II
THE CURTAINS OF SOLOMON

In the deluge women must have been swept wholly away. If not, then they became beings to whom genealogy was indifferent. The long list of Noah’s descendants, which Genesis provides, contains no mention of them. When ultimately they reappear, their consistency is that of silhouettes. It is as though they belonged to an inferior order. Historically they did.

Woman was not honored in Judæa. The patriarch was chieftain and priest. His tent was visited by angels, occasionally by creatures less beatific. In spite of the terrible pomps that surrounded the advent of the decalogue, there subsisted for his eternal temptation the furnace of Moloch and Baal’s orgiastic nights. These things – in themselves corruptions of Chaldæan ceremonies – woman personified. Woman incarnated sin. It was she who had invented it. To Ecclesiasticus, the evil of man excelled her virtue. To Moses, she was dangerously impure. In Leviticus, her very birth was a shame. To Solomon, she was more bitter than death. As a consequence, the attitude of woman generally was as elegiac as that of Jephthah’s daughter. When she appeared it was but to vanish. In betrothals there was but a bridegroom that asked and a father that gave. The bride was absent or silent. As a consequence, also, the heroine was rare. Of the great nations of antiquity, Israel produced fewer notable women than any other. Yet, that, it may be, was by way of precaution, in order to reserve the strength of a people for the presentation of one who, transcending all, was to reign in heaven to the genuflections of the earth.

Meanwhile, conjointly with Baal and Moloch, Ishtar – known locally as Ashtaroth – circumadjacently ruled. At a period when these abstractions were omnipresent, when their temples were thronged, when their empires seemed built for all time, the Hebrew prophets, who continuously reviled them, foretold that they would pass and with them the gods, dogmas, states that they sustained. So promptly were the prophecies fulfilled that they must have sounded like the heraldings of the judgment of God. But it may be that foreknowledge of the future rested on a consciousness of the past.

There, in the desert, had stood a bedouin preparing the tenets of a creed; in the remoter past a shadow in which there was lightning, then the splendor of the first dawn where the future opened like a book, and, in that grammar of the eternal, the promise of an age of gold. Through the echo of succeeding generations came the rumor of the impulse that drew the world in its flight. The bedouin had put the desert behind him and stared at another, the sea. As he passed, the land leaped into life. There were tents and passions, clans not men, an aggregate of forces in which the unit disappeared. For chieftain there was Might and, above, were the subjects of impersonal verbs, the Elohim, from whom the thunder came, the rain, darkness and light, death and birth, dream too, nightmare as well. The clans migrated. Goshen called. In its heart Chaldæa spoke. The Elohim vanished and there was El, the one great god and Isra-el, the great god’s elect. From heights that lost themselves in immensity, the ineffable name, incommunicable, and never to be pronounced, was seared by forked flames on a tablet of stone. A nation learned that El was Jehovah, that they were in his charge, that he was omnipotent, that the world was theirs. They had a law, a covenant, a deity and, as they passed into the lands of the well beloved, the moon became their servant, to aid them the sun stood still. The terror of Sinai gleamed from their breast-plates. Men could not see their faces and live. They encroached and conquered. They had a home, then a capital, where David founded a line of kings and Solomon, the city of God.

Solomon, typically satrapic, living in what then was splendor; surrounded by peacocks and peris; married to the daughter of a Pharaoh, married to many another as well; the husband of seven hundred queens, the pasha of three hundred favorites, doing, as perhaps a poet may, only what pleased him, capricious as potentates are, voluptuous as sovereigns were, on his blazing throne and particularly in his aromatic harem, presented a spectacle strange in Israel, wholly Babylonian, thoroughly sultanesque. To local austerity his splendor was an affront, his seraglio a sin, the memory of both became odious, and in the Song of Songs, which, canonically, was attributed to him, but which the higher criticism has shown to be an anonymous work, that contempt was expressed.

Something else was expressed. The Song of Songs is the gospel of love. Humanity at the time was sullen when not base. Nowhere was there love. The anterior stories of Jacob and Rachel, of Rebekah and Isaac, of Boaz and Ruth, are little novels, subsequently evolved, concerning people that had lived long before and probably never lived at all. To scholars they are wholly fabulous. Even otherwise, these legends do not, when analyzed, disclose love. Ruth herself with her magnificent phrase – “Where thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge; thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God,” – does not display it. Historically its advent is in the Song of Songs.

The poem, perhaps originally a pastoral in dialogue form, but more probably a play, has, for central situation, the love of a peasant for a shepherd, a love tender and true, stronger than death, stronger at least than a monarch’s will. The scene, laid three thousand years ago in Solomon’s seraglio, represents the triumph of constancy over corruption, the constancy of a girl, unique in her day, who resisted a king, preferring a hovel to his harem. In an epoch more frankly unmoral than any of which history has cognizance, this girl, a native of Shulam, very simple, very ignorant, necessarily unrefined, possessed, through some miracle, that instinctive exclusiveness which, subsequently disseminated and ingrained, refurbished the world. She was the usher of love. The Song of Songs, interpreted mystically by the Church and profanely by scholars, is therefore sacred. It is the first evangel of the heart.

