Page 144 - The Poetic Books - Student Text

When we compare how the garden metaphor is used to other
metaphors, we can see the writer’s intentions. The lily
metaphor is also used 8x (2:1, 2; 2:16; 6:2, 3; 4:5; 5:13; 7:3).
The first two occurrences are in conversation between the
man and the woman. She compares herself to “a lily of the
valley” (2:1),” a common yet attractive flower that grows wild.
The man builds on the imagery, “like a lily among thorns is my
darling among the young woman” (2:2). He contrasts her to
other women, not expecting her to hurt him with the prick of
a thorn. The metaphor is one of humble beauty and
harmlessness. On three occurrences, the woman speaks of the
man. He “browses, or shepherds, among the lilies” (2:16; 6:2, Figure 68: Lily among thorns
3). In the first the pair seems to be together. In the next two,
they are apart. In either case the woman has a confidence that her beloved will not harm her. He too has
no thorns.

The last three references offer a striking contrast. The woman is described oddly in two of these. “Your
breasts are like two fawns, like twin fawns of a gazelle that browse among the lilies (4:5).” “Your navel is
a rounded goblet that never lacks blended wine. Your waist is a mound of wheat encircled by lilies (7:2).”
How very different these are! Lilies do not fit in either place, at least not the way lilies have been used to
this point. When we go back to the last reference under consideration, we can see the difference. The
woman says of her beloved, “His lips are like lilies dripping with myrrh (5:13).” Attractiveness and
harmlessness fit the metaphor. The author intends for us to note the difference. Both 4:5 and 7:2 are
235
“Twisted Metaphors.”

We conclude that Solomon is giving us
two pictures of love. One is genuine,
using words that the loved one will
understand and appreciate. One is false,
not taking the time to understand the
beloved and speak words that will
communicate in a positive sense. One
approach uses the language of love; the
other uses the language of lust. One is
focused on the loved person; the other is
focused on self.

Solomon may be describing two people
Figure 70: Lust??? struggling with their relationship, Figure 69: Love???
struggling to keep proper desire from becoming improper. The presence, however, of a king (1:4) and a
man from the country (2:10-13) suggests a love triangle, two men speaking to the same woman, vying
for her affections. She is already committed to the simple, country man but is greatly tempted by the

235 Ibid., 53-64.
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