“Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether.”
The beloved invites her lover to turn and be like a gazelle or young stag upon the mountains of Bether, establishing the beloved's own voice of desire and invitation, calling the lover to return to her. The address to him as 'my beloved' and the invitation to flee like a gazelle suggest swiftness and grace, and the reference to mountains of Bether (meaning 'separation') establishes that the lovers endure literal distance but maintain spiritual and erotic connection across it. The beloved's voice of invitation reverses the dynamic wherein the lover calls the beloved, establishing her own active agency in summoning her beloved. This verse theologically suggests that both parties within erotic love have the right to voice desire and invitation, and that authentic love involves mutual summons and mutual pursuit.
COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS
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