Saturday, August 23, 2008



His left arm is under my head, and his right arm embraces me. 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. Listen! My lover! Look! Here he comes, leaping across the mountains, bounding over the hills. 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. (Song of Songs 2:6-9)

The Beloved continues.

Do not be aroused. Do not open your eyes to love.

Until love is a source of delight and pleasure; until love bends down to you.

Too often what we call love is anxiety, anguish, and disappointment

Because we have tried to claim what cannot be claimed.

Love is a wild thing. Love will come in its own time.

Above is from the Rothschild Canticles. Click on the image for a larger view. In the top register, Christ reaches through a window towards the Sponsa who sits indoors. In the second register, Christ leads the Sponsa out of the building towards an area with a lattice window. In the bottom register, Christ and the Sponsa pick fruits and flowers in a garden.

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