Commentary on the Song of Songs, Liber II
I am black and beautiful — Liber II opens§1
1I am black and beautiful, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon. The Second Book begins. The Bride speaks to the daughters of Jerusalem — souls still partly carnal. She is black because of penitence, struggles, and the body of humility; beautiful because of the image of God, conversion, and the Bridegroom who loved her. Kedar signifies darkness; Solomon’s curtains, adornment.
Latin · §1
Nigra sum et formosa, filiae Hierusalem, sicut tabernacula Cedar, sicut pellae Salomonis. Incipit Liber Secundus. Sponsa ad filias Hierusalem loquitur, id est ad animas quae adhuc ex parte carnales sunt. Nigra propter paenitentiam, propter certamina, propter corpus humilitatis; formosa propter imaginem Dei, propter conversionem, propter sponsum qui eam dilexit. Cedar obscuritatem, pellae Salomonis decorem significant.
Do not look that I am dark; mother’s sons fought me§2
2Do not look at me because I am dark, for the sun has discolored me. The sun of trials and persecutions sometimes scorches the soul and changes its color, yet does not take away inner beauty. My mother’s sons fought against me: those who seemed of the same people or synagogue persecuted the church. They made me keeper of the vineyards; my own vineyard I have not kept: while she takes up others’ cares, she sometimes neglects her own.
Latin · §2
Nolite me considerare quod fusca sim, quia decoloravit me sol. Sol tentationum et persecutionum aliquando animam adurit et colorem mutat, non tamen formam interiorem aufert. Filii matris meae pugnaverunt contra me: qui ex eadem gente vel synagoga videbantur, ecclesiam persecuti sunt. Posuerunt me custodem in vineis; vineam meam non custodivi: dum alienas curas suscipit, propriam aliquando negligit.
Tell me where you pasture at noon§3
3Tell me, you whom my soul loves, where you pasture, where you lie down at noon. Noon is full light and perfect knowledge. The Bride does not want to wander among the flocks of companions — heresies and varied teachings — but to find the Word’s pastures at noon itself. If the Bridegroom does not show her, the soul is in danger of going after the tracks of alien flocks.
Latin · §3
Indica mihi, quem diligit anima mea, ubi pascas, ubi cubes in meridie. Meridies plena lux et perfecta scientia est. Sponsa non vult errare inter greges sodalium — haereses et doctrinas varias — sed in ipso meridie Verbi pascua invenire. Si non indicaverit sponsus, periclitatur anima post vestigia gregum alienorum abire.
If you do not know yourself — pasture goats§4
4If you do not know yourself, O beautiful among women, go out and follow the tracks of the flocks, and pasture your goats. Knowledge of oneself is the way to God. She who does not know herself pastures among goats, not among sheep; she will not be on the right but on the left. Beautiful among women: the church among synagogues, or the soul among the world’s virtues.
Latin · §4
Nisi cognoveris te, o pulchra inter mulieres, egredere et abi post vestigia gregum, et pasce haedos tuos. Cognitio sui via est ad Deum. Quae se nescit, inter haedos pascitur, non inter oves; a dextris non erit sed a sinistris. Pulchra inter mulieres: ecclesia inter synagogas, vel anima inter virtutes mundi.
Likened to my cavalry among Pharaoh’s chariots§5
5I have likened you, my friend, to my cavalry among Pharaoh’s chariots. As far as the Lord’s cavalry differs from Pharaoh’s horses, so far the church from alien daughters. Your cheeks are like a turtledove’s; your neck like necklaces. Simplicity and obedience are the soul’s adornment. We will make you ornaments of gold studded with silver, while the king is on his couch: the Bridegroom’s friends prepare ornaments for a time.
Latin · §5
Equitatui meo in curribus Pharaonis assimilavi te, amica mea. Quantum distat equitatus Domini ab equis Pharaonis, tantum ecclesia a filiabus alienis. Genae tuae sicut turturis; collum tuum sicut monilia: simplicitas et obedientia ornatus animae. Murenulas aureas faciemus tibi vermiculatas argento, donec rex in accubitu suo est: amici sponsi interim ornamenta praeparant.
A bundle of myrrh between my breasts§6
6A bundle of myrrh is my beloved to me; he shall linger between my breasts. Myrrh signifies Christ’s mortification and passion. A bundle: not one drop, but the fullness of the passion. Between the breasts: in the ruling part of the heart, in continual memory, the crucified Christ dwells. As long as we are in this world, we carry the myrrh of the passion between the breasts.
Latin · §6
Fasciculus myrrhae dilectus meus mihi; inter ubera mea commorabitur. Myrrha mortificationem et passionem Christi significat. Fasciculus: non una gutta, sed plenitudo passionis. Inter ubera: in principali cordis, in memoria iugi, Christus crucifixus habitat. Quamdiu in hoc mundo sumus, myrrham passionis inter ubera gestamus.
