The Song of Solomon : and the Lamentations of Jeremiah

THE STRUCTURE OF THE BOOK
swain ; or perhaps, though she knows who he is, she
sportively addresses him as she would address one
of her village companions. Subsequently she shews
no liking for the pomp of royalty. She cannot make
herself at home with the women of the harem. She
longs to be back in her mother's cottage among the
woods and fields where she spent her child days. But
she loves the king and he dotes on her. So she would
ake him with her away from the follies and temptations
of the court down to her quiet country retreat. Under
the influence of the Shulammite Solomon is induced
to give up his unworthy habits and live a healthier,
purer Hfe. Her love is strong enough to retain the
king wholly to herself. Thus the poem is said to
describe a reformation in the character of Solomon.
In particular it is thought to celebrate the triumph of
true love over the degradation of polygamy.
It is impossible to find any time in the life of David's
successor when this great conversion might have taken
place; and the occurrence itself is highly improbable.
Those however are not fatal objections to the proposed
scheme, because the poem may be entirely ideal ; it
may even be written at the king. Historical con-
siderations need not trouble us in dealing with an
imaginative work such as this. It must be judged
entirely on internal grounds. But when it is so judged
it refuses to come into line with the interpretation
suggested. Regarding the matter only from a literary
point of view, we must confess that it is most improbable
that Solomon would be introduced as a simple peasant
without any hint of the reason of his appearing in
this novel guise. Then we may detect a difference
between the manner in which the king addresses the
Shulammite and that in which, on the second hypothesis.