...will he ever win?

<< Song of Solomon 2 >> King James Version

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1I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.2As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.
3As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.
4He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.



[Note: The rose of Sharon? The lily of the valleys? Boy, this author has a knack for words that stick in the mind. "So is my love among the daughters" is so much better than the merely factual "So is my love among the young women." The metaphor of the apple tree is terrific, and so is "his banner over me was love."


A couple of random points: some of the words in the body of the poem are italicized...I don't know why, since emphasizing them buggers up the sound. And if you're reading the poem out loud, I would emphasize the second syllable in "Sharon" because it sounds better that way.]


5Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples: for I am sick of love.
6His left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me.
7I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please.


[Note: "Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples" is pure word music. I assume that "sick of love" means something like "dizzy with love," which is a good thing. Charging by the roes and hinds is a brilliant formulation. It seems to acknowledge the magical  power and beauty of nature. Her command to the other women has great force because she summons nature to back her up.]


8The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills.
9My beloved is like a roe or a young hart: behold, he standeth behind our wall, he looketh forth at the windows, shewing himself through the lattice.
10My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.
11For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone;
12The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;



[Note: As a cartoonist, line 8 is skewered for me because I can imagine the way Don Martin would have drawn it. It's still a beautiful image, though. I forgive the "voice of the turtle" reference...turtles don't have voices, do they?...but why quibble?]


15Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.
16My beloved is mine, and I am his: he feedeth among the lilies.
17Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bethel.

[Note: That's it, that's the end. I have no idea why the boyfriend wants to take vine-eating foxes with him, but the word music here is so powerful that it transcends literal meaning. I deleted lines 13 and 14 just to make the passage shorter. You can read the whole passage here:  http://kingjbible.com/songs/2.html

(Forgive the weird spacing above...I'm having computer problems)


A beautiful poem, huh? I wish poetry readings were sometimes done by professional actors reading classic poems like this one. If they were, maybe they'd be better attended.

BTW: if you follow the link to the site that I stole this from, you'll discover that clicking on the blue line numbers in the King James Version will take you to a long list showing how other translators handled the same line. Boy, what a difference! If you're a student of good writing, I know of no better textbook than these comparisons!

Also BTW:  Animation Insider just put up an interview of me on their site:
http://www.animationinsider.com/2011/07/eddie-fitzgerald/