Set me as a seal upon thy heart, as a seal upon thy arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame.[1]

THE SONG OF SONGS

Transcriber’s Note: This Table of Contents has been added for convenience; none was present in the original, which contained only the List of Illustrations.

CONTENTS

[Chapter One]
[Chapter Two]
[Chapter Three]
[Chapter Four]
[Chapter Five]
[Chapter Six]
[Chapter Seven]
[Chapter Eight]
[Chapter Nine]
[Chapter Ten]
[Chapter Eleven]
[Chapter Twelve]
[Notes by the Translator]

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

[Plate One]
[Plate Two]
[Plate Three]
[Plate Four]
[Plate Five]
[Plate Six]
[Plate Seven]
[Plate Eight]

I.

King Solomon had not yet attained middle age—forty-five; yet the fame of his wisdom and comeliness, of the grandeur of his life and the pomp of his court, had spread far beyond the limits of Palestine. In Assyria and Phœnicia; in Lower and Upper Ægypt; from ancient Tabriz to Yemen and from Ismar unto Persepolis; on the coast of the Black Sea and upon the islands of the Mediterranean,—all uttered his name in wonder, for there was none among the kings like unto him in all his days.