Song of Songs: The Song as a stage production

Song of Solomon as a drama.

There are probably as many ideas about this Song as there are Commentators. In what follows we will be following the NIV notation of who is speaking.  In what follows we simply seek to convey the sense and in no way is this intended to be either a translation or even a paraphrase of the original.  What follows is purely a speculative approach to the poem or song, perhaps a way of thinking of it in a modern setting.  Occasionally there will be poetic license, so please don’t be too harsh about what you find if it doesn’t match what you expect.  There are many interpretations of this Song, this is just one. We don’t ask you to necessarily agree with it, simply to enjoy it and understand something of the wonder of love and relationships. To keep within the proprietary of that day, we have been gentle with our interpretation at times.  Were it that modern love could be more like this.

Imagine if you will a stage that has a large back projection screen so that the scenery can change in a moment. In the background are a chorus, the “Friends” who seem to speak out from time to time. Most of the action is by the girl and her man. The stage is empty except for the chorus in the background and the screen is blank.  Now continue.

Ch.1 1 Solomon’s Song of Songs.
HER 2 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth– for your love is more delightful than wine. 3 Pleasing is the fragrance of your perfumes; your name is like perfume poured out. No wonder the maidens love you! 4 Take me away with you–let us hurry! Let the king bring me into his chambers.	(The girl enters and comes centre stage. It is as if she is in a reverie as she utters that which is on her heart) “Oh how I long for him to kiss me. I’m sure his love will be more wonderful than even the effect of good wine. Even as I think of him his name seems to surround me in a wave of wonder, like a perfume being released. No wonder he’s the talk of all the girls in the town. Oh, if only he would come and carry me away. Come, o king, and take me into your private rooms away from prying eyes.
FRIENDS We rejoice and delight in you; we will praise your love more than wine.   How right they are to adore you!	(The chorus joins in from the back) Oh yes! His love will be far more wonderful than wine. O king, how right they are to idolize you!
HER 5 Dark am I, yet lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, dark like the tents of Kedar, like the tent curtains of Solomon.  6 Do not stare at me because I am dark, because I am darkened by the sun. My mother’s sons were angry with me and made me take care of the vineyards; my own vineyard I have neglected. 7 Tell me, you whom I love, where you graze your flock and where you rest your sheep at midday. Why should I be like a veiled woman beside the flocks of your friends?	(She continues) “Oh but why would he be attracted to me. I’m dark and swarthy through having to be out in the sun and work for the family. I have worked for them and neglected myself. “Oh you of whom I dream, where will I find you, out with your flocks? Where could I come to you?  But could I come to you, would I not appear as a prostitute seeking her livelihood?  Surely not!
FRIENDS 8 If you do not know, most beautiful of women, follow the tracks of the sheep and graze your young goats by the tents of the shepherds.	(The chorus join in and encourage her again) You are most beautiful, you have nothing to fear, go looking for the one your heart longs for!
HIM 9 I liken you, my darling, to a mare harnessed to one of the chariots of Pharaoh. 10 Your cheeks are beautiful with earrings, your neck with strings of jewels. 11 We will make you earrings of gold, studded with silver.	(On the stage she moves to one side looking away. The young man enters the other side and espying her, he speaks to himself) My love?  What beauty, what incredible beauty. Even as one of the gentle mares of Pharaoh’s  is so beautiful to behold, so is this gentleness before me. The softness of your cheeks set off by those earrings, the beauty of your neck by that necklace. Oh you are worthy of so much more. How wonderful you would look in gold and silver that I can give you!
HER 12 While the king was at his table, my perfume spread its fragrance. 13 My lover is to me a sachet of myrrh resting between my breasts. 14 My lover is to me a cluster of henna blossoms from the vineyards of En Gedi.	(Still not aware of him, she continues) “I saw him from afar as he sat at his table. I imagined going to him and my perfume wafting over him, drawing his attention to me. I imagine him lying on my breast and, like a bag of scent, the perfume of his presence overwhelms me. His effect on me is like the overwhelming scent of the henna blossoms I know so well from the vineyards.
HIM 15 How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh, how beautiful! Your eyes are doves.	(He, with his eyes still on her speaks) “Oh my darling one, how incredibly beautiful you are. Look at those eyes, so gentle, so timid, just like that of a dove.
HER 16 How handsome you are, my lover! Oh, how charming! And our bed is verdant	(She turns and sees him from afar. The background turns, even as she speaks to scenery of the woodland countryside) “Oh, how handsome he is, how charming. He’s everything I could want for one to bring me love. Out here, the bed for our meeting can be the soft grass. If only it could be.
