1. Cantique des Cantiques 1:2 (NEG79)
  2. Explication du texte

Why does the young woman refer to her beloved as “him” and “your” (directly and indirectly)?

Cantique des Cantiques 1:2 (NEG79)

2 Qu'il me baise des baisers de sa bouche! Car ton amour vaut mieux que le vin,

Throughout this poem, and the entire Song, the woman uses both the second person (“you”) and third person (“he”) to refer to the young man. The other voices in the Song will do the same. This is a poetic device called enallage and does not mean we have to look for a different character speaking or being spoken to.1 Change of person is common in Hebrew poetry as the speaker moves from sometimes speaking to themselves, then to others, then to third parties.2