"The vines in blossom are yielding their fragrances: -"My dove, that art' in the clefts of the rocks, "In the hiding-place of the precipice", "Show me thy countenance, "Let me hear thy voice; "For sweet is thy voice, "And thy countenance is beautiful.” i "Go catch for us the foxes, "The little foxes, that destroy the vineyards, "For our vineyards are in bloom'." 8 Vitium pubescentium sive florentium odori nullam suavitatem præferri testis est Plinius.-Simon. summer. The above assemblage of beautiful figures is evidently intended to describe the pleasant season of the year after the rainy months are gone, and previous to the setting in of the excessive heats of The duration of this season, and the order of the successive productions of the spring here mentioned, would much depend on peculiarities of situation; for few countries, we are told, of equal dimensions, contain within them such a variety of climate as Syria, owing to the uneven surface of this district, and the very great elevation of some of its mountains. h In allusion to the security of her place of retirement, which she may now, however, leave in safety, since the winter is over, the rain is passed away, and is gone. i Some servants of the bridegroom seem here to have been dismissed on their assigned employ; the suffix to the verb is in the masculine plural. "Hasselquist informs us in his Travels, p. 184, that the foxes (canis vulpes) are common in Palestine."- "There is also plenty of them near the convent of St. John in the desert, about vintage-time; for they destroy all the vines unless they are strictly watched."-Parkhurst. See also Theocritus, Idyl E. 112. Perhaps, are setting their fruit. "My beloved is mine, and I am his, "Let him eat among the flowers m ̧” Till the day shall breathe, and the shades be fled ", Or the fawn of the deer On the mountains of Bether". m 66 My beloved is for me, and I am for him; let him feed among the lilies." Let him drive his flock to pasture in the flowery meads, and I will accompany him. Or, perhaps, I consent to go with my beloved, but will he not first regale himself amidst the beauties of our garden ?-Comp. ch. vi. 2. n The breathing of the day denotes, evidently, the breaking of the morning. Some suppose the phrase contains an allusion to the easterly gale, which frequently accompanies the approach of the sun to the horizon.-See Parkhurst. Others consider the breathing of the day" to be a figurative expression for the reviv ing of the day.-See Good. • I must acknowledge some difficulty in these last lines. The generality of interpreters seem content to consider as synonymous with a, and render it in the sense of "Return to." But 35, or 3, though a word which very frequently occurs in Scripture, is never, as far as I am able to discover, used in this sense. It is indeed sometimes used in direct opposition to a, as Gen. xlii. 24.; and its general signification is, "to turn away, to depart," or, more correctly perhaps, "to turn round," in order to depart. We might, therefore, translate in this place, “He departed." But there is a second meaning," to surround, to encompass, to environ;" which meaning I have been induced to prefer; and have, in imitation of our public translators, in Ps. lxxi. 21. (where the two verbs, are rendered, "And comfort me on every side"), translated the verbs "On every side be like." Mountains of Bether. a signifies to divide asunder; we may understand, mountains of division, or craggy mountains. 4 INTERPRETATION OF THE FOURTH IDYL. THE circumstance and scenery of this parable will point out to us the occasion to which it is to be applied, in the spiritual concerns of the faithful. But Joy and peace are indeed the imperishable inheritance of the beloved of Christ, yet there are times when they are, notwithstanding, " in heaviness through manifold temptations." The beloved of their souls is withdrawn. While the children of the world rejoice, having their good things, the children of the bridechamber are seen "to mourn and lament, because the Bridegroom is taken from them."-It is the gloom of the wintry season. these intermissions of joy, though painful and distressing, cannot exceed their limited time. He who has said, "While the earth remaineth, seed-time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night, shall not cease," has said also to his afflicted, "That though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies "." "For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee. In a little wrath I hid myself from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer "." The pleasant season of the spring returns, more a Gen. viii. 22. b Lam. iii. 32. pleasant still from the contrast of the gloomy season, to which it succeeds. So after a time of spiritual distress or inactivity, the light of the divine countenance shines again upon the soul :-the espoused of Christ, after a time of separation, is gladdened with the presence of her Lord. "It was the voice of my beloved!-Lo, it is he! he comes !-leaping on the mountains.-Bounding o'er the hills!-My beloved is like the gazel-or the fawn of the deer!" The language is expressive of agreeable surprise. On a sudden, the wellknown voice is recognised: her beloved appears in sight. She speaks with astonishment and rapture at the ease with which he traverses the rugged path which leads to her abode. It is thus, perhaps, that, after a season of grief or deadness, it may be after long waiting in vain, the communion of Christ is restored to the soul, and restored so easily, that the believer is struck with wonder and admiration. Fear, and an "evil heart of unbelief," had raised mountains of divisions between him and the only comforter of his soul. The desponding language of the Psalmist too nearly expressed the sad surmises of his despairing mind. "Will the Lord cast off for ever? and will he be favourable no more? Is his mercy gone for evermore? Hath God forgotten to be gracious? Hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies"? But the language of reviving hope will be, according to the dlxxvii. 7, 8, 9. beautiful turn given to the following verse of this Psalm, in our old poetical version: "And last I said, This surely is mine own infirmity! "But his right hand can help all this, and change it speedily." And, when the happy season of spiritual joy arrives, how every difficulty seems to vanish before the merciful and all-powerful Saviour! How easily does he surmount every obstacle, which the afflicted and tempted Saint had contemplated with dread, as the eternal barrier of his hope! "Leaping on the mountains, bounding o'er the hills! My beloved is like the gazel, or the fawn of the deer!". Or, in the still more elevated language of the Prophet, the believer will address the object of his former apprehensions, "And what art thou, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain a. در d In the parable the nearer approach of the welcome visitor is next described. "Lo, it is he-standing behind our fence, looking through the openings, and showing himself at the lattice!" And here let us remark where the object of this visit is found. Alone, and in retirement. Not endeavouring to supply his absence by some other object, or to dissipate her sorrows in the vain amusements of the world. When a concern for an absent lover can indeed be so easily beguiled, a suspicion cannot but arise that there is no true affection. ""Tis nought but gloom around; the darken'd sun Zech. iv. 7. → |