Plants 44 
 
 Chapters on Animals . . , . .44 
 
 Charcoal Burners IS 
 
 Charity at Home 7 
 
 Christmas Dream 8 
 
 Christmas Present for Children . . .8 
 Consecration and Desecration . . .9 
 Douglas' Mary and Mildred . . .11 
 
 Drop in the Ocean 1] 
 
 Dunster's Stories from Chroniclers . . 18 
 
 Early Friendship 18 
 
 Eccles' Midsummer Holydays . . .11 
 Fanny's Flowers; or, Fun for the Nursery . 12 
 
 . 12 
 . 13 
 . 13 
 
 Tales 13 
 
 Five Tales of old Time 
 Flower's Classical Tales . 
 
 Tales of Faith and Providence 
 
 Widow and her Son, and other 
 
 Flowers and Fruit 
 
 Forbes ' Snowball and Other Tales 
 
 Fox's Noble Army of Martyrs 
 
 Holy Church 
 
 Frederick Gordon 
 
 Going Home 
 
 Gould's Path of the Just 
 
 Grace Alford .... 
 
 Gresley's Henri de Clermont 
 
 Colton Green 
 
 Holiday Tales . 
 
 Heygate's Godfrey Davenant 
 
 Ditto at College . 
 
 Higher Claims . 
 Holiday Hours 
 Home for Christmas . 
 Island Choir .... 
 Ivo and Verena . 
 Levett's Gentle Influence . 
 Little Alice and her Sister . 
 Manger of the Holy Night . 
 Memoirs of an Arm-chair • 
 Mercy Downer 
 Minnie's Birthday 
 Mitchell's Hatherleigh Cross 
 Monro's Stories of Cottagers 
 
 Footprints in the Snow 
 
 ^^ Harry and Archie 
 
 Pascal the Pilgrim 
 
 Leila . ... 
 
 Neaie's Christian Heroism , 
 
 Christian Endurance . 
 
 Heathen Mythology . 
 
 Followers of the Lobd 
 
 Lent Legends 
 
 Evenings at Sackville College 
 
 Egyptian Wanderers 
 
 Afternoons at an Orphanage 
 
 Old Court House 
 
 Paget's Hope of the Katzekopfs 
 
 Tales of Village Children 
 
 Luke Sharp . 
 
 Parish Tales .... 
 Pearson's Stories on the Beatitudes 
 
 (H. D.) Stories of Christian Joy 
 
 Foynings : a Tale of 1688 . 
 
 Prisoners of Craigmacaire 
 
 Rainy Mornings with Aunt Mabel 
 
 Robert and Ellen .... 
 
 Roberts' Snowbound in Cleeberrie Grange 
 
 Root of the Matter 
 
 Ruth Levison . . . 
 
 Scholar's Nosegay 
 
 Stone's Ellen Merton . 
 
 Stories for Young Servants 
 
 Stories on the Commandments 
 
 Stories on the Festivals, &c. 
 
 Story of a Dream . 
 
 Swedish Brothers 
 
 Tales of my Duty towards my Neighbour 
 
 Tales to read to Myself , . 
 
 Tales of a London Parish . 
 
 Thinking for Oneself . 
 
 Trust 
 
 Vidal's Esther Merle . 
 
 Home Trials 
 
 Village Story for Village Maidens 
 Voyage to the Fortunate Isles . 
 Was it a Dream ? . . . 
 Wilbraham's Tales for B07S 
 
 &c. 
 
iv 
 
 CLASSIFIED INDEX. 
 
 Wilford's Author's Children 
 
 King of a Day 
 
 Winter in the East 
 Yorke's Cottage Homes 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS 
 
 Churchmau's Companion . 
 Macaulay's Day at Nismes 
 Malan's Bethany ; a Pilgrimage 
 
 Tyre and Sidon 
 
 Mediaeval Alphabets 
 
 Monro's Schoolmaster's Day 
 
 New-land's Lectures on Tractarianism 
 
 Our Solar System 
 
 Plea for Industrial Schools . 
 
 Presbyterian looking for the Church 
 
 Raine's Summer Wanderings 
 
 Queen's Isle 
 
 Reminiscences of Forty Years 
 Roberts' Rocks of Worcestershire 
 Selections New and Old 
 Sentences from Sevvell's Works 
 Shipley's Purgatory of Prisoners 
 Sisters of Cliarity . . < 
 
 Whytehead'8 College Life . 
 
 MUSIC. 
 
 Church Music .... 
 
 Sacred 
 
 Secular 
 
 PAROCHIAL AND CHURCH 
 BOOKS. 
 
