CANTICLES, a word which literally signifies songs, but which is specially applied to a canonical book of the Old Testament, called in Hebrew The Song of the most beautiful song. The author is commonly supposed to be Solomon, and in the rich luxurious splendor of its coloring, it admirably harmonizes with the "golden time" of that magnificent monarch. The theme which it celebrates is love; but what kind of love, whether earthly or spiritual, is a question that has perplexed Biblical critics. The oldest interpretations are allegorical, and are either political or religious. The former of these, considered C. as the symbolical expression of a deep longing for the reunion of the kingdoms of Judah and Israel; the latter, of the love of God for his chosen people, the Jews. The religious interpretation passed over from Judaism to Christianity. and assumed a new aspect in consequence. Origen found the beloved bridegroom in dirist, and the bride in the church or the believing soul. Only among the theologians of the Syrian school do we find an effort made to adhere to more intelligible principles of inter pretation, but the " mystical view" obtained the upper hand, and has continued to be the predominant view of the poem amongst orthodox theologians. For a while an attempt
was made to distinguish between a primary and a secondary sense, both more or less directly present to the mind of the author; but modern scholarship in the main contents itself with endeavoring to fix the primary or literal meaning. Nor is this an easy task. Some commentators hold, for example, that C. is an anthology of detached idyls; others argue that it is a dramatic unity composed of connected parts. Ewald has done much to establish the latter view. Ewald's followers hold that the poem was written about the middle of the 10th c. B.c. in the northern kingdom of Israel, and conceived in a spirit of hostility against the luxurious court of Zion. Solomon, the type of a sensual monarch, has carried off to his harem a northern shepherd maiden, who in the poem appears surrounded by the ladies of his court. The king fails even by the proffer of honorable espousals to overcome the maiden's fervent attachment to her shepherd lover in the north country, and wholly abashed, ceases to press his suit. Finally, trim and chaste love triumphs in the union of the peasant lovers.