Cântico dos Cânticos 1:15

Behold, thou art fair. — The song is now transferred to a male speaker — the advocates for the dramatic theory cannot agree whether Solomon or the shepherd; and no wonder, since the poem gives no indication.

My love. — Marg., companion, LXX. πλησίον, in Heb. rayati, is used for the female, dôdi being her usual term for her lover. Beyond this the terms of endearment used cannot safely be pressed for any theory.

Thou hast doves’ eyes. — Literally, thine eyes are doves’. The same image is repeated (Cântico dos Cânticos 4:1), and adopted in return by the heroine (Cântico dos Cânticos 5:12). The point of the comparison is either quickness of glance or generally tenderness and grace. The dove, a favourite with all poets as an emblem of love, is especially dear to this bard. Out of about fifty mentions of the bird in Scripture, seven occur in the short compass of this book. For general account of the dove in Palestine, see Salmos 55:6, and for particular allusions Notes below to Cântico dos Cânticos 2:11; Cântico dos Cânticos 2:14. (Comp. Shakespeare’s Coriolanus, v. 3: —

“Or those doves’ eyes

That can make gods forsworn.”

Tennyson’s Maud: —

“Do I hear her sing as of old,
My bird with the shining head,
My own dove, with her tender eye?”)