 Book of Strange Preachers . 
 Burial Service ou Card 
 Canticles pointed for Chanting . 
 
 Ditto with Blank Staves . 
 
 Consecration Prayer for Altar Desk , 
 District Visitor's Memorandum Book 
 Form for Foundation Stone of School 
 
 Ditto of a Church 
 Form for opening a New School 
 liitany, 4to. rubricated. 
 Ministration of Baptism 
 Prayers for Choirs in Vestry 
 Register of Baptisms 
 
 Burials .... 
 
 Persons Confirmed 
 
 Preachers, Sermons, &C. . 
 
 Sponsor's Duty on Card 
 
 POETRY. 
 
 Athanasius and other Poems 
 Benn's Solitary .... 
 Bernard's (S.) Sweet Rhythm 
 Bourne's 1 houghts on Catholic Truthi 
 Braune's Persone of a Toun 
 Chambers' Lauda Syon 
 Charton's Lays of Faith and Loyalty 
 Cornisli's Sonnets and Verses , 
 Dakeync's Sword and the Cross . 
 Daily Life of the Cliristian Child 
 Echoes of Our Childhood . 
 Evans' (Archdeacon^ Daily Hymns 
 Evans' Pietas Puerilis ... 
 Ford's Thoughts in Verse . 
 Freeman's (Archdeacon) Sunday 
 Goodrich's Claudia .... 
 Hawker's Kchoes from Old Cornwall 
 Hopkins' Pietas Metrica 
 Intermediate Slate 
 Ken's (Bp.) Preparatives for Death 
 Last Sleep of the Christian Child 
 Loraine's Lays of Israel 
 Lvra Sanctorum .... 
 Magnay'8 Poems .... 
 
 Monro's Leila 
 
 Mural Songs ...... 
 
 Morgan's Gifts and Light 
 
 Ascension and other Poems 
 
 Church in Babylon 
 
 Moultrie's Martyrdom of S. Polycarp 
 
 Hymns and Lyrics 
 
 Neale's Songs and Ballads . 
 Ogilvy's Nun of Enzklosterle 
 Original Ballads ..... 
 Orlebar's Christmas Eve . . . 
 
 Paradise Kept 
 
 Poems on Old Testament Subjects 
 Poems. By C. A. M. W. . . . 
 
 River Reeds 
 
 Russell's Lays of the Early Church . 
 Thoughts in Solitude .... 
 Tomlins'Tonbridge School Chapel . 
 
 S. Mary's Home 
 
 Tute's Holy Times and Scenes . 
 
 Champion of the Cross . . 
 
 Verses and Pictures on Life of our Lord 
 Verses for the Christian Year 
 Waring's Annuals and Perennials 
 
 Williams' Altar 
 
 Winged Words 
 
 PRAYERS FOR SCHOOLS. 
 
 Liturgy for Village Schools 
 
 Monro's School Prayers for a Week . 
 
 Ditto tor Ecclesiastical year 
 
 Prayers for Parocliial Schools . 
 Simple Prayers for Village Schools . 
 West's Prayers and Hymns for Children 
 
 PRIVATE PRAYERS. 
 
 Andrewes' (Bp.) Private Devotions 
 Brechin's fBp.of) Pious Churchman 
 Brett's Churchman's Guide. 
 
 Christian's Daily Guide 
 
 Devotions for Schoolboys . 
 
 Devout Prayers on the Passion 
 
 Fervent Aspirations . 
 
 Offices for Sick and Dying 
 
 Prayers for Children . 
 
 Butler's Prayers for Working Men 
 Carter's Private Prayers 
 
 Litanies .... 
 
 Night Offices 
 
 Cliristian Servant's Book of Devotion 
 Clergyman's Manual of Private Prayers 
 Collects from Prayer Book . 
 Cosin's (Bp.) Private Devotions. 
 Day Hours of the Church . 
 
 Supplement to ditto . 
 Dial of Meditation and Prayer . 
 Krrington's Prayers for Soldiers . 
 Few Devotional' Helps for the Seasons 
 Gray's Christian's Plain Guide . 
 Heygate's Manual .... 
 
 Ditto for General Use 
 Horology, or Dial of Prayer 
 Johnson's (Dr.) Prayers and Meditations 
 Little Hours of the Day 
 Malan's Pocket Book of Prayers . 
 Manual of Prayers for a Servant . 
 Manual for Sisters of Mercy 
 Morning and Evening Exercises 
 Moultrie's Primer 
 
 Offices for Holy Week 
 
 Order for Prime, Compline, &c. . 
 Paget's Sursum Corda . . . 
 
 Prayers for the Church 
 
 Pathway of Faith .... 
 
