WEDDING NIGHT HE STARTS SLOW FROM TOP TO BOTTOM
Chapter Four
verses 1-3
How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh, how beautiful! Your eyes behind your veil are doves. Your hair is like a flock of goats descending from Mount gilead. Your teeth are like a flock of sheep just shorn, coming up from the washing. Each has its twin: not one of them is alone. Your lips are like a scarlet ribbon, your mouth is lovely. Your temples behind your veil are like the halves of a pomegranate.
…. Tries to capture the smaller movements within the whole, like the bouncing of curls of hair cascading to her shoulders. (22a) page 207
A translation like “parted lips” would be close to this meaning. Keel regards this as a reference to the softness of the interior of the mouth (Keel, 146). (22a) page 208
After praising “eyes,” “teeth,” and “lips,” it would be awkward to praise a “cheek” in the singular. And it is a reversal of direction to go to her brow or temple. (22a) page 208
Notice that twice he mentions the veil. He is moving slowly. And he is starting with her head. His description will work down her body. In this section he is describing what he can see. As he goes along other senses will be used — smell, taste, touch. They have waited a long time. Now they are alone, no more waiting. It pays to make this transition slowly (in one night, but slowly).
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