"I am the rose of Sharon,
and the lily of the valleys..."
-- Song of Solomon, 2:1-11
I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valley;
I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valley;
As the lily among the thorns, so is my love among the daughters,
As the apple tree, the apple tree among the trees of the wood,
so is my beloved among the sons, so is my beloved among the sons.
I sat down under his shadow with great delight,
And his fruit was sweet to my taste;
And his fruit, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.
He brought me to the banqueting house
His banner over me was love,
He brought me to the banqueting house
His banner over me was love.
Stay me with flagons,
Comfort me with apples, for I am sick,
for I am sick, for I am sick of love;
I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem,
By the roses, and by the hinds of the field,
That you stir not up,
That you stir not up,
That you stir not up,
that you stir not up, nor awake, awake,
awake, awake, my love, till he please.
The voice of my beloved,
Behold! he cometh,
leaping upon the mountains skipping,
skipping, skipping, skipping,
leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills.
The voice of my beloved,
Behold! he cometh,
leaping upon the mountains skipping,
skipping, skipping, skipping,
leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills.
My beloved spake,
And said unto me,
Rise up,
Rise up,
Rise up,
Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.
For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone.
For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone,
the rain is over, the rain is over and gone.
For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone.
I am pleased to have read this wonderful masterpiece, thanks to Grit in the Gears...
ReplyDeleteThe truth is that i've spent ages looking for the poem, and i only knew the first verses [I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valley; as the lily among the thorns, so is my love among the daughters...], not even the least idea it had been written by William Billings.
The fact: I learned those initial verses by heart, 'cause i saw them in an exhibition of paintings in Madrid called 'Sinónimos' (Synonyms), by a Spanish artist called Jaume Plensa [consisting of a wonderful way of putting letters, words, sentences, on top of background suggesting images...]
Now i've found it, and being able to read the whole poem has been a very enjoyable moment, which i need to thank to Grit in the Gears.
Furthermore, i thought i simply had to write this comment and share my feelings... maybe someone will read the poem as well, and i seriously recommend that you seize it if you have the opportunity of getting to it matched with Plensa's art-work.
Thank u once more, Grit!
[Please, forgive me if you find it difficult to go through this comment. Actually, i'm Spanish and English is not my mother tongue / i'm not exempt from mistakes!
Thank u! "astoni-mazed", Pablo]
Thank you, Pablo.
ReplyDeleteThe text used by Billings was part of The Song of Solomon, from the King James Bible
"I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.
As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.
As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons.
I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.
He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.
Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples: for I am sick of love.
His left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me.
I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please.
The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills.
My beloved is like a roe or a young hart: behold, he standeth behind our wall, he looketh forth at the windows, shewing himself through the lattice.
My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.
For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone;
The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;
The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.
O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely.
Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.
Song of Solomon My beloved is mine, and I am his: he feedeth among the lilies.
Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether."
I saw your comment and looked for Jaume Plensa on Google.
Some beautiful images.
As for your writing, as an english teacher, I can assure you that your comment is clear and not in any way flawed.
Your english is better than many english university graduates can manage.