My love is white and ruddy,
one in ten thousand.
His head is like the finest gold,
his locks are wavy palm leaves,
black as a raven.
His eyes, doves by the small rivers;
bathed in milk
they are deeply set.
His cheeks are a bed of spices,
fragrant.
His lips are lilies
dripping myrrh.
His arms are round gold
wet with beryl.
His belly is bright ivory
starred with sapphires.
His thighs are pillars of marble
in sockets of fine gold.
His appearance is like Lebanon,
excellent as the cedars.
His mouth is sweet,
all of him is pleasant.
This is my love and this is my friend,
O daughters of Jerusalem.

Old Testament, from the Song of Songs, The Shulamite VII

The Song of Songs has been considered an allegory of the love of God for Israel, and of the love of Christ of His church. St John of the Cross claimed it was the joining of the individual soul with God. Others say it is a poem about human love and desire.

Regardless of its original intent, I include it in Remembering the Sacred Self because love is one of the primary qualities of the Divine. Human desire and the love of the earth and the things of the earth teach us the many facets and degrees of love. After loving the transitory we learn to better understand and appreciate the eternal.

The emotions expressed in Song of Songs are palpable, as real and as intense and as intimate as when it was first written well over two thousand years ago. The beauty of the language is superb and expressed through concrete images that were the highest superlatives of the day.

Who wouldn’t want to be sung to in words as sweet – especially in closing when the Shulamite says “This is my love and this is my friend.” What greater tribute can we offer each other?

If you haven’t read the complete Song of Songs in a while, I urge you to do so today. It opens the heart and nourishes the soul.