Divided Opinion as to the form of Solomon's Song CHAPTER VIII LYRIC IDYL: 'SOLOMON'S SONG' THE poem which is the subject of the present chapter affords a good illustration of the principle underlying this work, that clear knowledge of the outer literary form is an essential for a thorough grasp of the matter and spirit of literature. That Solomon's Song is dialogue of a dramatic character, with a story underlying it, must be recognised by all; but when we go beyond this we find commentators divided, one set holding the poem to be a drama, the other an idyl. Those who consider it a drama are in substantial agreement as to its plot that the Shulammite is wooed by King Solomon with offers of regal splendour, that she remains faithful to her humbler Shepherd lover, that in the end King Solomon gives way and the faithful lovers are united. The other interpretation, as followed in this chapter, identifies Solomon himself with the humble lover. The whole story now becomes this: that King Solomon, visiting his vineyard upon Mount Lebanon, comes by surprise upon the fair Shulammite maiden; she flees from him, and he visits her disguised as a Shepherd and wins her love; then he comes in state to claim her as his queen; they are being wedded in the Royal Palace when the poem opens. Now, whichever of these interpretations be correct, it is clear that the technical question as between drama and idyl involves a fundamental difference in the story of the poem. I believe that the divergence of interpretation in the present case is largely due to the fact that, while Drama is a thing familiar Drama to all, few have considered the extent to which the development of Lyric Idyl can be carried. It may be admitted Distinction of at once that the traditional masters of the Idyl, Lyric Idyl from such as Theocritus and Virgil, have given us nothing that in dramatic elaborateness approaches Solomon's Song. But the fine arts are all one family, and the development which may stop short in pure poetry may be carried forward in the sister art of music. Speaking roughly, we may say that the difference between Drama and Lyric Idyl is the difference between Opera and Oratorio; and most of the peculiar structural features of Solomon's Song are such as will be readily intelligible to the student of dramatic music. It is necessary to see exactly what is involved in the difference between the dramatic form and the form of lyric idyl. In the first place, it is inevitable in drama that the order (1) Incidents may of incidents should tally with the order of speeches be alluded to in representing them. In narrating a story, it is easy any order to mention a catastrophe and then go back in time to the circumstances which brought that catastrophe about. But drama is pure presentation, and its action can never go back; hence the necessity in Ancient Tragedy, which dramatised only the end of a story, of lyric choral odes to bring out by narrative important incidents that happened earlier than the opening scene. In a lyric idyl, on the contrary, the story is not acted, but assumed and alluded to; and allusion can be made to the different parts of the story in any order. A pure dramatisation of a love story would begin (say) with the first meeting of the lovers, would proceed with the cir 1 The word 'Idyl' is diminutive of the Greek eide, the term for the various 'forms or species of poetry. The original literary application of the term has been well explained by Mr. J. W. Machail as depending upon a late usage of the word to express any rare or costly form of merchandise: compare the Latin species and the English spice. The original Idyls of Theocritus were such literary spices. The diminutive expresses the nature of the subject matter, — personal love, domestic life, etc. Thus Wagner's Siegfried is an elaborate and massive musical drama; but when the composer takes the themes of this opera and interweaves them with an old cradle song to make a birthday serenade to his wife in honour of their infant son, he calls it the Siegfried Idyl. cumstances of their growing intimacy, and end with their marriage. But the series of idyls making Solomon's Song commences with the wedding day, goes back to the day of betrothal and reminiscences of the courtship, and then goes forward to what in modern parlance might be called the close of the honeymoon. (2) the Reciting Chorus Again, in a drama every speech must be referred to personal speakers, either an individual or a Chorus. But lyric poetry, in addition to these, can make use of a Reciting Chorus, which is impersonal, and merely the author's device for carrying on the story in the parts not represented dramatically. Thus in Mendelssohn's Elijah, the Chorus is sometimes personal, as where it presents the Priests of Baal crying, "O Baal, hear us"; in other cases it is impersonal, as where it is used to describe the fire falling from heaven, or to point the moral in the chorale, "Cast thy burden upon the Lord." So in the present case, we have both a personal Chorus of Daughters of Jerusalem who escort the Bride, and a merely abstract Chorus used to describe the journey of Solomon in his state chariot. Another consideration is worth mentioning in this connection. Every speech in a drama must be spoken in a definite place or 'scene': but this Reciting Chorus is, on the contrary, used as a device for suggesting transition from one scene to another. (3) parenthetic refrains As a third feature of the Lyric Idyl may be mentioned the refrains. Refrains in lyric poetry always may be, and usually are, parenthetic; they must not be attached to their context, but referred to the poem as a whole. A simple modern ballad will narrate a story, — how, for example, the spectre of a lover comes to claim his mistress, how she responds to his summons, and is borne to a distant land, where she is found dead on his tomb. The verses containing this narrative will be continually interrupted by the refrain: - Sing hey, sing ho, the linden tree These words have no point in relation to the sentences to which they are attached, but very likely interrupt their grammatical con struction. On the other hand, the idea of the wind singing through the trees makes an effective background to be kept present in the mind through the whole of a story of weird incident. Such refrains may be compared to the musical accompaniment heard continuing the strains of a song during the intervals between the spoken verses. In the present case there are three refrains which, wherever they occur, must be separated from the dialogue. In their subject they are just suited to keep before us the general spirit of the whole poem. In one, there is a call upon all to leave the lovers to their repose. I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, ii. 7: compare iii. 5 and viii. 4 The second is, in its various forms, the mutual pledge. My beloved is mine, and I am his : The third is the summons to embrace. Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, Turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart ii. 16: compare vi. 3 and vii. 10 ii. 17: compare iv. 6 and viii. 14 Love strains like these are the essence of the whole poem, and are naturally used to separate the idyls from one another, or mark the natural divisions of each. I have yet to mention something specially characteristic of this poem, which is readily intelligible as a feature of a lyric idyl. We find incidents conveyed dramatically by dia reminiscences logue which, nevertheless, cannot be part of the (4) dramatised scene in which they occur, but must, at that point, be a reminiscence. Such an effect may be called a Dramatised Reminiscence. Thus it is part of the story as here interpreted that Solomon, when the Shulammite damsel had fled from him at his first appearance, continued his suit to her in the disguise of a Shepherd. She wonders who this stranger is, so different from the shepherds she knows. i. 7 Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, Where thou feedest thy flock, Where thou makest it to rest at noon: For why should I be as one that wandereth He of course seeks to evade her scrutiny by a vague answer. i. 8 If thou know not, O thou fairest among women, - Such a detail in itself is natural enough in a love story. But the point of the present suggestion is that the position of the speeches just quoted in the wedding scene is perfectly intelligible. It is natural that the Shulammite, when for the first time she beholds her royal lover in the splendour of his palace, should allude to her former attempt to penetrate his disguise. And it is equally natural that the allusion should take the form of recalling the actual words used by each: they are merely quoting their former selves, a thing which we have already seen as a tendency of the dramatic lyrics in the psalter. Or, to take another instance, it is natural for the king in his musings on his bride to recall the moment of their first meeting. The sudden surprise of the courtly escort at the rustic maiden's beauty is conveyed in the form of a speech. vi. 10 Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, Fair as the moon, Pure as the sun, Terrible as an army with banners? Her startled feelings as the royal cortege surprised her are expressed as if they had been spoken. 1 See above, page 191. |