The document provides an overview of the Song of Songs (also known as Song of Solomon), which is a collection of love poems in the Old Testament. It celebrates the sexual love between two lovers through lyrical imagery, metaphors, and poetic structure. Traditionally, Jewish and Christian interpretations view it as an allegory for relationships between God/Israel and Christ/church. The poem uses nature and sensory descriptions to create beautiful imagery compared to more modern depictions of sexuality.

1. The Song of Songs
AESTHETIC APPROACH
JULIENNE CORNETT

2. The basics:
 The Songs of Songs are a collection of “songs” or poetry that make
up the last book of the Old Testament.
 They are also known as the Songs of Solomon.
 It is unique within the Hebrew Bible as it is one of the only books to
celebrate sexual love.
 The book is a conversation between two lovers.
 Jewish tradition reads it as an allegory of the relationship between
God and Israel.
 Christian tradition reads it as an allegory of the relationship between
Christ and his church.

3. Lyrical Evocations:
 The Song of Songs incorporates many lyrical ideas that create
particular imagery for the viewer.
 The imagery is very important in creating the beauty in which the
poem is famous for. The two lovers often compare each other to
actual objects evoking many images from the text.
 Ex: “Your love is more delightful than wine” – This particular line from
the first chapter of the poem is very beautiful. It creates the image
of the beloved drinking in her lover’s love. She compares his love to
wine; as if she could get drunk off of it.

4. Metaphors:
 The Song of Songs is much like other forms of poetry in the fact that
it includes many metaphors.
 Ex: “Your eyes behind your veil are doves”
 EX: “Your two breasts are two fawns, twins of a gazelle, that feed
among the lilies.”
 Many of the metaphors used in the poem are influenced by nature.
In the examples above the man is speaking of his wife, comparing
her to doves, gazelles, and lilies.
 The metaphors inspire a great since of beauty within the text.

5. Poetic Structure:
 The structure of the Song of Songs is created with a certain “word
flow” in mind.
 The author chose his words and sentence breaks for a reason. Most
of the lines are ended with the use of a comma, period, etc. This is
called end-stopped lines and allow the poem a more natural
style/feel.
 He/she used it as a way to make the poem flow correctly and give
emphasis to certain words.
 Within Song of Songs there is no set rhyme scheme. The poem
simply relies on the lyrical aspects of the words and literary devices.

6. Song of Songs vs. THE WORLD
 The Song of Songs is very unique in the fact that it takes sexual acts
and gives them a sense of beauty and innocence.
 This is very unlike other more modern works devoted to the same
topic.
 Today’s society takes such subjects and uses them to create racy
imagery that eliminates the beauty of Love itself.
 Instead of a improper depiction of sexuality, Song of Songs is
worded very delicately with beauty and grace.

7. A poetic Video
This is an audio version of the Song of
Songs. Listening to the poem read
aloud allows for the ear to hear the
beauty of the words. The beauty
becomes very immanent, and much
more real.

8. Works Cited:
Victor, William. "Poem Structure - How to Write Poems." Poem Structure - How to Write
Poems. Creative Writing Now, n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2014.
Elliot, Mark W. "Ethics And Aesthetics In The Song Of Songs -- By: Mark W.
Elliott." Welcome. Tyndale Bulletin, 1994. Web. 18 Apr. 2014.
"Language Arts Lesson 5 Instruction, Page 1." Language Arts Lesson 5 Instruction, Page 1.
Teaching Assistance Program, n.d. Web. 18 Apr. 2014.