Upon the handles of the bolt.

I opened to my beloved,

But

my beloved had turned away and was gone: My soul went out for his word:

I sought him, but I could not find him;

I called him, but he did not answer.

The keepers found me,

Who were going their rounds in the city:
They struck me and wounded me,

The guards of the wall

Took from me my veils.

Bochart, that myrrh which wept, or dropt from the tree itself.— These were probably the unguents, or perfumes, which, according to the customs of the times, she had prepared for the refreshment and gratification of her husband on his return.-Compare Prov. vii. 17.

In the estimation of an eastern lady, one of the greatest indignities that could be offered her.

PART THE SECOND.

THE bride has been hitherto, as we have noticed, the sole relater; it appears, from what follows, that she had been telling her distress to the daughters of Jerusalem. Having accounted for the state in which she appeared among them, she pours her complaint into the bosom of her friends.She charges them with a message to her beloved :-1 -their answer draws from her a description of his person:——they on their part declare their readiness to assist her in the

search.

BRIDE.

I ADJURE you, O daughters of Jerusalem,

If you

find my beloved,

'Whatever' you tell him—

Tell him that I am fainting with love!

VIRGINS.

What is thy beloved more than another beloved,

O fairest among women,

What is thy beloved more than another beloved,
That thou adjurest us thus?

a "What can ye say, but that I faint for love?"-Good. b Such is the imaginary inquiry put into the mouths of the daughters of Jerusalem, desigued, as I conceive, to draw forth from her own lips a description of the person and peculiar excellencies of the beloved object. Repecting

BRIDE.

My beloved is fair and blooming:

He is' conspicuous among ten thousand.

Respecting this description, we may make the same reflections as on a former occasion, when the personal charms of the bride were panegyrized: That whatever seeming inaptness there may be in the allusions, or obscurity in the language, according to our modes of thinking, there can be no difficulty in admitting, that, in the age of Solomon, each individual figure would be thought beautiful and appropriate to the occasion.

.red אדום c

d, pro vexillo, vel instar vexilli supra alios erectus. Latinè dicas, insignis. Exλeλoxioμevos año μvgiάdwv.- Septuagint.

• Probably in allusion to its ornaments.

fn, the Septuagint rende Erλaras; and the Vulgate more plainly, Elatas palmarum, i. e., the clusters or strings of embryo fruits after they have burst from the sheaths of the female palmtree, &c.-See Parkhurst.

-Copiosi penduli, i. e., crispi.-Simon.

8 Or" sitting in the full channel." Simon renders it differently, “Pala sive fundula, quæ gemma insititia impletur." The comparison intended, I conjecture, is, that of the pupil of the eye to a dove washing itself, as these little creatures are accustomed to do, by running into the midst of the water, and making a quick vibratory motion with their wings. In this situation the soft colours of their beautiful plumage, as seen in contrast with the white reflected light from the water, called in the comparison milk, would appear, perhaps, to us no inapt similitude of a handsome eye." His eyes are sparkling, and yet mild, like those of milk

His cheeks are' like the frames of balm "—

The' raised beds of aromaticsi:

His lips are' lilies *,

Distilling pure myrrh;

6

His limbs are like' pillars of marble,
Founded on pedestals of gold:
His appeararce 'is' like Lebanon,
He is' tall" as the cedars,

His speech is' most sweet,

white doves, when they are delighted as they sit by the waterside. See Patrick, Bochart, &c."-Percy.

h nay, Scala, in qua fulcimenta quærit vitis et opibalsimi arbor. Vulgo areola horti, sed sine idoneis argumentis.

Loca terræ elatiora: h. e. areola, vel sec. Cocceium, loca in quibus crescunt aromata et herbæ pigmentariorum.— Simon.

k Bishop Patrick supposes the lily here mentioned to be the same which, on account of its deep red colour, is particularly called by Pliny, "Rubens lilium," and which he tells us was much esteemed in Syria.

15, in genere, in rotundum flexum et convolutum quid, opus tornatum.-See Simon.

"Bracelets are on his wrists, set with jewels."-Harmer. wn, the chrysolite of the ancients, the topaz of the modern jewellers.

.ספיר

m. "A kind of precious stone, so called, perhaps, from the number of gold-coloured spots with which it is beautified. Pliny informs us, that the sapphire glitters with golden spots, that they are of an azure or sky-blue colour, but rarely intermixed with purple."-Parkhurst.

, choice or majestic.

He is altogether lovely°;

This is my beloved, and this my partner,
O daughters of Jerusalem.

VIRGINS.

Whither went thy beloved,

O fairest among women,
Whither turned thy beloved?
For we will seek him with thee P.

INTERPRETATION OF THE EIGHTH IDYL.

A PART of Christian experience, too frequent, alas! with believers in their intercourse with the heavenly Bridegroom, is illustrated in the first part of this parable. Under the notion of the returning traveller, who finds the partner of his cares asleep, and knocking in vain for admission, retires elsewhere for shelter, is represented the loss of a season of spiritual communion and holy joy, through culpable inadvertency, the prevalence of a slothful spirit, or a too great degree of self-indulgence.

We have, at the same time, in the painful anxiety of the wife, and in her unhappy wanderings, when she finds her husband is departed, an exhibition of

It is not easy here to give the force of the original. Literally, "His mouth is sweetnesses, his whole is delights."

P They own him worthy to be beloved, deserving of the anxiety expressed on his behalf: they inquire which way she thinks it proba le he is gone, and offer to accompany her in the search.