CLASSIFIED INDEX. 
 
 Pocket Manaal of Prayers . . . .27 
 
 Prayers and Maxims 2S 
 
 Prayers for Seveu Canonical Hours . . 28 
 
 Psalter according to Sarum Use . . .31' 
 
 Sacranientarium Ecclesiae CathoUcsB . .31 
 
 Short Devotions for the Seasons . . .33 
 
 Smith's Devout Chorister . . • .33 
 
 Stretton's Scholar's Manual . . - 34 
 
 Taylor's (Bp. J.) Prayers . . . .35 
 
 Voung Churchmap's Manual . . .29 
 
 RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION. „ 
 
 Black's Primer of Christian Worship . . 3 
 
 Manual on the Lord's Prayer . . 3 
 
 Bowdler's Few Words of Instruction . . 3 
 Christian Servant taught . ... 7 
 Christian Duties . . . . . . 7 
 
 Churchman's Library 8 
 
 Church Doctrines proved by the Bible . 8 
 Companion to the Sunday Services . . 9 
 Conversations witli Cousin Rachel . . 9 
 Cosin's Sum of tlie Catholic Faith . . 9 
 Edmonstone's Cliristian's Daily Walk . 11 
 Erasmus's Preparation for Death . . 24 
 
 Evening Meetings, the 12 
 
 Explanation of Scriptural Terms . .12 
 Fasts and Festivals of the Church . . 12 
 Few Words on Christian Seasons . . 12 
 God's Church on Earth . . . .14 
 Great Truths of the Christian Religion , 14 
 Husband's Truths of the Catholic Religion 16 
 
 Litany Explained 25 
 
 Morning and Evening Prayer Explained . 25 
 Poor Churchman's Friend . . . .28 
 Prynne's Few Plain Words . . . .30 
 Readings on the History of Joseph . .30 
 Scenes in Lives of Christian Children . 7 
 Simple Words on the Lord's Prayer . . 33 
 Stone's Handbook to the Christian Year . 34 
 Tomline's (Bp.) Holy Scriptures . . 36 
 
 West's Figures and Types . . . .37 
 
 Reasons for being a Churchman . 37 
 
 ■" Tracts on Church Principles . . 37 
 
 What we are to Believe . . . .19 
 
 REWARD BOOKS. 
 
 Packets of Books 43 
 
 Penny 44 
 
 Twopenny 44 
 
 Threepenny 45 
 
 Fourpenny 45 
 
 Sixpenny 46 
 
 SCRIPTURE READINGS. 
 
 Brett's Scripture History for the Young . 5 
 Reading Lessons from Scripture History . 30 
 Readings from Holy Scripture . . .30 
 
 Ditto, Second Series . . . .30 
 Scripture Reading Lessons for Children . 32 
 
 Ditto, Second Series . . . .32 
 
 ., , ^ SERMONS. 
 
 Alsop's Sermons 1 
 
 Ashley's Victory of the Spirit . . .2 
 
 Translation of Rossi's Sermons . 2 
 
 Baines' Sermons 2 
 
 Bingham's Easter Sermons . . .2 
 
 Bowdler's Sermons on Christianity . . 3 
 Brechin's (Bp. of) Are you beingConverted? 4 
 
 Sermons on Amendment of Life . 4 
 
 Waning of Opportunities . . .4 
 
 Grace of God and other subjects . 4 
 
 Bright's Sermons of S. Leo .... 5 
 Browne's Sussex Sermons . . . . 6 
 Butler's Sermons for Working Men . . 6 
 Carter's Sermons 6 
 
 Carter's Imitation of our Lord . . .6 
 
 Life of Sacrifice 6 
 
 Passion and Temptation of our Lord 6 
 
 Life of Penitence . . . . 6 
 
 Chambers' Fifty-two Sermons . . .7 
 Chamberlain's Christian Worship . . 7 
 
 Seven ages of the Church . . .7 
 
 Chanter's Sermons 7 
 
 Cheyne'sTeaching of the Christian Year . 7 
 
 Consolations of the Cross . . . 7 
 
 Codd's Sermons 9 
 
 Comper's Teaching of British Churches . 9 
 Cress-well's Christian Life . . . .10 
 Davies'Benefit Club Sermons . . .10 
 Deane's Occasional Sermons . . .10 
 Evans' Christianity in its Homely Aspects 12 
 Flower's Sermons of S. Bernard . . . 13 
 Ford's Sermons at Heavitree . . .13 
 