From the existing text, the original plan, and with it the original meaning, have disappeared. Many exegetes, notably Ewald, have demonstrated that the disappearance is due to manipulations and omissions, and many others, Renan in particular, have attempted reconstructions. The version here given is based on his.³ From it a few expressions, no longer in conformity with modern taste, and several passages, otherwise redundant, have been omited. By way of proem it may be noted that the Shulamite, previously abducted from her native village – a hamlet to the north of Jerusalem – is supposed to be forcibly brought into the presence of the king where, however, she has thought only of her lover.

THE SONGS OF SONGS

Act I

Solomon, in all His Glory, Surrounded by His Seraglio and His Guards

An Odalisque

Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth.

Chorus of Odalisques

Thy love is better than delicious wine. Thy name is ointment poured forth. Therefore do we love thee.

The Shulamite

(forcibly introduced, speaking to her absent lover.)

The King hath brought me into his chamber. Draw me away, we will go together.

The Odalisques

(to Solomon.)

The upright love thee. We will be glad and rejoice in thee. We will remember thy love more than wine.

The Shulamite

(to the Odalisques.)

I am black but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, comely as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon. Do not disdain me because I am a little black. It is the sun that has burned me. My mother’s children were angry at me. They made me keeper of the vineyards. Alas! mine own vineyard I have not kept.

(Thinking of her absent lover.)

Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou takest thy flocks to rest at noon that I may not wander among the flocks of thy comrades.

An Odalisque

If thou knowest not, O thou fairest among women, follow the flock and feed thy kids by the shepherds’ tents.

Solomon

(to the Shulamite.)

To my horse, when harnessed to the chariot that Pharaoh sent me, I compare thee, O my love. Thy cheeks are comely with rows of pearls, thy neck with charms of coral. We will make for thee necklaces of gold, studded with silver.

The Shulamite

(aside.)

While the King sitteth at his divan, my spikenard perfumes me and to me my beloved is a bouquet of myrrh, unto me he is as a cluster of cypress in the vines of Engedi.

Solomon

Yes, thou art fair, my beloved. Yes, thou art fair. Thine eyes are the eyes of a dove.

The Shulamite

(thinking of the absent one.)

Yes, thou art fair, my beloved. Yes, thou art charming, and our tryst is a litter of green.

Solomon

(to whom constancy has no meaning.)

The beams of our house are cedar and our rafters of fir.

The Shulamite

(singing.)

I am the rose of Sharon The lily of the valley am I.

(Enter suddenly the Shepherd.)

The Shepherd

As a lily among thorns, so is my love among daughters.

The Shulamite

(running to him.)

As is the apple among fruit, so is my beloved among men. In delight I have sat in his shadow and his savor was sweet to my taste. He brought me to the banquet hall and put o’er me the banner of love.

(Turning to the Odalisques.)

Stay me with wine, strengthen me with fruit, for I am swooning with love.

(Half-fainting she falls in the Shepherd’s arms.)

His left hand is under my head and his right hand doth embrace me.

The Shepherd

(to the Odalisques.)

I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes and the hinds of the field, that ye stir not, nor awake my beloved till she will.

The Shulamite

(dreaming in the Shepherd’s arms.)

My own love’s voice. Arise, my fair one, he tells me, arise and let us go…

The Shepherd

I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, that ye stir not, nor awake my beloved till she will.

(Solomon motions; the Shepherd is removed.)

Act II

A Street in Jerusalem

In the distance is Solomon and his retinue

Chorus of Men

Who is this that cometh out of the wilderness, exhaling the odor of myrrh and of frankincense and all the powders of the perfumer?

(Solomon and his retinue advance.)

First Jerusalemite

Behold the palanquin of Solomon. Three score valiant men are about it. They all hold swords…

Second Jerusalemite

King Solomon has had made for him a litter of Lebanon wood. The supports are of silver, the bottom of gold, the covering of purple. In the centre is a loved one, chosen from among the daughters of Jerusalem.

The Chorus

(calling to women in the houses.)

Come forth, daughters of Zion, and behold the King…

Act III

The Seraglio

Solomon

(to the Shulamite.)

Yes, thou art fair, my love, yes, thou art fair. Thou hast dove’s eyes… Thou art all fair, my love. There is no spot on thee.

The Shepherd

(without, in the garden, calling to the Shulamite and referring in veiled terms to the seraglio and its dangers.)

Come to me, my betrothed, come to me from Lebanon. Look at me from the top of Amana, from the summit of Shenir and Hermon, from the lion’s den and the mountain of leopards.

(The Shulamite goes to a window and looks out.)

The Shepherd

You have strengthened my heart, my sister betrothed, you have strengthened my heart with one of thine eyes, with one of the curls that float on thy neck. How dear is thy love, my sister betrothed! Thy caresses are better than wine, and the fragrance of thy garments is sweeter than spice.

