What does the invitation to visit the vineyards add to the song of praise?

Atlas of Saints · Chapter summary

After a detailed praise of the prince’s daughter, the speaker declares that she belongs to her beloved. She invites him into the fields and villages to see whether the vines and pomegranates are flourishing, where she will give him her love.

Chapter breakdown

The song asks what can be seen in the Sulamitess and praises the prince’s daughter from her shod steps upward. Jewels describe her thighs, a bowl her navel, and wheat among lilies her belly. Twin young roes, an ivory tower, pools in Hesebon, and a tower facing Damascus describe her breasts, neck, eyes, and nose. Her head is like Carmel, and her hair like royal purple. Challoner interprets these images as the Church’s power and mission to spread the faith, with Christ as her invisible head.

The praise turns to a palm tree, grapes, apples, and wine. The speaker says he will climb the palm and take its fruit. The voice then declares that she belongs to her beloved and that he turns toward her. She invites him into the fields and villages. They are to rise early and see whether the vines flourish, whether flowers are ready to bear fruit, and whether pomegranates flourish. She promises her love there. The mandrakes give off their scent, and she has kept both new and old fruits for her beloved.

The story inside

The song moves upward through the beloved’s appearance, using jewels, wheat, towers, pools, a palm tree, and wine. Challoner reads these images in relation to the Church’s mission and Christ as her head. The voice then turns from description to invitation: the lovers are to rise early and look for fruit in the vineyards.

Lessons worth keeping

1
The praise uses both crafted objects and growing things to describe the beloved (7:1–9).
2
The visit to the vineyards is proposed; the speaker asks to see whether they are flourishing (7:11–12).
3
The closing verse says that both new and old fruits have been kept for the beloved (7:13).

Test your recall

What does the speaker propose to inspect in the vineyards, and what has she kept for her beloved?

Show answer

She proposes to see whether the vines flourish, the flowers are ready to bear fruit, and the pomegranates flourish. She has kept new and old fruits for him (7:12–13).

Source edition and notes

Douay–Rheims, revised by Richard Challoner (1749–1752). Project Gutenberg no. 1581. Locators refer to lines in the admitted pg1581.txt edition. Source notes may include Challoner commentary.

Lines 71403–71406
7:1. What shalt thou see in the Sulamitess but the companies of camps? How beautiful are thy steps in shoes, O prince’s daughter! The joints of thy thighs are like jewels, that are made by the hand of a skilful workman.
Lines 71447–71448
7:13. The mandrakes give a smell. In our gates are all fruits: the new and the old, my beloved, I have kept for thee.