Reading the Song of Solomon, I often wonder precisely what the author is saying. The young man speaks to the girl: “Your lips drop sweetness as the honeycomb, my bride; milk and honey are under your tongue. The fragrance of your garments is like that of Lebanon.” He calls her his “garden,” a spring enclosed, a sealed fountain. But later he writes “I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride; I have gathered my myrrh with my spice. I have eaten my honeycomb and my honey; I have drunk my wine and my milk.”
What does he mean?
I think the best thing to do with this poem is to allow your imagination to flow freely. What do you think is happening?
Remember, this is an erotic poem. Surely the man is speaking candidly of his sexual desire for his beloved. It is a desire that is intense, but still, restrained. At this moment anyway, her garden is locked up, her spring enclosed. But however restrained, desire burns.
What strikes me about this poem is the imaginative and beautiful imagery used to convey eroticism. In a world where sex language is so often synonymous with words for violence, mistake or regret, the language here gives sex the beauty of planning, refreshment, and joy.
It is the way God intended it to be.