Commentaries:
Adam Clarke
Thou art all fair - there is no spot in thee - " My beloved, every part of thee is beautiful; thou hast not a single defect." The description given of the beauties of Daphne, by Ovid, Metam. lib. 1: ver. 497, has some similarity to the above verses: -
Spectat inornatos collo pend ere capillos.
Et, quid si comantur? ait. Videt igne micantes
Sideribus similes oculos; videt oscula, quae non
Est vidisse satis. Laudat digitosque, manusque,
Brachiaque, et nudos media plus parte lacertos.
Si qua latent meliora putat .
Her well-turn' d neck he view' d, (her neck was bare),
And on her shoulders her disheveled hair.
O, were it comb' d, said he, with what a grace
Would every waving curl become her face!
He view' d her eyes, like heavenly lamps that shone,
He view' d her lips, too sweet to view alone;
Her taper fingers, and her panting breast.
He praises all he sees; and, for the rest,
Believes the beauties yet unseen the best.
Dryden.
Jayadeva describes the beauty of Radha in nearly the same imagery: "Thy lips, O thou most beautiful among women, are a bandhujiva flower; the lustre of the madhuca beams upon thy cheek; thine eye outshines the blue lotos; thy nose is a bud of the tila; the cunda blossom yields to thy teeth. Surely thou descendedst from heaven, O slender damsel! attended by a company of youthful goddesses; and all their beauties are collected in thee." See these poems, and the short notes at the end.
The same poet has a parallel thought to that in Song of Songs 4:5, "Thy two breasts," etc. The companions of Radha thus address her: "Ask those two round hillocks which receive pure dew drops from the garland playing on thy neck, and the buds on whose tops start aloft with the thought of thy beloved."
DISCLAIMER: Church of the Great God (CGG) provides these resources to aid the individual in studying the Bible. However, it is up to the individual to "prove all things, and hold fast to that which is good" (I Thessalonians 5:21). The content of these resources does not necessarily reflect the views of CGG. They are provided for information purposes only.