 Translation of Segneri's Sermons . 13 
 
 Fowler's Parochial Sermons . . .14 
 Freeman's Advent Sermons . . . .14 
 Galton's Lectures on the Revelation . . 14 
 
 on Book of Canticles . . . .14 
 
 Goodwin's Cretian Church . . . .14 
 Gresley's Practical Sermons . . .14 
 
 Sermons at Brighton . . . .14 
 
 Three Sermons on Rome . . .14 
 
 Hamilton's Sermons . . . < .15 
 
 Hill's Short Sermons 16 
 
 Hopwood's Christ in His Church . . 16 
 Hutchings' Lent Lectures . . • . 17 
 Innes' Five Advent Sermons . . .17 
 Irons' Lectures, Holy Catholic Church . 17 
 
 LectureSjEcclesiastical Jurisdiction J7 
 
 Preaching of Christ . . . .17 
 
 Miracles of Christ . . . .17 
 
 Lea's Sermons 19 
 
 Lee's Advent Sermons 19 
 
 Message of Reconciliation . . .19 
 
 Miscellaneous Sermons . . .19 
 
 Magnay's Sermons, Practical & Suggestive 21 
 Michell's Sermons 21 
 
 Churches of Asia . . . .21 
 
 Millon the Nature of Christianity . .21 
 
 Four Sermons at Cambridge . . 21 
 
 Monro's Old Testament Characters . . 22 
 Mossman's Sermons . , . . .23 
 Mountain's Sermons for Seasons . . 24 
 Neale's Readings for the Aged . . .24 
 
 Sermons for Minor Festivals . . 24 
 
 Sermons in a Religious House . . 24 
 
 Newland's Postils 25 
 
 Nugee's Words from the Cross . . .25 
 
 Holy Women of the Gospel . .25 
 
 Paget'* Duties of Daily Life . . .26 
 
 Sermons on Saints' Days . . ,26 
 
 Sermons on Special Occasions . . 26 
 
 Poland's Earnest Exhortations . . .28 
 Polehampton's Steps in the Christian's Life 28 
 Poole's Sermons on Holy Communion . 28 
 Pott's Confirmation Lectures . . .28 
 
 Village Lectures on Sacraments . 28 
 
 Prichard's Sermons 30 
 
 Prynne's Plain Parochial Sermons . . 30 
 Skinner's Revelation of Antichrist . .33 
 Smith's (C. F.) Sermons . . . .33 
 
 (W.B.) Lent and Parochial Sermons 33 
 
 Srayttan's Christ Slighted . . .33 
 Stretton's Acts of S. Mary Magdalene . 34 
 
 Suckling's Sermons 35 
 
 Thompson's Davidica 35 
 
 Concionalia 35 
 
 The Sunday School ... .35 
 
 Toulins' Sermons for Seasons . . .36 
 
VI 
 
 CLASSIFIED INDEX. 
 
 Tomlins' Advent Sermons . . . .36 
 Watson's Seven Sayings on the Cross . 37 
 Sermons on the Beatitudes . . 37 
 
 Sermons for Sundays . . • .37 
 
 West's Parish Sermons . . . .37 
 
 Wilkinson's Mission Sermons . . .37 
 
 Wilmshurst's Six Sermons . . . .38 
 
 Windsor's Sermons for Soldiers . . .38 
 
 Woodford's Sermons at Bristol . . .38 
 
 Occasional Sermons . . . .33 
 
 Wroth's Sermons on Baptism . . .33 
 
 . TALES AND ALLEGORIES. , 
 
 Adams' Silvio 1 
 
 -^— Fall of Croesus 1 
 
 (C.P.) Cressingrham .... 1 
 
 Alice Beresford 1 
 
 Apple Blossom 1 
 
 Bayliss' Loving Service . ... 2 
 
 Birthday, the 2 
 
 Cecil Dean 7 
 
 Children of the Chapel .... 7 
 
 Chorister Brothers 7 
 
 Chronicles of S. Mary's .... 8 
 Cudlip's (Mrs.) ANoble Aim . . .10 
 
 Curate of Holycross 10 
 
 Enthusiasm not Religion . . . .11 
 Evans' Tales of the British Church . . 11 
 
 Everley 12 
 
 Gertrude Dacre 14 
 
 Gresley's Forest of Arden . . . .14 
 
 Siege of Lichfield „ . . .15 
 
 Coniston Hall 15 
 
 Clement Walton 15 
 
 Charles Lever 15 
 
 Church Clavering . . . .15 
 
 Frank's Trip to the Continent . . 15 
 
 — — Bernard Leslie 15 
 
 Part II 15 
 
 Portraitof an English Churchman .15 
 
 Henrietta's Wish 15 
 
 Hevgate's William Blake . . . .15 
 
 Hilary S. Magna 16 
 
 Ion Lester 17 
 
 Ivon 17 
 
 Lord of the Forest and his Vassals . . 1 
 Lucy and Christian Wainwright . . 20 
 
 Macgregor's Somerford Priory . . .21 
 
 Deepdene Minster . . . .21 
 
 Maiden Aunt's Tales 21 
 
 Mason's Old Library and its Tales . .21 
 Meeting in the Wilderness . . . .21 
 Milman's Way through the Desert . . 22 
 Monro's Allegories 22 
 