A cluster of henna in the vineyards of Engedi§7
7A cluster of henna is my beloved to me in the vineyards of Engedi. Henna is flower and fragrance and medicine; Engedi a place of ointments. Christ is both the fragrance of life and the medicine of wounds and the cluster of new wine. In the vineyards of Engedi: in the churches where the Spirit’s ointments are compounded.
Latin · §7
Botrus cypri dilectus meus mihi in vineis Engaddi. Cyprus flos et odor et medicina; Engaddi locus unguentorum. Christus et odor vitae et medicina vulnerum et botrus vini novi. In vineis Engaddi: in ecclesiis ubi unguenta Spiritus conficiuntur.
Behold you are beautiful; our couch is shaded§8
8Behold, you are beautiful, my beloved, and fair. Our couch is shaded; the beams of our houses are cedar, our paneling cypress. The Bride no longer speaks only of her own blackness, but proclaims the Bridegroom’s beauty. The shaded couch: a soul strewn with flowers of virtues. Cedar and cypress are incorruptible: faith and hope and charity.
Latin · §8
Ecce tu pulcher es, dilecte mi, et decorus. Lectulus noster floridus; tigna domorum nostrarum cedrina, laquearia nostra cypressina. Sponsa iam non de sua nigredine sola loquitur, sed pulchritudinem sponsi praedicat. Lectulus floridus: anima floribus virtutum strata. Cedrus et cypressus imputribilia: fides et spes et caritas.
I am the flower of the field; lily among thorns§9
9I am the flower of the field and the lily of the valleys. As a lily among thorns, so is my friend among the daughters. Christ is the flower that appeared in the field of the world; the lily for the lowly in the valley. The church is a lily among thorns of persecutions and scandals. Thorns prick; the lily keeps its brightness.
Latin · §9
Ego flos campi et lilium convallium. Sicut lilium inter spinas, sic amica mea inter filias. Christus flos qui apparuit in campo mundi; lilium humilibus in valle. Ecclesia lilium inter spinas persecutionum et scandalorum. Spinae pungunt; lilium candorem servat.
Stay me with flowers; his left hand; I adjure you§10
10Stay me with flowers, heap me with apples, for I languish with love. His left hand under my head, and his right hand will embrace me. I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles and stags of the field, not to raise or awaken love until she please. Thus far the Second Book has woven its first series of lemmas from I am black through the bundle and the cluster and the couch as far as the adjuration; what follows will come in the next tips.
Latin · §10
Fulcite me floribus, stipate me malis, quia amore langueo. Sinistra eius sub capite meo, et dextera illius amplexabitur me. Adiuro vos, filiae Hierusalem, per capreas cervosque camporum, ne suscitetis neque evigilare faciatis dilectam, quoadusque ipsa velit. Hucusque Liber Secundus primam seriem lemmatorum a Nigra sum per fasciculum et botrum et lectulum usque ad adiurationem contexuit; sequentia in proximis tipis.
Behold you are fair; your eyes are doves§11
11Behold, you are fair, my friend; behold, you are fair; your eyes are doves. The doubled beauty can mark present and future: now fair by imitation of Christ, then fair by perfection itself. Dove-eyes signify spiritual understanding given by the Holy Spirit. Unless the soul receives dove-eyes, she cannot perceive the Word’s beauty.
Latin · §11
Ecce tu pulchra es, amica mea; ecce tu pulchra es; oculi tui columbae. Iteratio pulchritudinis praesens et futurum significare potest: nunc speciosa imitatione Christi, tunc perfectione. Oculi columbae intelligentiam spiritalem denotant, quae a Spiritu sancto datur. Nisi oculos columbae acceperit anima, pulchritudinem Verbi perspicere non potest.
Behold you are fair, my beloved; our couch is shaded§12
12Behold, you are fair, my beloved, and graceful. Our couch is shaded. Now first the Bride more carefully inspects the Bridegroom’s beauty with those eyes called doves. The shared couch is understood as the soul’s body, in which, while still placed there, she is counted worthy to be taken into partnership with the Word. Shaded: not dry, but wooded with the density of good works.
Latin · §12
Ecce tu pulcher es, dilecte mi, et decorus. Cubile nostrum umbrosum. Nunc primum sponsa attentius pulchritudinem sponsi inspicit illis oculis qui columbae dicti sunt. Cubile commune corpus animae intelligitur, in quo adhuc posita ad consortium Verbi assumitur. Umbrosum: non aridum, sed densitate bonorum operum nemorosum.
Without dove-eyes the Word seems without beauty§13
13Those who only believe, and do not yet have dove-eyes, say of the Word: We saw him, and he had no form or comeliness. But she who has progressed and received spiritual eyes says: Behold, you are fair. Faith without contemplation hides the form; spiritual understanding reveals the beauty.
Latin · §13
Qui tantummodo credunt, nondum tamen oculos columbae habent, dicunt de Verbo: Vidimus eum, et non habebat speciem neque decorem. Qui vero proficit et oculos spiritales accepit, dicit: Ecce tu pulcher es. Fides sine contemplatione speciem abscondit; intelligentia spiritalis decorem revelat.