The Shulamite

Let my beloved come into his garden and eat its pleasant fruits.

The Shepherd

I am come into my garden, my sister betrothed, I have gathered my myrrh with my spice. I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey. I have drunk my wine with my milk.

(To the chorus.)

Eat, comrades, drink abundantly, friends.

(The Shepherd and the chorus withdraw.)

Act IV

The Seraglio

The Shulamite

(musing.)

I sleep but my heart waketh. I heard the voice of my beloved. He knocked. Open to me! he said. My sister, my love, my immaculate dove, open to me, for my head is covered with dew, the locks of my hair are wet … I rose to open to my beloved … but he was gone. My soul faileth me when he spoke not. I sought him, but I could not find him. I called him but he did not reply.

(A pause. She relates the story of her abduction.)

The watchman that went about the city found me, they smote me, they wounded me, and the keepers of the walls took away my veil.

(To the Odalisques.)

I pray you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my beloved, tell him that I die of love.

Chorus of Odalisques

In what is the superiority of thy lover, O pearl among women, that thou beseechest us so?

The Shulamite

My beloved’s skin is white and ruddy. He is one in a thousand… His eyes are as doves… His cheeks are a bed of flowers… He is charming. Such is my beloved, such is my dear one, O daughters of Jerusalem.

Chorus of Odalisques

Whither is thy beloved gone, O pearl among women? Which way did he turn, that we may seek him with thee?

The Shulamite

My beloved is gone from the garden… But I am his and he is mine. He feedeth his flocks among lilies.

(Enter Solomon.)

(The Shulamite looks scornfully at him.)

Solomon

Thou art beautiful as Tirzah, my love, and comely as Jerusalem, but terrible as an army in battle. Turn thine eyes away. They trouble me…

The Shepherd

(from without.)

There are sixty queens, eighty favorites, and numberless young girls. But among them all my immaculate dove is unique, she is the darling of her mother. The young girls have seen her and called her blessed. The queens and the favorites have praised her.

The Chorus

(astonished at the Shulamite’s scorn of the King.)

Who is it that is beautiful as Tirzah but terrible as an army in battle?

The Shulamite

(impatiently turning her back, and relating again her abduction.)

I went down into the garden of nuts, to see the green plants in the valley, to see whether the vine budded, and the pomegranates were in flower. But before I was aware of it, I was among the chariots of my princely people.

The Chorus

Turn about, turn again, O Shulamite, that we may see thee.

A Dancer

What will you see in the Shulamite whom the King has compared to an army?

Solomon

(to the Shulamite.)

How beautiful are thy feet, prince’s daughter… How fair and how pleasant art thou…

The Shulamite

(impatiently as before.)

I am my beloved’s and he is sighing for me.

(Exit Solomon. Enter the Shepherd.)

The Shulamite

(hastening to her lover.)

Come, my beloved, let us go forth to the fields, let us lodge in the villages. We will rise early and see if the vine flourishes and the grape is ripe and the pomegranates bud. There will I caress thee. The love-apples perfume the air and at our gates are all manner of rich fruit, new and old, which I have kept for thee, my beloved. Oh, that thou wert my brother, that, when I am with thee without, I might kiss thee and not be mocked at. I want to take and bring thee into my mother’s house. There thou shalt instruct me and I will give thee spiced wine and the juice of my pomegranates.

(Falling in his arms and calling to the Odalisques.)

His left hand is under my head and his right hand doth embrace me.

The Shepherd

(to the chorus.)

I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that ye stir not nor awake my beloved till she will.

Act V

The Village of Shulam

(The Shulamite, who has escaped from the seraglio is carried in by her lover.)

Chorus of Villagers

Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved?

The Shepherd

(to the Shulamite.)

I awake thee under the apple tree.

(He points to the house.)

There thou wert born.

The Shulamite

Set me as a seal upon thy heart, as a seal upon thine arm; for love is strong as death, jealousy cruel as the grave; the flashes thereof are flashes of fire, a very flame of the Lord. But many waters cannot quench love, nor can the floods drown it. The man who seeks to purchase it acquires but contempt.

EPILOGUE

A Cottage at Shulam

First Brother of the Shulamite

(thinking of a younger sister whom he would sell when she is older.)

We have a little sister, still immature. What shall we do with her when she is spoken for?

Second Brother

If by then she is comely, we will get for her silver from a palace. If she is not comely, we will get the value of cedar boards.

The Shulamite

(ironically intervening.)

I am comely, yet I made them let me be.

First Brother

(significantly.)

Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon. He leased it to farmers each of whom was to pay him a thousand pieces of silver.

The Shulamite

But my vineyard which is mine I still have.

(Laughing.)

A thousand pieces for thee, Solomon, and two hundred for the others.

(At the door the Shepherd appears. Behind him are comrades.)

The Shepherd

Fair one, that dwelleth here, my companions hearken to thy voice, cause me to hear it.

The Shulamite

Hasten to me, my beloved. Hasten like a roe or a young hart on the mountains of spices.