dents from history or from other authors; he may portray life in action and accompany the portrayal with some description and interpretation; he may simply create the characters and place them in the situations which he has invented for them, and leave them to interpret themselves by their speech and their actions. The first form of literature is Essay, the second is Novel, the third is Drama. Emerson elucidates the nature of heroism thus: "Self-trust is the essence of heroism.

It is the

the king lavishes upon her are powerless to make her forget him. In the end she is permitted to return to her mountain home, where, at the close of the poem, the lovers appear hand in hand (viii. 5), and express, in warm and glowing words, the superiority of genuine, spontaneous affection over that which may be purchased by wealth or rank (viii. 6, 7).” An Introduction to the Literature of the Old Testament, 6th edition, by S. R. Driver, D. D., pp. 437, 438. I agree with Dr. Driver that an attentive study of the poem can leave little doubt that the modern view (i. e., the dramatic) is decidedly more probable than the traditional view (i. e., the lyrical). For the reasons which lead to this conclusion, except as they are apparent in the dramatic version of the Song here given, the reader is referred to Dr. Driver's Introduction; and for a fuller explanation of this dramatic rendering of the book he is recommended to consult The Lily Among Thorns, by William Elliot Griffis, D. D., to whom I gladly acknowledge my indebtedness in the preparation of this chapter. A special translation and dramatic arrangement can be found in the interesting monograph on the Song of Songs, by the Rev. William C. Daland (Leonardsville, N. Y.). They both follow the previous work along the same line by Ewald, whose analysis of the poem is given by Driver in his Introduction to the Literature of the Old Testament. It may be added that the date and authorship of the Song of Songs are both uncertain; it is quite clear that Solomon is not the author; "The Song of Solomon" must be taken to mean a Song about Solomon, not a song by him.

state of the soul at war, and its ultimate objects are the last defiance of falsehood and wrong, and the power to bear all that can be inflicted by evil agents. "1 Thackeray, in "The Newcomes," gives us no definition of heroism, but in Colonel Newcome he paints the picture of a hero. We see, however, not only the portrait, but the artist at his work painting it. We know what he thinks of his sitter, for he tells us very frankly: "With that fidelity which was an instinct of his nature, this brave man thought ever of his absent child and longed after him. He never forsook the native servants and nurses who had charge of the child, but endowed them with money sufficient (and little was wanted by the people of that frugal race) to make all their future lives comfortable. No friends went to Europe, no ship departed, but Newcome sent presents and remembrances to the boy and thanks to all who were kind to his son.' Here the hero is seen, but seen through the eyes of the artist who is painting his hero's portrait. In "Clive" Browning portrays a hero, but says no word of eulogy or criticism. He simply bids you look and see Clive's deed; summons you, as a bystander might, to the door of the club-room to see the

Scene:

2

"Twice the muzzle touched my forehead. Heavy barrel, flurried wrist,

1 Essays, by Ralph Waldo Emerson, Heroism

2 The Newcomes, chap. v.

Either spoils a steady lifting. Thrice: then, 'Laugh at Hell

who list,

I can't! God's no fable either. Did this boy's eye wink once? No!

There's no standing him and Hell and God, all three against me

In the Essay the principle is elucidated; in the Novel it is illustrated; in the Drama it is simply portrayed. In the Essay the author interprets; in the Novel he portrays and interprets; in the Drama his portrayal is left to be self-interpretative. This self-interpretative nature of the drama is one of the characteristics which fit it for presentation on the stage, but by no means the only one. The drama may be a story so constructed that it can be told "by actual representation of persons by persons, with imitation of language, voice, gesture, dress, and accessories or surrounding conditions; but this is by no means essential. Browning's Ring and the Book," which could by no possibility be acted on the stage, is as truly a drama as is "Hamlet" or "Faust." The real distinction between the dramatic and the epic poem is well defined by Boucicault: "In the epic poem there is only one speaker -the poet himself. The action is bygone. The scene is described. The persons are spoken of as third persons. There are only

66

2

1 Dramatic Idylls, “Clive," Browning's Works, Riverside Edition, vol. vi. p. 160.

2 Century Dictionary.

two concerned in it, the poet and the reader. In the drama the action is present, the scene is visible, the persons are speakers, the sentiments and passions are theirs." 1

It is in this sense that the "Song of Songs" is a drama. It is a portrayal of woman's love resisting the enticements of ambition. In it there are three characters a Shulamite 2 maiden; her peasant lover, to whom she is betrothed, and to whose love she remains faithful under strong temptations to abandon him for a supreme place at the court of King Solomon, as the head of his harem; and Solomon himself. There is also a chorus of women attached to the court, who lend their influences in coöperation with the endeavors of the king to win the maiden from her betrothed. No moral is drawn; no characterizations are furnished; no interpretation is afforded; the poet is unseen; an invisible artist summons us to look on while the royal lover endeavors by every blandishment to win the peasant girl; we are invited to listen to her replies, to witness even her night-dreams, and to see at last the victory which her love, never for a moment vacillating, wins for her and for woman. In studying this book there are three considerations which must be constantly in the mind of the student.

I. This is a drama only in the largest sense of that word: it was not probably composed to be 1 Quoted in Century Dictionary under Drama.

2 Chap. vi. 13; a form of Shunammite, a native of Shunem (Shulem).

enacted on a stage, and is not adapted for that purpose, though it might lend itself to performance as a musical interlude, with the simplest scenic effects, or with none at all. There are clearly different songs to be sung by different singers, some male, some female; but these songs are not assigned by the author to their respective characters. Except King Solomon, no personage is named. There are no stage directions; and except in the account of Solomon's entrance into Jerusalem no scenic descriptions. There is no conversation; nothing that can properly be called a dialogue.1 The interplay of thought and emotion is effected by the contrast between monologues. The Song of Songs is indeed rather a cycle of dramatic love songs than a drama in the modern sense of the word. It resembles an oratorio rather than an opera, though it cannot properly be said to resemble either; except that, as in the oratorio, the scenery, the occasion, the distinctive character of the three principal personages are all left to the imagination of the auditor. It is for this reason the commentators have differed so widely in their interpretation: that some have conceived that there are but two characters, others that there are three; that some sup

1 The dramatic critics generally introduce a dialogue element in chap. i., where they represent the Shulamite's song, depreciating her beauty, as interpreted by the chorus with the words "but comely," and in chap. iii., which they conceive to be a dialogue between different citizens commenting on the splendor of the royal procession. This appears to me too modern and artificial to be a probable interpretation of the design of the author.