One of the most beautiful songs ever written, and my personal favorite book in the antilegomena, is the Song of Solomon. There is far too much in this short song to unfurl in a single treatise, but I am struck as I read it by certain passages.
For those who are new to this song I'll summarize it briefly. Our song follows a poor working woman (the Shulamite woman) who has fallen in love with the king of the land. He likewise falls for her and raises her out of her poverty and marries her, showing her off to the people of the land as his beautiful bride. She begins the song by telling us how people see her as lowly (tanned by the sun from her work in the fields and scarred from her labors). She sees herself as average and pines after the heart of the wise and kind king whom she loves from a distance. Our king responds by raising her up as the most beautiful woman in all the land, the apple of his eye and the whole of his heart. He comes to rescue her and whisk her away to be his forevermore. They end the song in the embrace of loving marriage and celebrate with all the people to partake in the joy they have together. To truly see the depth of their love for each other, hear the words each says of the other.
"I compare you, my loveTo a mare among Pharaoh's chariotsYour cheeks are lovely with ornamentsYour neck with strings of jewels"-King (Song 1:9-10)"My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossomsin the fields of EngediBehold you are beautiful, my beloved, truly delightfulOur couch is green;The beams of our house are cedarOur rafters are pineMy beloved is mine, and I am his;
He grazes among the lilies.
Until the day breathes
and the shadows flee,
turn, my beloved, be like a gazelle
or a young stag on cleft mountains." -Shulamite (Song 1:14,16-17, 2:16-17)"Behold, you are beautiful, my love,
behold, you are beautiful!Your eyes are doves
behind your veil.
Your hair is like a flock of goats
leaping down the slopes of Gilead.
Your teeth are like a flock of shorn ewes
that have come up from the washing,
all of which bear twins,and not one among them has lost its young.
Your lips are like a scarlet thread,
and your mouth is lovely.Your cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate
behind your veil.
Your neck is like the tower of David,
built in rows of stone;
on it hang a thousand shields,
all of them shields of warriors.
Your two breasts are like two fawns,
twins of a gazelle,
that graze among the lilies.
Until the day breathes
and the shadows flee,
I will go away to the mountain of myrrh
and the hill of frankincense.
You are altogether beautiful, my love;
there is no flaw in you.
Come with me from Lebanon, my bride;
come with me from Lebanon.
Depart from the peak of Amana,
from the peak of Senir and Hermon,
from the dens of lions,
from the mountains of leopards.
You have captivated my heart, my sister, my bride;
you have captivated my heart with one glance of your eyes,with one jewel of your necklace.
How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride!
How much better is your love than wine,and the fragrance of your oils than any spice!
Your lips drip nectar, my bride;
honey and milk are under your tongue;
the fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon.
A garden locked is my sister, my bride,
a spring locked, a fountain sealed.
Your shoots are an orchard of pomegranates
with all choicest fruits,
henna with nard,
nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon,
with all trees of frankincense,
myrrh and aloes,
with all choice spices—
a garden fountain, a well of living water,and flowing streams from Lebanon.
Awake, O north wind,
and come, O south wind!
Blow upon my garden,
let its spices flow.
Let my beloved come to his garden,
and eat its choicest fruits."-King (Song 4:1-16)