HIM 17 The beams of our house are cedars; our rafters are firs	(it is as if there is a coming together of their minds as he speaks) “Indeed and the trees form the beams and rafters of our home together.

Ch.2 SHE 1 I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys.	(Still looking at him she speaks to herself) “Oh dear, I’m but a common flower of the countryside, so ordinary.
HE 2 Like a lily among thorns is my darling among the maidens.	(They are still apart on opposite sides of the stage, simply speaking their thoughts. He continues) “She stands out like a flower among thorns. She is exceptional, she is wonderful, my darling one, standing out from all the other girls I know.
SHE 3 Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest is my lover among the young men. I delight to sit in his shade, and his fruit is sweet to my taste. 4 He has taken me to the banquet hall, and his banner over me is love. 5 Strengthen me with raisins, refresh me with apples, for I am faint with love. 6 His left arm is under my head, and his right arm embraces me. 7 Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you by the gazelles and by the does of the field: Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires.   8 Listen! My lover! Look! Here he comes, leaping across the mountains, bounding over the hills. 9 My lover is like a gazelle or a young stag. Look! There he stands behind our wall, gazing through the windows, peering through the lattice.           10 My lover spoke and said to me, “Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, and come with me. 11 See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone. 12 Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land. 13 The fig tree forms its early fruit; the blossoming vines spread their fragrance. Arise, come, my darling; my beautiful one, come with me.”	(They remain apart, revealing their thoughts from afar) He so stands out from the rest, like an apple tree in a forest glade, does he stand out.  I see myself sitting beside him, and his presence and his words are so sweet. Out here in the countryside, it’s like he’s brought me into his banqueting hall and between the trees is hung a banner declaring his love for me. Oh, I feel weak at the thought of it. Oh feed me, refresh me, I am in need! I imagine that here on the soft grass as we sit together, and I lie back, so he puts an arm under my head for me to rest upon, and his other arm comes around me in an embrace. Oh, don’t be silly, don’t rush love until it is ready, don’t spoil anything with haste!   (The background scene changes to a house in the country, on a hillside. She continues speaking) “Listen, I hear singing. It is him!  Look, I see him bounding down the hill side – he’s like a young stag, so strong, so sure, and yet so gentle. Look, he comes to the house and peers in, he is looking for me! (The backdrop changes to outside the house as she goes on) He called me to rise and go out with him. Look, he says, the winter is passed and the beauty of Spring is here. It’s too good to stay indoors. Come out my love, come with me.
HE 14 My dove in the clefts of the rock, in the hiding places on the mountainside, show me your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely. 15 Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin the vineyards, our vineyards that are in bloom.	(‘outside’ he speaks) “I came to find her. Her gentle timidity that reminds me of that of the dove, makes me think of her in her home on the hillside, as a dove hidden away in the hillside rocks. Oh my love, come out, show me your face, let me hear your voice, let me enjoy your beauty and your gentleness. Nothing must be allowed to spoil you my love. In the vineyards come the foxes that dig holes and ruin the plants, they spoil the beauty there. Your beauty must not be spoiled by anything. You must be cherished.
SHE 16 My lover is mine and I am his; he browses among the lilies. 17 Until the day breaks and the shadows flee, turn, my lover, and be like a gazelle or like a young stag on the rugged hills.	(She responds) “He is mine!  I am his! Oh the wonder of it. It’s as if he’s browsed among all the other girls that could have been his, but he has chosen me! Oh my love, while we have the time to be together, stay and be strong but gentle with me. (The lights dim, the background fades)
Ch.3 SHE 1 All night long on my bed I looked for the one my heart loves; I looked for him but did not find him. 2 I will get up now and go about the city, through its streets and squares; I will search for the one my heart loves.   So I looked for him but did not find him. 3 The watchmen found me as they made their rounds in the city. “Have you seen the one my heart loves?”     4 Scarcely had I passed them when I found the one my heart loves. I held him and would not let him go till I had brought him to my mother’s house, to the room of the one who conceived me. 5 Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you by the gazelles and by the does of the field: Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires.  6 Who is this coming up from the desert like a column of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and incense made from all the spices of the merchant? 7 Look! It is Solomon’s carriage, escorted by sixty warriors, the noblest of Israel, 8 all of them wearing the sword, all experienced in battle, each with his sword at his side, prepared for the terrors of the night. 9 King Solomon made for himself the carriage; he made it of wood from Lebanon. 10 Its posts he made of silver, its base of gold. Its seat was upholstered with purple, its interior lovingly inlaid by the daughters of Jerusalem. 11 Come out, you daughters of Zion, and look at King Solomon wearing the crown, the crown with which his mother crowned him on the day of his wedding, the day his heart rejoiced.	(As the lights come back up, the backdrop changes to inside the house and outside it is starting to get light. The girl is left alone on the stage) “Through the night, alone on my bed, I longed for him but he did not come. It’s morning, I’ll get up and go out and see if I can find him. (She crosses the stage and returns to her original spot and as she does so the backdrop changes to the street of the city.) I didn’t find him. In the still almost empty streets I came across the night watchmen doing their rounds and asked them if they had seen him, but no.   But then, just as I had given up, I came round a corner and there he was!  I clung to him and then brought him back home with me. Be careful though, slow down, do not rush love, don’t spoil anything with haste!   (the lights fade and as they come back up, the backdrop changes to a road just outside the city. She speaks again) Who is this coming? It is him. It is Solomon, not the carefree shepherd boy but the young warrior king, accompanied by his strong body guard. He comes in the royal carriage made from fine timber with silver and gold and fine materials, come all you people, come and see his splendour – see the crown he wears, the crown he wore on our wedding day. (The lights fade, the scene fades)
Ch.4 HE 1 How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh, how beautiful! Your eyes behind your veil are doves. Your hair is like a flock of goats descending from Mount Gilead. 2 Your teeth are like a flock of sheep just shorn, coming up from the washing. Each has its twin; not one of them is alone. 3 Your lips are like a scarlet ribbon; your mouth is lovely. Your temples behind your veil are like the halves of a pomegranate.                 4 Your neck is like the tower of David, built with elegance; on it hang a thousand shields, all of them shields of warriors. 5 Your two breasts are like two fawns, like twin fawns of a gazelle that browse among the lilies. 6 Until the day breaks and the shadows flee, I will go to the mountain of myrrh and to the hill of incense. 7 All beautiful you are, my darling; there is no flaw in you.     8 Come with me from Lebanon, my bride, come with me from Lebanon. Descend from the crest of Amana, from the top of Senir, the summit of Hermon, from the lions’ dens and the mountain haunts of the leopards. 9You have stolen my heart, my sister, my bride; you have stolen my heart with one glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace.   10 How delightful is your love, my sister, my bride! How much more pleasing is your love than wine, and the fragrance of your perfume than any spice!   11 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. 12 You are a garden locked up, my sister, my bride; you are a spring enclosed, a sealed fountain.     13 Your plants are an orchard of pomegranates with choice fruits, with henna and nard, 14 nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with every kind of incense tree, with myrrh and aloes and all the finest spices. 15 You are a garden fountain, a well of flowing water streaming down from Lebanon.	(As the lights come back up, the backdrop is of the royal apartments. The couple are together in the middle of the stage and he is on one knee before her, holding her hand. She is in royal robes, but veiled, as if hidden from prying eyes. He speaks) “My darling, how beautiful you are, how fortunate I am. Behind the bride’s veil, your dovelike, gentle and tender eyes capture me. Your long dark hair over your shoulders is like a stream of my black goats coming down over the hillside path, so beautiful. The whiteness of your teeth as you smile at me, is like the whiteness of my newly shorn and washed flocks. The red of your mouth stands out like a red ribbon and makes my heart beat fiercely. The curve of your head behind your veil is as smooth and soft as a fresh pomegranate. What more may I compare you to. I do it so that when I again see these things I will be reminded of your wonderful beauty. The strength and beauty of your neck with its necklace reminds me of the beautiful tower of David hung around with ornamental shields. The soft curves of your breasts put me in mind of the soft and gentle fawns I see, half hidden in the woodland. Now we have the time together, I can enjoy the double fragrance of your beauty in its entirety, for in you is perfection, my love. (The lights dim and when they come back up, he is holding her at arms length and she no longer wears a veil) Leave your past behind now, my love, let the memories of the hard times be banished. You have won my heart my dearest wife, with one glance of your eyes you captured me, with your very simplicity I was taken. How wonderful your love to me has been, my wife, how much more wonderful than any pleasures from wine or fragrance from perfume! The touch of your lips on mine melts me, your gentle fragrance captivates me. Yet these are early days, my love, for you have been held back for me, an untouched garden, a fountain spring waiting to burst forth with ever  greater wonders. Every aspect of you is like an orchard, holding such delights as to be almost indescribable. As our love is expressed you are like a fountain that just pours out more and more love on me. You are so wonderful.
SHE 16 Awake, north wind, and come, south wind!  Blow on my garden, that its fragrance may spread abroad. Let my lover come into his garden and taste its choice fruits.	(She responds) My dear, if I am a garden let the seasons come and open me that I may be an even greater pleasure to the one who has my heart. (The light fades with the two of them gazing into each other’s eyes).
Ch.5 HE 1  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.	(As the lights come back up, the couple are walking hand in hand across the stage and he speaks) I have received of the garden that you have presented to me so willingly, my love, and the delight you have given me is beyond description.
FRIENDS Eat, O friends, and drink; drink your fill, O lovers.	(The chorus breaks in) Indeed, dear ones, enjoy each other. (The lights fade)
SHE 2 I slept but my heart was awake. Listen! My lover is knocking: “Open to me, my sister, my darling, my dove, my flawless one. My head is drenched with dew, my hair with the dampness of the night.” 3 I have taken off my robe– must I put it on again? I have washed my feet– must I soil them again? 4 My lover thrust his hand through the latch-opening; my heart began to pound for him. 5 I arose to open for my lover, and my hands dripped with myrrh, my fingers with flowing myrrh, on the handles of the lock. 6 I opened for my lover, but my lover had left; he was gone. My heart sank at his departure. I looked for him but did not find him. I called him but he did not answer.  7 The watchmen found me as they made their rounds in the city. They beat me, they bruised me; they took away my cloak, those watchmen of the walls! 8 O daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you– if you find my lover, what will you tell him? Tell him I am faint with love.	(As the lights come back on the girl is on stage alone, seated on a tall stool. She reflects back The backdrop is blank). You know, there was a time when it nearly didn’t happen. There was a night in our early days when he came to my home in the middle of the night. He gently rapped on the shutters and called, my love, it is I, let me in. It was the middle of the night, I was damp with perspiration from the warmth of the night. I was in my nightdress. I thought, he can’t see me like this, I must get dressed. I heard him trying to unlatch the shutters. I got out of bed and thought, I must put on perfume, he can’t see me like this. By the time I was dressed and ready for him, he was gone. My heart sank. I went outside to look. I called into the darkness but I was too late. I hurried after him into the city, but it was after the curfew. The watchmen encountered me and thought the worst and beat me. Oh my friends, tell him I am sorry, tell him I love him.
FRIENDS 9 How is your beloved better than others, most beautiful of women? How is your beloved better than others, that you charge us so?	(The chorus break in) Really?  Really?  Convince us oh most beautiful of women that he means more to you than any other man.
SHE 10 My lover is radiant and ruddy, outstanding among ten thousand.   11 His head is purest gold; his hair is wavy and black as a raven. 12 His eyes are like doves by the water streams, washed in milk, mounted like jewels.     13 His cheeks are like beds of spice yielding perfume. His lips are like lilies dripping with myrrh. 14 His arms are rods of gold set with chrysolite. His body is like polished ivory decorated with sapphires.  15 His legs are pillars of marble set on bases of pure gold. His appearance is like Lebanon, choice as its cedars. 16 His mouth is sweetness itself; he is altogether lovely. This is my lover, this my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.	(She pauses with bowed head, then lifts he face forcefully and continues) “Very well then!   I cannot get him out of my mind. Every detail of him is etched in my brain!  His face shines with the healthy glow of the outdoor life. He is more handsome than ten thousand others! He looks almost gold reflecting the sun, and yet his hair is black as a raven. He says my eyes are gentle; well his are more so, pure and bright as well. Just the sight of his face is more beautiful to me than perfume. His arms and body are strong like polished stone, his legs like marble columns set in gold. He stands tall and strong, and when he smiles – well my heart just melts.  This, my friends, is him, this is the one who is both my best friend and my love!  Now will you believe?
Ch.6 FRIENDS 1 Where has your lover gone, most beautiful of women? Which way did your lover turn, that we may look for him with you?	(The chorus replies) Very well, so which way did he go when you last saw him. Tell us and we will look with you.
SHE 2 My lover has gone down to his garden, to the beds of spices, to browse in the gardens and to gather lilies. 3 I am my lover’s and my lover is mine; he browses among the lilies.	(She turns to them) I think he’s possibly gone to his gardens – possibly he may go looking to others if he feels I have rejected him – but I am his and he IS mine, wherever he is, whatever he is doing! (the lights dim)
HE 4 You are beautiful, my darling, as Tirzah, lovely as Jerusalem, majestic as troops with banners.   5 Turn your eyes from me; they overwhelm me.   Your hair is like a flock of goats descending from Gilead. 6 Your teeth are like a flock of sheep coming up from the washing. Each has its twin, not one of them is alone. 7 Your temples behind your veil are like the halves of a pomegranate.   8 Sixty queens there may be, and eighty concubines, and virgins beyond number; 9 but my dove, my perfect one, is unique, the only daughter of her mother, the favorite of the one who bore her. The maidens saw her and called her blessed; the queens and concubines praised her.	(as the lights come back up we find the man alone on stage, striding around.) “What shall I say to her? How shall I convince her of my love? You are beautiful, my love, more beautiful than the beloved cities of my land.    Don’t look at me with reproach, my love, you overwhelm me and I cannot cope with it. What can I say of you? Nothing is sufficient. You dark hair falling over your shoulders reminds me of my dark goats as they pour down the hillside roads. Your pure white teeth remind me of my freshly washed flocks. As I imagine you on our wedding day, the roundness of your forehead behind the veil is as smooth as a perfect pomegranate.  No, that is not enough! I have women without number than I can choose from, throughout the world, but you my gentle one, are unique. All women extol you. What more can I say?
FRIENDS 10 Who is this that appears like the dawn, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, majestic as the stars in procession?	(the chorus speaks up) Who is this who speaks this way of her, this one who comes like the morning star, clear as the moon, bright as the sun and whose majesty leads all others in his train?
HE 11 I went down to the grove of nut trees to look at the new growth in the valley, to see if the vines had budded or the pomegranates were in bloom. 12 Before I realized it, my desire set me among the royal chariots of my people.	(he turns to face the audience) After I left her I went to inspect my plantations, to see the new growth.  An anger stirred in me and so off I went with my bodyguards in my chariot, letting off steam in the exhilaration of the race.
FRIENDS 13 Come back, come back, O Shulammite; come back, come back, that we may gaze on you!	(the chorus again) Come back Solomon’s girl, come back to be seen, remind us of your beauty.
HE Why would you gaze on the Shulammite as on the dance of Mahanaim?       Ch.7 1 How beautiful your sandaled feet, O prince’s daughter! Your graceful legs are like jewels, the work of a craftsman’s hands. 2 Your navel is a rounded goblet that never lacks blended wine. Your waist is a mound of wheat encircled by lilies. 3 Your breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle. 4 Your neck is like an ivory tower. Your eyes are the pools of Heshbon by the gate of Bath Rabbim. Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon looking toward Damascus. 5 Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel. Your hair is like royal tapestry; the king is held captive by its tresses. 6 How beautiful you are and how pleasing, O love, with your delights! 7 Your stature is like that of the palm, and your breasts like clusters of fruit. 8 I said, “I will climb the palm tree; I will take hold of its fruit.” May your breasts be like the clusters of the vine, the fragrance of your breath like apples, 9 and your mouth like the best wine.	(he turns to the chorus) Why should you want to see her – she’s mine. She’s not a spectacle for gawping at. (he paces the stage again) “Oh daughter worthy of a royal family, the beauty of your feet, your legs, your hips, captivates me. Your shapeliness, your neck, your eyes, your nose, your head, your hair – oh I could compare every part of you with the beautiful things I know in my kingdom. You are utterly beautiful, my love. You stand tall and straight like a tree waiting to be plucked so that your love bears every good fruit possible. I long for the touch of your lips on my lips, so much more wonderful than even the best wine.
SHE May the wine go straight to my lover, flowing gently over lips and teeth.  10 I belong to my lover, and his desire is for me. 11 Come, my lover, let us go to the countryside, let us spend the night in the villages.  12 Let us go early to the vineyards to see if the vines have budded, if their blossoms have opened, and if the pomegranates are in bloom– there I will give you my love. 13 The mandrakes send out their fragrance, and at our door is every delicacy, both new and old, that I have stored up for you, my lover.   Ch.8 1  If only you were to me like a brother, who was nursed at my mother’s breasts! Then, if I found you outside, I would kiss you, and no one would despise me. 2 I would lead you and bring you to my mother’s house– she who has taught me. I would give you spiced wine to drink, the nectar of my pomegranates. 3 His left arm is under my head and his right arm embraces me. 4 Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you:   Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires.	(she enters from behind him, as if having heard his words, and calls to him). Then may my lips be for you alone. I belong to my lover and his desire is clearly for me. Come let us go out to the countryside to share our love, into the beauty of that creation, where we may best share that love. (she takes his hand and the backdrop appears as the grassy woodland of earlier on) If you were my brother then, when we were in public, it would be perfectly all right for me to kiss you, and no one would comment. I could take you home and that would be fine. Now it can only be here on the grass as I dreamt of it before. He puts an arm under my head for me to lean on and his other arm embraces me. As I said, my friends, don’t rush love, let it take its course and develop in the right way.