 Eustace 22 
 
 Claudian 22 
 
 Basil the Schoolboy . . . .22 
 
 Walter the Schoolmaster . . .22 
 
 —^ Leonard and Dennis . . . .22 
 Footprints in the Snow . . .22 
 
 My Birthday Eve 24 
 
 Neale's Stories of the Crusades . . .24 
 
 Duchenier 24 
 
 Unseen World 24 
 
 — — Theodora Phranza . . . .24 
 Tales on the Apostles' Creed . . 25 
 
 Northwode Priory 25 
 
 One Story by Two Authors . . . .25 
 Paget's Curate of Cumberworth . . .26 
 
 Liicretia 26 
 
 Milford Malvoisin . . . .26 
 
 S. Antholin's 26 
 
 Owlet of Owlstone Edge . . .26 
 
 Tales of the Village . . . .26 
 
 27 
 
 . 35 
 . 35 
 . 36 
 .37 
 . 37 
 .37 
 
 Paget's Warden of Berklngholt . 
 Parsons' Life-at-Ease Incumbents 
 Pollard's Avice .... 
 Reed's Adventures of Olaf Tryggveson 
 Reformed Village .... 
 Rockstro'a Abbey Lands 
 S. Alban's, or Prisoners of Hope 
 Sand's Sylvester Enderby . 
 
 Voices of Christmas . 
 
 Spencer's Scenes of Suburban Life 
 Stories for Christmas-tide . 
 Summerleigh Manor . . . 
 Sunbeam, the .... 
 Sydney's Life's Search 
 
 Chronicle of Day by Day . 
 
 Tales of Cro-wbridge Workhouse 
 Two Guardians . • ... 
 Wilford's Play and Earnest . 
 
 Masterof Churchill Abbots 
 
 Maiden of Our Own Day . 
 
 Wynnes, the 
 
 .,. _ THEOLOGICAL. 
 
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 King Alfred's Hymn. "As the Sun to brighter Skies." Ar- 
 ranged to ancient music, by Dr. Smith. 6d. 
 *' The Threefold Heavens of Glorious Height." The words 
 
 from the "Cathedral." The Music by M. A. W. Is. 
 Songs of the Young Pilgrim, from "Pascal the Pilgrim." Set 
 
 to Music by W. Fox, with Introductory Remarks by the Rev. E. 
 
 Monro, M.A. is. 
 A Song for the Times. Words by the Rev. J. M. Neale. The 
 
 Music (arranged for Four Voices) by the Rev. J. W. Rumsey. 3d. 
 "Dear is the Morning Gale of Spring." A Sacred Song. 
 
 The Poetry from the " Christian Year." The Music by J. F. D. 
 
 Yonge, M.D. 2s. 
 To the Redbreast: a Song. The Words by the late Rev. G. 
 
 Cornish. The Music by T. J. Jones. 2s. 
 «« Here's to the Cause, to that Good Cause." The Words 
 
 by the Rev. J. M. Neale. Set to Music in Four Parts, by A. H. 
 
 Brown, is. 
 *' The Better Land." The Poetry by Mrs. Hemans. The Music 
 
 by R. Redhead. Dedicated to the Rev. W. U. Richards. 3s. 
 Collects for the Fourth and Seventeenth Sundays after 
 
 Trinity. The Music by Mrs. William Warren. Dedicated to 
 
 the Most Honourable the Marchioness of Lansdowne. Price Is. 
 The Chorister's Hymn. On Card, 4d. 
 Eighty Short Exercises in Eight Lessons on the Major 
 
 Scale. By F. Helmore. 4d. 
 
BS1485 .L779 
 
 A commentary on the Song of songs. 
 
 Princeton Theological Seminary-Speer Library 
 
 1 1012 00012 4257 
 
DATE DUE 
 
 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 ,,0^ 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 s 
 
 
 
 ;.'':iM! 
 
 *^1996 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ; ^ , 
 
 
 
 
 Au^-*^ 
 
 S?7 
 
 
 
 
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 i HIGHSMITH #' 
 
 45230 
 
 
 Printed 
 In USA