We have already considered a parallel scene in Chapter III. as visionary; and nothing can be more clear than that this must be considered in the same light. Indeed, the expression, I slept, ⚫ but my heart waked,' will scarcely admit of any other interpretation; but, in this view is beautifully poetic. The heart is the seat of the imagination, as well as of the affections; and this same inspired Poet tells us, speaking of a man of cares and business, his heart taketh not rest in the night' that is, his anxiety is continued in his dreams, for a dream,' he says, 'cometh through ⚫ the multitude of business1'

This being admitted to be a dream, we are as before, relieved from the necessity of accounting for every circumstance on the principle of probability and farther, as several of the circumstances here are repeated from the former scene, I shall excuse myself from discussing them, and confine my remarks to those particulars in which the accounts differ.

1. In the former instance she sought the beloved-in this he seeks her. It is the same thing in effect, whether the Lord by a secret influence of his grace, stir up our minds to seek him; or

Eccles. ii. 23. v. iii. A Persian sonnet in the Divan of Famy presents us with almost exactly the same image as the royal poet in this song.

Last night, my eyes being closed in sleep, but my good fortune [query, genius] awake

The whole night, the live-long night, the image of my 'beloved was the companion of my soul.' Orient. Collect. vol. I. p. 187.

whether, by the dispensations of his providence, he knock, as it were, at the door of our affections. 'No man cometh unto me, except the Father

who hath sent me, draw him.' Behold I 'stand at the door and knock; if any man open ' unto me, I will come in unto him, and sup with him, and he with me.'

2. The Beloved pleads with her for admittance, while she resists his importunity. Let us compare his plea and her excuses. The plea introduced, in analogy to the nature of the poem, is that of a lover exposed to the dews of the night1; and to give due weight to this plea we ought to know, that the dews in the east are very copious, and the laws of hospitality very strict. The excuses here made imply that the Beloved had a right to admittance; and, consequently, that the marriage was complete. The Jewish custom, as above remarked', satisfactorily accounts for his absence, and the scene being visionary, sufficiently covers all improprieties. In the application of this scene it must be considered as referring to a state of great languor and supineness in the church,

1 Dr. Hodgson thinks Anacreon borrowed from this passage his famous ode, ' In the dead of the night,' &c. It must be owned that there are some striking similarities, and that it is very possible a Septuagint version might have fallen into his hands, as well as into the hands of Theocritus but as it would be difficult to decide, so the object would hardly pay the investigation. I wish no writers more modern than these had profaned the sacred stories.

2 Above, p. 247.

and its members: but what can be the meaning of such excuses? They are ridiculous in the extreme, and intended to appear such-like the excuses in the gospel. For there is no doubt but lamps were kept burning in the royal harem; and the loose garments of the east are easily put on : there could be little danger of defiling the feet in treading on a carpet-and there can be no question of the floor being covered. But what lesson can these circumstances be intended to inculcate ? That all our excuses for negligence and disobedience in religion are unfounded and absurd: the pleas of sloth and folly, which increase the evils for which they would apologise. I could go one step farther, and remark, that the excuses here offered are perfectly of an antinomian cast. The church is willing to receive her Lord, if he will force his entrance; but affects a wonderful delicacy to excuse herself from exertion-from rising to let him in.

3. When she is at length overcome by his intreaties, and rises to admit him, alas! he is withdrawn-the just reward of her indolence and neglect. And thus it is, a state of supineness, and want of circumspection in the church, or a believer, provokes the Lord to withdraw his presence, that we may eat the fruit of our own doings.' It is by experience that we learn wisdom, and it is sometimes necessary that this should be dearly bought, in order that it may be rightly prized. The conduct of the spouse under this disappointment shews that her indifference

was not radical, nor habitual; but the effect of a temporary stupor, induced perhaps by indulgence. But when she saw his hand, and that he could not reach the lock or bolt to open it, her heart smote her-her bowels were moved within her on his account', and she rose directly to admit him: but alas! it was too late-he had turned away, and was withdrawn.

Still at the door my injured lord attends.
While on the lock his busy fingers move:
'Touch'd with a soft remorse, at last I rise,
Fly to the door; but while with eager haste

6 The fastened lock I search'd, sweet smelling myrrh
From every bolt its precious moisture shed;
The rich perfume my lover's hands had left.'

This poetic version (which is Mrs. Rowe's) supposes, as commentators do in general, that the perfume here called liquid myrrh2, proceeded

1 Instead of (hy) for him, more than 200 MSS. and editions read only, in our margins rendered in me; I doubt however this rendering of the particle, the radical idea of which is above or upon; and as the verb (n) is applied to the motion of the sea, I am inclined to think the accurate idea is, that a tumult of tenderness and compassion (so to speak) makes the bowels roll over and over, like the waves, within us.

There is another doubt, however, as to the meaning of this verse; instead of the beloved's putting forth his hand to open the lock, some think it means, he withdrew his hand from it to go away. [So the LXX aleiλe—ano (P) Tns orns; and Junius-Demiserat manum suam a foramine:] and this was certainly a sufficient cause for alarm: but, I confess this does not appear to me so natural.

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2 Liquid [ current, passing] myrrh. Bochart explains this of the myrrh which of itself wept or flowed from the plant-which Watts elegantly calls myrrh new bleeding from the tree;' which is always the most precious,

from the moisture of his hands, wet with dew; and the compliment in this view is very elegant and beautiful, implying that the fragrancy of his body perfumed every thing which came in contact with it. If the perfume, however, be referred to the spouse, I think it will imply, that she had anointed herself with such luxuriancy, that her fingers were still wet with myrrh; and this would partly account for her reluctancy to rise, since indulgence naturally induces sloth.

The application is not difficult. Ease and indulgence produce languor and negligence in the church, as well as in individuals; and in such circumstances the Lord often withdraws his presence and his smiles. 'He is a God that hideth 'himself;' and both the church and her particular members have bewailed his absence, as we may see at large in the penitentiary psalms, and the book of Lamentations. O Lord, my spirit faileth: hide not thy face from me, lest I be ' like unto them that go down unto the pit'.'

6

My soul with anguish melted when he spoke,
And now,
with wild distraction sees her guilt;

'I call'd in vain, for there was no reply;

'In vain I search'd, for he was now withdrawn.’

MRS. ROWE.

4. She seeks him without success, and in great distress and anxiety of mind. It is a very

As to the supposition that she had a pot of myrrh in her hand, which in her hurry she overturned and spilt on the lock, it appears to me puerile, and unnecessary.

1 Ps. cxliii. 7,