THE STORYTELLER'S BIBLE
Act III - Wisdom Literature, Scene 8
Script by Bob Allen
For four voices

Scene 8

1 3 4

2

VOICE ONE:             The Song of Songs.

VOICE TWO:            A musical composition par excellence. The best of the one thousand and five songs written by King Solomon.

VOICE THREE:        Where Ecclesiastes revealed the vanity of vanities, The Song of Solomon reveals the love of loves.

VOICE FOUR:          Where Ecclesiastes recorded a life of wandering, The Song introduces a lover whose wandering is over.

VOICE ONE:             Where Ecclesiastes demonstrated the pursuit of all things, this book describes the pursuit of one thing.

VOICE TWO:            Where Ecclesiastes reveals the wrong things sought in the wrong ways, the Song expresses the joy of right things sought in the right ways.

VOICE THREE:        In the beginning, God created—love.  The wedding, a marriage, and family; all were God’s idea and His ideal!

VOICE FOUR:          Memories!  Scenes from a courtship.  Snapshots from a wedding album.  Tender exchanges of intimacy from the experiences of a happily married couple.  These are the snippets of love poetry that make up the Song of Songs.

VOICE ONE:             (BRING STOOL AND SIT BESIDE # 2)  The story begins in the richly endowed bridal chambers of the extremely wealthy King Solomon.  As the couple reclines on couches draped with heavy brocade, they reminisce concerning their courtship for the enjoyment of their royal attendants.  As the finest of wine from the vineyards outside Jerusalem is poured into her waiting cup, the bride blushes and lays her head back against the pillow of her beloved’s couch.

VOICE TWO:            Kiss me with the kisses of your mouth, for your love is better than the best of wine.

VOICE THREE:        (CROSS DOWN RIGHT)  The first time she had seen her beloved, he had been   

                                 disguised as a shepherd in order to better inspect the management of his fields and     

                                 flocks in the land of Lebanon.

VOICE FOUR:          (CROSS DOWN LEFT)  Even in disguise he attracted her attention and she pleaded

                                  with the other girls in the field to help her hide from him lest he see how sunburned she

                                  had become, since her brothers insisted that she work in the vineyard.  But her ploy

                                 didn’t work.

VOICE ONE:             O thou fairest among women, feed thy sheep beside the shepherd’s tents.

VOICE THREE:        The storytelling went on forever that night in the bridal chamber with the newlyweds 

                                  trying their best to out-do one another with the declarations of their love.

VOICE ONE:             Your cheeks are lovely with ornaments, your neck with strings of beads.

VOICE TWO:             Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest, so is my beloved among the young 

                                   men.  In his shade I took great delight and sat down, and his fruit was sweet to my 

                                   taste.  He has brought me into his banquet hall, and his banner over me is love.

VOICE FOUR:          Finally the young bride fell asleep and her lover cradled her in his arms, warning the 

                                  court attendants to leave quietly without waking his beloved.  As she slept,   

                                  her dreams carried her back to the days of their courtship, to a night when he had 

                                  come to visit and she had told him to come back in the morning.

VOICE ONE:             Arise my darling, my beautiful one, and come along!

VOICE TWO:            I must seek him whom my soul loves.  I sought him but did not find him.  When I 

                                  found him whom my soul loves, I held on to him and would not let him go.

VOICE THREE:        As the dream continued the bride recalled the day when her shepherd boy returned to

                                 the village, this time dressed in the royal robes of the king, accompanied by a 

                                 resplendent entourage, prepared to take her back to Jerusalem and make her his 

                                bride.

VOICE TWO:         What is this coming up from the wilderness like columns of smoke, perfumed with 

                                myrrh and frankincense, with all scented powders of the merchant?  Behold, it is the

                                traveling couch of Solomon; sixty mighty men around it, of the mighty men of Israel.

VOICE ONE:        You are altogether beautiful, my darling, and there is no blemish in you.  Come with me

                              from Lebanon, my bride, you have made my heart beat faster, my sister, my bride, you 

                             have made my heart beat faster with a single glance of your eyes, with a single strand of 

                             your necklace.  Your lips, my bride, drip honey; honey and milk are under your tongue, 

                             and the fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon.

VOICE ONE:         Let my beloved come into his garden and eat of its choice fruit.

VOICE FOUR:       After recalling in her dream the gracious words with which she had 

                               accepted his proposal of marriage, the young bride is once again troubled in her sleep 

                               by the thought that her ardor might cool and she might refuse her beloved entrance to 

                               the palace some night.

VOICE TWO:         A voice.  My beloved was knocking.

VOICE ONE:          Open to me, my sister, my darling, my dove, my perfect one!

VOICE TWO:         I have taken off my dress, how can I put it on again?  I have washed my feet, how 

                               can I dirty them again?

VOICE ONE:             My head is drenched with dew, my locks with the damp of the night.

VOICE TWO:           I arose to open to my beloved, but my beloved had turned away and was gone.

VOICE THREE:        Her nightmares cause the princess to toss and turn in her sleep as she seeks for her

                                 beloved.  Finally, as he returns in her dream, she settles down and the king begins to 

                                 quietly describe the rapture he feels toward the beauty he holds in his arms.

VOICE ONE:          How beautiful are your feet in sandals, O prince’s daughter!  The curves of your hips

                                are like jewels, the work of the hands of an artist.  Your head crowns you like Carmel, 

                               and the flowing locks of  your head are like purple threads; the king is captivated by 

                               your tresses.  How beautiful and how delightful you are, my love, with all your charms.

VOICE FOUR:       Unable to contain himself any longer, the king leans over and kisses his bride,

                               awakening her to the reality of her new state as his bride and queen.

VOICE ONE:         Your mouth is like the best wine!  It goes down smoothly for my beloved, flowing gently

                              through the lips of those who fall asleep.

VOICE TWO:       I am my beloved’s and his desire is for me.

VOICE THREE:      Now fully awake, the bride recalls her dreams and suggests a journey back to her 

                                village where they first met to remind them of  their days of courtship and their pledges 

                               of undying love.

VOICE TWO:         Come, my beloved, let us go out into the country, let us spend the night in the villages, 

                               there I will give you my love.

VOICE ONE:         Put me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm, for love is as strong as 

                              death, many waters cannot quench love, nor will rivers overflow it.

VOICE FOUR:       Hearing his protestations of undying love assures the bride, and completely satisfied,

                               she melts into his warm embrace.

VOICE TWO:       Hurry my beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of spices.

VOICES ONE/TWO:   I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine.