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The Song of Songs is a short, beautiful but currently neglected book of the Bible. Whilst acknowledging it's fascinating portrayal of human love and longing for love, this unusual book explores the possibility of drawing on the mystics and the poets to read the book at a more profound level as a resource for contemplative prayer.
Aims to present the Song of Songs as a resource for contemplative prayer. From its recorded beginning before Christ, this biblical poem was widely, and in fact exclusively, interpreted both by Jews and Christians as a hymn of God's passionate love for his chosen people.
The Song of Songs is however a mysterious book, and the more modern reading of it as a celebration of human erotic love has largely displaced this older interpretation. Here, the author presents a contemporary mystical reading, with reference to some later Christian poetry, including John Donne, George Herbert, Gerald Manley Hopkins, and R. S. Thomas.
1 'My beloved is mine and I am his': a poem of many meanings 3
2 'o god, you burn with desire': the language of the mystic 9
3 'o loving wisdom of our god': a book of holy wisdom 18
4 'god unknown, he alone calls my heart': the mystical tradition 27
PART 2: Text, commentary and reflections 39
Appendix: Lectio divina (divine reading) 123