Historia Amoris: A History of Love, Ancient and Modern

(Thinking of her absent lover.)

Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou takest thy flocks to rest at noon that I may not wander among the flocks of thy comrades.

An Odalisque

If thou knowest not, O thou fairest among women, follow the flock and feed thy kids by the shepherds’ tents.

Solomon

(to the Shulamite.)

To my horse, when harnessed to the chariot that Pharaoh sent me, I compare thee, O my love. Thy cheeks are comely with rows of pearls, thy neck with charms of coral. We will make for thee necklaces of gold, studded with silver.

The Shulamite

(aside.)

While the King sitteth at his divan, my spikenard perfumes me and to me my beloved is a bouquet of myrrh, unto me he is as a cluster of cypress in the vines of Engedi.

Solomon

Yes, thou art fair, my beloved. Yes, thou art fair. Thine eyes are the eyes of a dove.

The Shulamite

(thinking of the absent one.)

Yes, thou art fair, my beloved. Yes, thou art charming, and our tryst is a litter of green.

Solomon

(to whom constancy has no meaning.)

The beams of our house are cedar and our rafters of fir.

The Shulamite

(singing.)

I am the rose of Sharon The lily of the valley am I.

(Enter suddenly the Shepherd.)

The Shepherd

As a lily among thorns, so is my love among daughters.

The Shulamite

(running to him.)

As is the apple among fruit, so is my beloved among men. In delight I have sat in his shadow and his savor was sweet to my taste. He brought me to the banquet hall and put o’er me the banner of love.

(Turning to the Odalisques.)

Stay me with wine, strengthen me with fruit, for I am swooning with love.

(Half-fainting she falls in the Shepherd’s arms.)

His left hand is under my head and his right hand doth embrace me.

The Shepherd

(to the Odalisques.)

I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes and the hinds of the field, that ye stir not, nor awake my beloved till she will.

The Shulamite

(dreaming in the Shepherd’s arms.)

My own love’s voice. Arise, my fair one, he tells me, arise and let us go…

The Shepherd

I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, that ye stir not, nor awake my beloved till she will.

(Solomon motions; the Shepherd is removed.)

Act II

A Street in Jerusalem

In the distance is Solomon and his retinue

Chorus of Men

Who is this that cometh out of the wilderness, exhaling the odor of myrrh and of frankincense and all the powders of the perfumer?

(Solomon and his retinue advance.)

First Jerusalemite

Behold the palanquin of Solomon. Three score valiant men are about it. They all hold swords…

Second Jerusalemite

King Solomon has had made for him a litter of Lebanon wood. The supports are of silver, the bottom of gold, the covering of purple. In the centre is a loved one, chosen from among the daughters of Jerusalem.