Song of Solomon 7:5

Carmel was regarded as the 'Park' of the land; there alone were rocky dells, with deep jungles of copse. A 'king is held captive in the tresses' (RV) of the bride's hair: cp. the Arab song:

'Oh, thy thick hair hangs down;
Seven plaits of it take us captive.'

6-10. The bridegroom begins with a general assertion of the delightfulness of his beloved: then, in like manner as the Greek poet Theocritus compares Helen to the straight Cyprustree, our poet likens the bride to the tall, straight palm, the loveliest of all trees in his eyes,' man's sister,' as the Arabs call it. Something of the same feeling appears in the English poem:

'A daughter of the gods, divinely tall,
And most divinely fair.'

One or two slight changes in the text, partly supported by the ancient versions, make of Song of Solomon 7:9 an expression of desire that her mouth may be like the best wine for her beloved, 'gliding over his lips and teeth.' Syrian women cried out to an English lady: 'Go on! when you speak Arabic, your words drop out of your mouth like sugar.'

10-14. Again she declares her affection. An intense delight in rural life breathes through these lines.