Monday, April 16, 2012

Song of Songs and The Art of Love


Song of Songs

Anonymous, Hebrew Bible (c. 10th Century B.C.E.)

            The Song of Songs is a part of the Hebrew Bible used to describe love and lust between a man and a woman. A quote that I liked from this was, “His left arm is under my head, his right embraces me.” (pg. 282) I liked this quote because when I cuddle with someone, I like when they have one arm under me and the other around me, I feel very protected, comfortable, and safe when I am in that position with someone else and I love it the most I think.  Another quote that stood out to me was, “My beloved is mine and I am his.” (pg. 282) I like this because this pretty much explains how I think a married couple should look at one another. They should have this saying to live by and it should be true. They shouldn’t have eyes for anyone else than one another. The last quote I really liked from the Song of Songs was, “Scarcely had I passed them than I found him whom my heart loves. I held him fast, nor would I let him go till I had brought him into my mother’s house…” (pg. 282) I like this because I feel the same way, if I find that person, I always want to be holding onto them and I don’t want to let them go.  There was nothing else that spoke to me and I thought the words were nice, saying how beautiful the beloved was but I didn’t like how they were always compared to things in nature that AREN’T ATTRACTIVE. Like mountain goats and ewes. Maybe back in the day those things represented beauty but not to me.

The Art of Love

Ovid (43 B.C.E. – 18 C.E.)

            The Art of Love is by a man who was hilarious but probably looked down upon in the old days. Well, he was banished to the Black Sea shores in Rumania in 8 C.E. so he was looked down upon. I really liked this story the most because it had more things in it that I could relate to. For example, I really liked this section, “Love, like war, is a toss-up. The defeated can recover, While some you might think invincible collapse; So if you’ve got love written off as an easy option you’d better think twice. Love calls for guts and initiative.” (pg. 295) I LOVE this quote because it is so true. I can relate to almost every part of this quote. I have been defeated before but I have bounced back and been better for it by learning a lesson. While at the same time because of bouncing back every time, I thought I was invincible. This has been proven horribly wrong recently and I think that the great invincible me has finally met her match. So I know perfectly well that you do need to think twice and in order to move on and meet someone new, you need guts to get back out there. Another quote I liked just because I saw the authors true personality was, “(warning to Puritans: This volume is not for you).” (pg. 295) I love this because it reminds me of something I would say. I just think it’s so funny how he put that in there because it got a little graphic. It made me laugh out loud as I read it. The last thing I really liked was the section titled A Hot Afternoon: Siesta-Time. I liked this because I thought it was going to be another section that made sense but I didn’t really understand to the fullest but then it got pretty graphic and was kind of shocking but also a nice cool surprise. I loved it all so I won’t bother quoting it but it was great for a school reading. It even said nipples! I like how he ends it the most though, “But why catalogue details? Nothing came short of perfection, and I clasped her naked body close to mine. Fill in the rest for yourselves! Tired at last, we lay sleeping. May my siestas often turn out that way!” (pg.  296) I like this because I feel like he’s speaking in such a futuristic way. I understand exactly what he is saying and it’s funny. I like that by saying tired at last, he makes it sound like he took a long time. Also, I like that he implies that this happens a lot when he takes “siestas”, if that’s what you want to call it.


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