Song of Songs
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The Song of Songs is a book of the Old Testament. It is also known as the Song of Solomon or as Canticles, the latter from the shortened and anglicized Vulgate title Canticum Canticorum, "Song of Songs" in Latin.
The Song of Songs is thought by some to be an allegorical representation of the relationship of God and Israel as husband and wife. Literally, however, the main characters of the Song are simply a woman and a man, and the poem suggests movement from courtship to consummation. It is one of the shortest books in the Bible, consisting of only 117 verses.
References in art, literature and music
- Song of Solomon - 1997 novel by Toni Morrison.
- J.S. Bach's Cantata No. 140, while mainly based on the Parable of the Ten Virgins, also uses words and imagery from the Song of Songs.
- La Sulamite by Emmanuel Chabrier, with words by Jean Richepin is based on the Song of Songs.
- Kate Bush wrote a song called The Song Of Solomon, containing lines from the book, which appears on her 1993 album The Red Shoes.
- Sinéad O'Connor’s ”Dark I Am Yet Lovely” on Theology (2007) is a treatment of the Song.
- Brion Gysin used the King James translation of the Songs of Songs in the cut-up poem The Poem of Poems (1958-1961)
- In Geoffrey Chaucer's, 'The Canterbury Tales', there are numerous references. The most notable of these is in The Miller's Tale in Absolon's attempted wooing of Alisoun
References in film
- Nammukku paarkkaan munthiri thoppukal, a Malayalam (from Kerala, India) movie, has its title based on the Song of Songs;Chapter 7:12.
- The Wisdom of Crocodiles, (a.k.a. Immortality), paraphrases Song of Songs 3:6 & 4:3,5,7.
- The Woman in the Window (1944), Professor Richard Wanley pulls this book off a shelf in the gentleman's club and sits to read it after his friends leave early in the film.
- Keeping Mum (2005) features selected phrases.
- In Miller's Crossing (1990), Tom Reagen mentioned it sarcastically to Verna Bernbaum.
- In El crimen del Padre Amaro (The Crime of Father Amaro) (2002), a Mexican film (script by Vicente Leñero, based on the homonymus novel written in 1875 by José Maria de Eça de Queiroz) about a love relationship between a priest and a woman, father Amaro recites it to his secret lover.
- In Once Upon a Time in America (1984), a Sergio Leone film, Deborah Gelly (Elizabeth McGovern) recites Song of Songs to 'Noodles' (Robert DeNiro).
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