Cedar beams and cypress paneling — Liber II frame§14
14The beams of our houses are cedar, our paneling cypress. The soul’s or church’s house is upheld by beams of faith and hope; the paneling is charity. Cedar and cypress are woods that do not rot, because the theological virtues do not decay. These belong to the close of the Second Book, where the Bride speaks no longer only of blackness, but of the adornment of a shared dwelling with the Bridegroom.
Latin · §14
Tigna domorum nostrarum cedrina, laquearia nostra cypressina. Domus animae vel ecclesiae trabibus fidei et spei fulcitur; laquearia caritatis. Cedrus et cypressus imputribilia ligna sunt, quia virtutes theologicae non putrescunt. Haec ad clausulam Libri Secundi pertinent, ubi sponsa iam non solum de nigredine, sed de ornatu communis habitationis cum sponso loquitur.
Historical recapitulation of Book II§15
15Historical recapitulation of Book II: the Bride confesses herself black and beautiful; the sun of trials discolors her; her mother’s sons fight her; she is made keeper of vineyards; she asks where he pastures at noon; unless she knows herself she will pasture goats; she is likened to cavalry; the bundle of myrrh and cluster of henna signify the Beloved; mutual beauty and the shaded couch conclude.
Latin · §15
Recapitulatio Libri II historica: sponsa se nigram et formosam confitetur; sol tentationum decolorat; filii matris pugnant; custos vinearum fit; ubi pascas in meridie quaerit; nisi se cognoverit, haedos pascet; equitatui assimilatur; fasciculus myrrhae et botrus cypri dilectum significant; pulchritudo mutua et cubile umbrosum concludunt.
Spiritual recapitulation of Book II§16
16Spiritual recapitulation: blackness of penitence and struggle; beauty of God’s image; sun of persecution; mother’s sons as persecutors from the race; vineyards as churches; noon as perfect knowledge; self-knowledge; goats as the wicked; cavalry of the church against Pharaoh; myrrh of the passion; henna of the Spirit’s ointment; dove-eyes; the couch of a fruitful body.
Latin · §16
Recapitulatio spiritalis: nigredo paenitentiae et certaminis; formositas imaginis Dei; sol persecutionis; filii matris persecutores ex gente; vineae ecclesiae; meridies perfecta cognitio; cognitio sui; haedi iniqui; equitatus ecclesiae contra Pharaonem; myrrha passionis; cyprus unguenti Spiritus; oculi columbae; cubile corporis fructuosi.
Daughters of Jerusalem as middle souls§17
17The daughters of Jerusalem, to whom the Bride speaks, are middle souls: neither wholly carnal nor yet perfect. They are taught through the Bride’s confession not to be scandalized at the church’s blackness in persecutions, but to recognize inner beauty. Book II serves especially for their instruction.
Latin · §17
Filiae Hierusalem, ad quas sponsa loquitur, animae sunt mediae: nec prorsus carnales nec iam perfectae. Docentur per confessionem sponsae ne scandalizentur nigredine ecclesiae in persecutionibus, sed formositatem interiorem agnoscant. Liber II earum eruditioni maxime deservit.
Order of love’s ascent in Book II§18
18The order of love in Book II: from confession of weakness (I am black) to petition for knowledge (tell me), from self-knowledge to likeness to the divine cavalry, from memory of the passion (myrrh) to praise of the Bridegroom’s beauty. The steps of the advancing soul are marked here.
Latin · §18
Ordo amoris in Libro II: a confessione infirmitatis (nigra sum) ad petitionem scientiae (indica mihi), a cognitione sui ad assimilationem equitatui divino, a memoria passionis (myrrha) ad laudem pulchritudinis sponsi. Gradus animae proficientis hic designantur.
Warning: bridal words need dove-eyes§19
19Let the reader beware: the bridal words of Book II are to be understood not carnally, but of the Word and the soul, or of Christ and the church. Whoever lacks dove-eyes remains in the letter and suffers scandal. Whoever has them rests with the Bridegroom in the shaded couch.
Latin · §19
Caveat lector: verba nuptialia Libri II non carnaliter, sed de Verbo et anima sive Christo et ecclesia intelligenda sunt. Qui oculos columbae non habet, in littera remanet et scandalum patitur. Qui habet, in umbroso cubili cum sponso requiescit.
Liber II CLOSEOUT — toward Liber III§20
20End of the Second Book. The Third Book follows, where we shall pursue further the Bridegroom’s beauty and the couch and the flowers of the field. Thus far, from I am black through Our couch is shaded, with the Lord’s help, we have set things in order. Amen.
Latin · §20
Finis Libri Secundi. Sequitur Liber Tertius, ubi amplius de pulchritudine sponsi et de cubili atque de floribus campi prosequemur. Hactenus a Nigra sum usque ad Cubile nostrum umbrosum, Domino adiuvante, digessimus. Amen.