golden girdle. His head and his hair were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; and his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters; and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength." Rev. i. 13. "And the day is fast approaching when he shall come in the clouds of heaven, and every eye shall see him."-" He shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe." O that each of us in that day may be able to say, "This is my beloved, and this is my partner!" Be this then now, in prosperity, or in adversity; in honour, or in dishonour; in good report, or in ill report, the constant language of our lips and of our hearts: "Whom have I in heaven but thee? and in earth there is none that I desire besides thee." t 2 Thess. i. 10, IDYL THE NINTH. From the second to the tenth Verse of the sixth Chapter. A DIFFICULTY certainly occurs in fixing the boundaries of this Idyl, and in giving an account of the exterior of the allegory. I have ventured to fix its commencement with the second verse of the sixth chapter: for though, at first sight, that verse appears to be an answer to the inquiries made in the preceding verse, yet, if we consider the circumstances in which the spouse is supposed to hold that conversation with the daughters of Jerusalem, it does not seem probable that she was able at that time to give so distinct an account respecting the way which her beloved was gone, as that contained in the following lines. We may consider the fair bride, therefore, as describing, in the present idyl, an opportunity which she had lately had of enjoying the society of her beloved; and as rehearsing the affectionate language in which he expressed his satisfaction at her appearance. "I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine, "Let him eat among the flowers a. "Thou art fair, my partner, as Tirza, "Beautiful as Jerusalem, 66 Dazzling as the bannered-hosts. "Turn thine eyes from me, for they have greatly affected med: ' Thy hair is like a flock of goats, "Which go in the morning to water from Mount Gilead: "Thy teeth are' like a flock of ewes, "Which ascend from the wash-pool; "Which are all of them' in pairs, "And no one among them is bereaved of her fellow. "Threescore are' they 'the' queens, * In this language she addressed and welcomed him; and in the following terms he declared his affection. These two cities are, no doubt, mentioned on account of the beauty of their situation. Tirza signifies" delightful.” Much may be seen of ingenious conjecture concerning the meaning of 11, both in Parkhurst after Harmer, and in Good after Percy: the former interprets it of the dazzling appearance of the bride's robes; the latter, "dazzling as an army with banners;" and in the tenth verse, where the same term occurs, dazzling as the starry hosts." " is, properly, amazing, exciting awe and consternation, terrible, and here, by a synecdoche of the effect for the cause, dazzling."-Dr. Percy, p. 80. ,הרהיבני d "Animosum me reddiderunt; al. fortiter me move runt."-Simon. e The following lines are iterated from the seventh idyl, with the omission of one image only. f The six following lines I have endeavoured to give as literally, and as much in the air of the original, as possible, in order that 6 "And fourscore are the' concubines; "And there are' virgins without number. 8 ́ ́ One 'is' she, my dove, my perfect one, my readers inay be able to form their own judgment upon their meaning. For, from the different expositions which have been offered on this passage, its meaning must necessarily appear involved in some obscurity. Taking the lines as they stand above, it is as evident, on their simple inspection, that a contrast is designed to be drawn between the fair object, whose beauties have just been celebrated, and a multitude of women, forming, according to the customs of the times, the matrimonial establishment of the monarch. In opposition to this retinue of queens, and concubines, and unnumbered virgins, the speaker attests, that the object of his affections is but. one she has no partner, nor rival. But whose words are these? Can they be words of Solomon in his proper person? The supposition is rendered almost impossible by the history of his times. In endeavouring, therefore, to account for the exterior imagery of the allegory, the passage before us, I would remark, contains a tacit intimation, that though King Solomon's name, and King Solomon's pen, were made use of by the divine Inspirer of these Canticles, to construct an allegory representative of the loves of Christ and his Church, very different loves from those of Solomon must be imagined as the archetype, even when, in the exterior of the allegory, circumstances of royalty, and circumstances connected with the Israelitish monarch, are supposed. And it is for the same reason, as we have been before called to remark, that, though King Solomon is the undoubted author of these songs, he so frequently disrobes himself of his royal character, and speaks in the person of a shepherd, or leads us to contemplate some faithful pair in the humbler ranks of life. In addition to what has been said in the former note, we may notice, that the fair object of this attachment is pointed out, and distinguished as being an only one to her mother, the choice one, or one separated to her that bare her, no less than as being the only one of her husband. Polygamy, and the voluptuousness of the great, had debased, it should seem, as far as their influence extended, the general character of women, and had extinguished "One is' she to her mother, 66 Separated is' she to her that bare her". every truly feminine grace, and amiable quality, which could make them the worthy objects of a real affection. indeed be otherwise in women brought up and Harem or Seraglio! "so blithe, so smooth, so gay, How could it educated for a Yet empty of all good wherein consists Of lustful appetence, to sing, to dance, To dress, and troll the tongue, and roll the eye!" No wonder then, that, reaping the full evil of the violation of the primitive law of matrimony, Solomon, with all his wisdom, should find more bitter than death the woman whose heart is snares and nets, and her hands as bands;" and should be compelled to declare it, as the result of his experience, "One man among a thousand have I found; but a woman among those have I not found." Eccles. vii. 28. I conclude, therefore, that the text contains an admonition, that the royal slave, whether concubine or queen, was as unmeet as her haughty lord, to supply the prototype required: and that for this reason the Spirit of wisdom would guide the imagination to form to itself the picture of a tender, amiable female, the sole charge of her good mother, separated to her, and pure from all the world besides; innocent and simple; trained to domestic virtues; content and satisfied in retirement; and evincing, by her very assiduous attention to her honoured parent, that her heart was susceptible of gratitude, and capable of a faithful and tried attachment to a friend. "She is the only one of her mother, the choice one of her that bare her." And for every age and country, we need not scruple to assert, that we have here a general outline of that formation of the female character, which will ever prove most conducive to domestic happiness, and to the support of a real and lasting affection. h," purificata, pura, nitida-um, Cant. vi. 9, 10. Ps. xix. 9."-Simon. 13, however, according to the same writer, has two |