FRIENDS 5 Who is this coming up from the desert leaning on her lover?	(the lights and backdrop fade, and as they come back, the backdrop is of a sloping road and couple are seen close together as they walk  up the road. The chorus break in) So, who is this returning from a desert experience, having found her lover again?
SHE Under the apple tree I roused you; there your mother conceived you, there she who was in labor gave you birth. 6 Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame.  7 Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot wash it away. If one were to give all the wealth of his house for love, it would be utterly scorned.	(she looks up into his face) Do you remember when we were first together.  Make me like a seal over your heart so that nothing and no one else can enter in there.  Because my love is fixed unto death, I will be as jealous for you as the grave will eventually be for us.  Until then our love burns as an ever-consuming fire that cannot be quenched.  Even the waters of mighty rivers cannot quench the fire of this love. All the money in the world cannot buy or break this love. (they pause at the centre of the stage)
FRIENDS 8 We have a young sister, and her breasts are not yet grown. What shall we do for our sister for the day she is spoken for? 9 If she is a wall, we will build towers of silver on her. If she is a door, we will enclose her with panels of cedar.	(The chorus break in) We have a young sister who is like you but not yet fully grown. How shall we prepare for the day when she is spoken for, as you are now?  If she is tall and strong we will adorn her with precious things. If she is open and vulnerable, we will guard her and protect her.
SHE 10 I am a wall, and my breasts are like towers. Thus I have become in his eyes like one bringing contentment. 11 Solomon had a vineyard in Baal Hamon; he let out his vineyard to tenants. Each was to bring for its fruit a thousand shekels of silver. 12 But my own vineyard is mine to give; the thousand shekels are for you, O Solomon, and two hundred are for those who tend its fruit.	(she speaks to the audience) I was like a wall as I grew up. I had a quite confidence and strength and now, for my love, I can bring contentment.  My Solomon was completely self-sufficient – he had more than he needed.  I had just myself, but that was enough to give, so I gave all that I am.
HE 13 You who dwell in the gardens with friends in attendance, let me hear your voice!	(he looks at the audience, smiles at her and says) Well my dear, you my regal queen, with all your friends here, who listen in, what more can you say?
SHE 14 Come away, my lover, and be like a gazelle or like a young stag on the spice-laden mountains.	(she looks at the audience, she looks at him and smiles coyly) Come away, my love, let’s leave these people. Come away with me, we’ve only just started to learn what this love means. (they turn their backs on the audience and, arm in arm, they walk off stage as the lights dim.)

And so, my friends, we come to the end of this tale of love. We have seen the girl catch sight of the man and her heart is caught, but she is completely unworthy of him.  But in his eyes, she is utterly beautiful. They speak out their opening thoughts of each other. She imagines the wonder of love with him, but it is a romantic love that needs to be proved.  He comes to her home and calls her out. So the reality of their relationship begins. When he is not there, she yearns for him and goes seeking him until she finds him and takes him back to her home. So the end of the story is that they are married, but that is not the end of the production.

She opens her heart and tells us that it nearly didn’t happen. There was a time before the wedding when he came to her and so slow was she in her response to him that he left. Had she left him with the idea that she didn’t care?  She went looking for him but missed him and was bruised by the world keepers. Her friends challenged her love for him, so she came to a point of declaring, herself, the wonder of him.  He came to her and told her of the things he had to attend to that took him away and then reiterated his love and longing for her, again and again. By the end there is no doubt of their love for each other. She declares it is for life and that nothing must come between. They are an example for others to follow.  At the finale they leave us to live out this life of love, this married couple, devoted to each other and determined to go on in it. And just one final word, before we leave this production. There are those who say this is a picture of Jesus and his bride. He lets her see him and she’s attracted with a romantic love. He speaks words of love to her, yet she has to learn the depth of that love, the sense of utter desolation when he seems far away. The relationship must deepen in the walk together. There is no question of His love for her.  This story is about her love for him, being made sure as it grows, day by day, and through trial by trial.   May you too, know that love.