Anima and Animal

The Bride hears a voice (“quol”) reminding us again of Isa. 40.3 : “The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness”
This voice also knocks at the door. Cf. Rev. 3.20, where Christ comes and knocks at the door.
The dews that soak the bride’s hair relate to the tears of the heart that arise from repentance, and are a gift of grace.

The Bride has entered into her inner room—a place of feminine mysteries. She has “washed her feet” and undressed, and therefore cannot open the door.
In this image it is apparent that the intention of the one who comes in the night is not just to tease her, but to reveal that she has an independent will of her own. She has a reality in herself, and therefore is not dependent on her lover. Feet in Indian tradition signify presence, contact with the soil, standing firm.
But still the bride is deeply moved. Her inmost self, or 'Rehem'(Hebrew signifying heart, or inner bowels), is stirred.
"Is Ephraim my dear son, is he my darling child ? Often I speak of him, I cherish his memory still. Therefore my guts stir for him; I will surely pity him."
Jer. 31:20

Return to the Garden of Paradise

The image of the Garden, which reminds us of Paradise, is related to the wilderness, but is also different. The garden, an enclosed, walled in place, is also a cultivated, protected world. It is in the City, or particularly in the palace. It has a fountain in the centre. It represents the wilderness, but within the context of the city. It here becomes a symbol of a new integration between the civilized community, and its primal history.

The garden is also a figure for Israel. It is the fruitful community, which is always in danger of being destroyed by external forces, who want to come and break down its protective boundary, and to turn the garden back once again into a wilderness.
“Going down to his garden”
The theme of coming back, of returning, is another recurring motif of the Song of Songs. Like the idea of “Maranatha”—come Lord. But here it is the return of the Bride that is eagerly awaited.

The enclosed garden.

Come from Lebanon, my promised bride, come from Lebanon, come on your way…..
From the crests of Senir and Hermon, the haunt of lions, the mountains of leopards.
Song of songs. 4.8
She is a garden enclosed,
My sister, my promised bride;
A garden enclosed, a sealed fountain…..
Fountain that makes the gardens fertile, well of living water, streams flowing down from Lebanon. Song of songs 4 :12,16

The lover in exile

Some commentators see in the Song a constant refrain relating to the longing for a return from exile. The two themes of restoration, and conversion of heart can be found in Jer. 31:18 “Bring me back, let me come back, for you are my God.”
Another interpretation connects Solomon with the sun god Tamuz who was called Shelem. The City of Jerusalem is also the city of the dead, and the Canticle is a collection or garland of songs, which are like paschal hymns in the cult of this liturgy of the dead.

“My beloved has gone down into his garden, to the beds of Balsam, to feed in the gardens, and gather lotuses” Here we picture steps leading downward to the garden of the dead. (Like the garden of Gethsemane)

Lover as a Bee

In Indian poetry, the Beloved is related to the bee, that comes to the flower. The flower is the blue lotus, which is rooted in the dark underworld, but whose flowers are on the surface of the deep. The bee hovers over the flowers, gathering honey, but also fertilizing the flower.

Love stronger than death.

In the Indian legend of Savithri, Satyavan comes and lies down, in the lap of his bride Savithri. He becomes in a way, like her child. The iconography of this figure, which relates to many folk images showing a mother figure with a dead child in her lap, reminds us of the Pieta. There, as in the famous figure of the Pieta carved by Michaelangelo, we see the Mother Mary looking almost as young as a bride of the Christ, taken down from the tree of the Cross. The figure of Mother and Bride are here interfused, for as the Bhakti poets mention, love can be like the love of the Mother for her child, or the Bride for her husband. It is this love that is stronger than death.

“He reached from on high, he took me. He drew me out of the mighty waters” II Sam 22: 17. Ps. 18: 16
In the book of Jonah, the prophet goes down to the depths: “At the mountain bases I descened into Earth, and her bars closed on me forever. But you brought up my life from the Pit, Yahweh my God” Jonah 2: 5-6
In the letter to the Romans, Paul lists Death as foremost among those forces that are powerless to separate the soul from the Love of God in Christ. Rom. 8: 38

The Final Crossing

Crossing over.

Finally we come to the basic message of the song of songs, that Love is stronger than death. This is also the message of St. Paul in his chapter on Love, or Charity, that though Faith and Hope may pass away, love is endless.
Death is swallowed in victory. Where, Death is your victory? Where, Death, your sting?
I.Cor. 15: 54,55

The soul of the hero is taken across the river of death.
Death is associated with many waters, going back to ancient Cananite and Babylonian myths. In the book of Revelations, “the prostitute rules enthroned besides abundant waters” (Rev. 17.1) Waters often represent the underworld, which have to be crossed over. An angel helps the soul to the further shore.