THE SONG OF SONGS.*
THIS literary history of the books which compose the Old Testa- ment must always remain obscure. The Jewish families who re- turned from Babylonia to Jerusalem brought with them copies of some of the works which had been composed while the kingdom yet stood, and of some written during the captivity. But it is evident that many important books had been lost, and their places were partially supplied by abridgments and compilations. There is no means of knowing whether a single book has come to us exactly as it was written, or rather it is little likely that any should have escaped alteration of some kind. No early manu- scripts exist to show what was the state of the Hebrew language at any particular period of its existence, and peculiarities of dialect, archaisms or moderniems, as they are styled, which are found in any particular book, may be due mainly to copyists at different periods, long before it had become a mat- ter of religious importance to fix a standard text. From certain peculiarities of style the great Gesenius was led to consider the Song of Songs as a work of late origin ; more recent critics, from a broader view of its contents, assign it to the period when the Hebrew must have been in full perfection, that, namely, im- mediately after the splendid reign of Solomon. The title, indeed, prefixed by some later hand, and what is called universal tradi- tion, which means nothing more than the careless echoing of the opinion of the person who wrote the title, assign the author- ship to Solomon himself. But the contents of the song make this highly improbable, as the King is not represented in it in the most favourable light. It is not even likely to have been dedicated by permission to Solomon by the poet laureate of.the day. The Hebrew King would hardly have been gratified by a poem of which the subject is the contemptuous rejection by a village beauty of the attractions of the Royal harem, and her preference of a country swain to the monarch himself. How, it may be asked, did a composition like this find admission into the collec- tion of sacred books which have played so important a part in the history of the Jews and of the world ? Divines have been puzzled what to make of it, and it is only by a process of alio- morphism that it can be made suitable for the assimilation of true piety. The framers of our Liturgy had the wisdom or honesty to discard its use altogether as a book of edification, no part of it being included in the series of lessons to be read throughout the year.
The truth is, the existence of this book amongst those of the so-called Canon throws much light upon the formation of that collection. It is evident that the Jews who returned from Babylon " canonized" all the books of their old literature of which any copies could be found, without distinction of subject. We have probably but a small part of that literature. It is not likely that the Song of Songs was the only composition of its class, though it may have been the most popular. It was in great degree accident, according to the ordinary acceptation of that word, which presided at the formation of the Canon. The preserver of the Jewish writ- ings (if indeed the work were that of a single person, and not of several) collected all that be could, and would have collected more if they had been forthcoming. Nothing else will account for the preservation of the song which celebrates the power of love, while such books as " Jasher," " The Chronicles of the Kings," and other grave works have perished. For the rest there is nothing extraordinary in copies of the Sony having been more abundant than those of " Jasher." It was adapted for popular use, and may have been sung at weddings and festive occasions. It has been thought that the prophet Jeremiah alludes to the Song under the name of " The Voice of the Bridegroom and the Voice of the Bride," the sound of which in the laud he speaks of in several places as the symbol of prosperity and peace. The copy which has been preserved is, we are inclined to think, by no means a complete one ; the names of the speakers in the drama, and what may be called the stage directions, are all omitted, and some portions of the dialogue appear to be misplaced.
The ingenuity of a succession of commentators has been exer- oisedln supplying the hints and explanations which are neces- sary to understand the story. The analysis of M. Henan, the last critic who has dealt with the piece, seems satisfactory on the whole. It must be recollected that we have here a composition
resembling more than anything else an operatic libretto, and we need not look for too strict an adherence to the dramatic unities. The author was not troubled with considerations of scenery or dresses,—all that was left to the imagination of the hearers. The first scene mug' be supposed to lie in the interior of Solomon's harem, where the beauties of time Court are competing for his favour in a very plain-spoken manner. A young girl from the northern village of Shunem or Sulem is introduced into the assembly. She has been captured by the King's emissaries while engaged in the employment of watching a vineyard. The flatteries of the King and his ladies are not able to dazzle the simple-hearted maiden, whose thoughts turn upou the shepherd to whom she has been betrothed. In the night she escapes from the harem and wanders about Jeru- salem, inquiring for the fond shepherd who, itseems, hearing of her capture, had followed in pursuit to the city. The story here becomes confused. We find the Shulamite again in the harem, and further solicitations and temptations are applied, but without effect. Solomon, weary of this resistance, turns his attention to one of the other inmates of the harem, an accomplished danseuse, whose performances draw from him the most unbounded applause. In the midst of this the Shulamite contrives to escape unobserved, and rejoins her shepherd, and they return together to their native village. A triumphant ode in praise of true love is chanted by a spectator, or perhaps by the chorus, and here the piece ought to end, but a few enigmatical verses follow relating to the previous history of the Shulamite. She had been under the guardianship of her two brothers, who, as she approached marriageable age, laid plans for making the most money possible by the sale of her person. Their schemes are defeated, and magnanimous love triumphs.
Notwithstanding the broadness of some of the scenes in the book, its tendency is moral ; but the Jewish Rabbis thought it requisite to interdict its perusal by men under the age of thirty,. and the Christian Fathers approved of their rule. This was all very well, but both Rabbis and Fathers, acting upon the assumption that this amatory drama was the " word, of God written," thought it. necessary to allegorize the whole, and wonderful are the mysteries that have been found in it accordingly. This practice has continued in vogue down to the present time, and the headings of the chapters in the authorized version still give a countenance and authority to the notion that the descriptions of the Hebrew Theocritus are typical of the most sacred mysteries of religion. Mr. Hambleton's metrical paraphrase may help to dispel this idea, and to enable an ordinary reader to catch something of the true meaning and upshot of this poem. For the rest, we cannot highly recommend Mr. Hamble- ton's verses, which have no great elevation of style, and lack the terse downright plainness of the authorized version, which itself somewhat softens the original. We doubt indeed whether any process of rhyming can do anything else than spoil the charm of the unmeasured Hebrew poetry. Such a remaniement as Mr- Hambleton's reminds us painfully of the kind of doggrel furnished by the poetasters of the last century to Handel to be worked into oratorios. Mr. Harableton ably expresses in the preface the real scope of the work, and shows, in spite of allegorizers, that it has a healthy moral. " The object of the poet is not to entice to the voluptuous sensuality of a degenerate Oriental seraglio, nor to the equivocal feelings of Hindoo and Persian quietists, concealing under false externals hypocritical effeminacy, but to inculcate admira- tion of true love,—love inspiring courage and sacrifice, preferring poor freedom to low servility, bordering upon a strenuous hatred of all that is false and base, leading to fidelity and calm happi- ness." From this point of view the introduction of the Sang into a volume of works of a serious and religious nature may be more or less defensible, without having resort to such deplora- ble devices as representing a plain picture of a dancing girl as " a description of the Church's graces," as is done in the title to chapter 7, in our authorized version. It is good that attention should be called at the present moment to the existence of this book in the Cauon to which theologians attribute the perfection of a divine ordinance.
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