(d.) THE FOURTH SECTION (V. 2-Viii. 4).—The sympathies manifested by some of the court ladies for the Shulamite at the close of the last section encourage her to relate to them a dream which she had recently had. The purpose of this narrative is the description of the shepherd to which it leads, and which is necessary to the completion of the whole drama. As the Shulamite, in describing this beau tiful and fickle dream (v. 2-7), entreated the court ladies that if perchance they should anywhere meet her beloved they are to let him know how she was languishing on account of her separation from him (8), these inmates of the gymeceum ask her what there is about him to cause such an attachment (9) ; and she, only too pleased to comply with the re quest, gives them a description of the shepherd (to-t 6). Struck with so charming a description of his personal appearance, the court ladies offer the Shulamite to go with her to seek him (vi. t). To which she replies that her beloved as a shepherd is among the scenes of nature, and again reiterates her never-changing love for him (2, 3). On hearing that the beloved is being sought for, Solomon im mediately presents himself, seeks to win the Shula mite's affections by extolling her beauty (4-7), by promising to elevate her to the highest dignity (8, 9), and by telling her that she is the admiration of all the court ladies (to). She explains how she came to be seen by the court ladies, and withdraws (it, 12) ; the king calls her back (13 b), and as she returns describes her charms, and wishes to enjoy the love of one so beautiful (vii. 1-9). She refuses the king's overtures, stating that her affections are sacredly espoused to another (to) ; then addressing herself to her beloved she entreats him to take her away from the court, and descants upon their rural pleasures (It- Remembering, however, that circumstances even at home prevented the full manifestation of her love, she longs for those ob stacles to be removed (viii. t, 2). She is com pletely overcome by these thoughts of her beloved, wishes that no one but her beloved may support her (3), and with the little strength she has left reiterates the refrain of adjuration that the court ladies should not persuade her to transfer her affec tions (4).
(e.) THE FIFTH SECTION (Viii. 5-14) states the damsel's victory over all her temptations. The king, convinced that nothing could induce the Shulamite to transfer her affections, releases her from the gymeceum in the royal palace, and, ac companied by her beloved shepherd, she returns to her humble rural home. The companions of the shepherd, who are as much interested in the virtuous victory of the shepherdess as the court ladies were in the success of Solomon, welcome their arrival (viii. 5 a); the lovers on their way visit the tree under which they were first betrothed, and there declare that the divine spark of love which had been kindled in their hearts is never to be quenched (5 b-7). The brothers are then made to repeat the promise which they gave their sister to reward her virtue (8, 9) ; the Shulamite alludes to her success ful resistance of all allurements, and obtains the reward (io-12). The shepherd now asks his be loved shepherdess to sing for him and his com panions, who come together to express their con gratulations that one of their humble occupation has, by her extraordinary victory, brought such honour upon the whole class ; and she repeats the same song which she had sung in sorrow (comp. ii. 17), but in a far different tone, for the moun tains of separations' are now changed into the much wished-for mountains of pure delight, hills of aromatics' (13, 14).
As to its form, though the Song of Songs does not quite conform to the rules of the regular drama according to the modern notion of this term, yet there can be but little doubt that it possesses all the essential elements and the organic structure of an amceban or dramatic poem. It has a plot in the Hebrew sense of the word, which develops it self gradually ; it has dramatis persona, who at certain intervals make their appearance and take their part in the intrigue, with this peculiarity, however, that they are reciting instead of perform ing what they are supposed to do ; it has regular pauses or divisions marked by refrains, thus divid ing it into distinct parts analogous to our acts or scenes ; each act represents the heroine as going through some new trial, and terminates in the triumph of virtue over temptation ; and all parts stand to one another in a definite order of sequence, embodying one concerted action, and tending to one conclusion. Moreover, it has a chorus, though
it is somewhat different from the chorus of our dramas, inasmuch as it has no rigorous identity, but consists sometimes of the sympathising court ladies, sometimes of the citizens of Jerusalem', and some times of the shepherd's companions. The poem, however, was not designed to be acted on the stage of a theatre, as the Hebrews had no stage before the time of Herod, but was most probably intended to be recited on marriage-festivals, and other stated occasions, when the virtue of women was to be celebrated.
3. Importance of the Book.—If the purport of the Song of Songs were simply to celebrate the chaste connubial affections subsisting between the sexes, which God has sacredly implanted in our breasts, which are the basis of mora.1 life and domestic hap piness, and the figures of which he himself em ploys to exhibit his love to us, this of itself is a theme of paramount sublimity and importance, and would entitle it to a place in the canon of Holy Writ, which is designed to aid us in the virtuous enjoyments of the life that now is, as well as to pre pare us for the life that is to come. We have, therefore, no hesitation in endorsing the sentiments of the eminent Niebuhr, contained in his reply to a young pastor who wanted to know why a love-song was admitted into the Biblical canon : As for me, I should believe that something was wanting in the Bible if there could not be found there any expres sion of the deepest and strongest of the feelings of mankind ' (Renan, La Cantique des Cantiques, p. 147). The Song of Songs, however, does more than simply celebrate the tender affections sub sisting between husband and wife. It depicts to us, for our instruction in practical righteousness, the triumph of virtue over temptations most se ductive and extraordinary, and tells us that the one who comes off more than conqueror is a woman—a humble village girl. The most cur sory glance at the history and treatment of woman in olden times, and in some countries even to the present day, as well as an examination into the cause of this ill treatment, will show the need and importance of recording such an example of female virtue as is celebrated in the Song of Songs. The woman whom God designed as the helpmate and counterpart of man has been reduced by her guard ian and protector to be the slave of his carnal lusts. He gives her no credit for virtue, and for this reason places her in the most inaccessible part of the house, sets dogs and eunuchs to guard the doors of her chambers, and makes the harem as impene trable as a prison ; none but the nearest relatives are allowed to see her, and when necessitated to pass through the street her countenance is thickly veiled, and eunuchs watch her move ments. The conduct of Potiphar's wife, and of Bath-sheba with David, was calculated to confirm man in his opinion that woman was naturally un faithful and incontinent, and that it was requisite to exclude her from society in order to preserve her morals. Now, the virtuous example of the Shula mite recorded in this poem strikes at the root of all the reproaches and wrongs of woman. If it was deemed of sufficient importance for our instruc tion to record in Holy Writ that a Hebrew slave was tempted by a woman of high rank, resisted the temptation, and though left to suffer for a season, was ultitnately rewarded for his virtue (Gen. xxxix. 7, etc.) ; and if it was needed for our v.arning to relate that Bath-sheba, to whom, as the wife of an officer of rank and accustomed to wealth and luxury, temptation from high quarters could not have been very powerful, surrendered her virtue to royal blandishments—surely it is of paramount im portance to celebrate the example of the Shula rnite. A village girl—a humble shepherdess—to whom the promise of costly apparel and of eleva tion from a low and toilsome occupation to the highest rank, must have been an extraordinary allurement, through her womanly and sacred virtue is enabled to spurn all the blandishments of the greatest monarch, and triumph over all the tempta tions. And has this example ceased to be needed ? The revelations of our divorce courts show that we might do well to read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest' the noble story of the Shulamite.