WIST Quotations

Bible, Vol. 1. Old Testament -- Book 22. Song of Songs (of Solomon; Canticles) 1:15ff (Song (Cant) 1:15-17) [tr. RJPS (2023 ed.)]

Dave — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 18:57:46 +0000

Ah, you are fair, my darling,
Ah, you are fair,
With your dove-like eyes!
And you, my beloved, are handsome,
Beautiful indeed!
Our couch is in a bower;
Cedars are the beams of our house,
Cypresses the rafters.

הִנָּ֤ךְ יָפָה֙ רַעְיָתִ֔י הִנָּ֥ךְ יָפָ֖ה עֵינַ֥יִךְ יוֹנִֽים׃
הִנְּךָ֨ יָפֶ֤ה דוֹדִי֙ אַ֣ף נָעִ֔ים אַף־עַרְשֵׂ֖נוּ רַעֲנָנָֽה׃
קֹר֤וֹת בָּתֵּ֙ינוּ֙ אֲרָזִ֔ים (רחיטנו) [רַהִיטֵ֖נוּ] בְּרוֹתִֽים׃

The Bible (The Old Testament) (14th - 2nd C BC) Judeo-Christian sacred scripture [Tanakh, Hebrew Bible], incl. the Apocrypha (Deuterocanonicals)
Book 22. Song of Songs (of Solomon; Canticles) 1:15ff (Song (Cant) 1:15-17) [tr. RJPS (2023 ed.)]
(Source)

While there is general agreement that different sections of the Song are voiced by a man ("the Lover," "the Bridegroom"), a woman ("the Beloved," "the Bride"), both, or their friends, they are not actually marked that way in the source material, and specific assignments sometimes vary between translators or are omitted.

(Source (Hebrew)). Alternate translations:

Behold, thou art fair, my love;
behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves’ eyes.
Behold, thou art fair, my beloved, yea, pleasant:
also our bed is green.
The beams of our house are cedar,
and our rafters of fir.
[tr. KJV (1611)]

BRIDEGROOM: How beautiful you are, my love, how beautiful you are! Your eyes are doves.
BRIDE: How beautiful you are, my Beloved, and how delightful! All green is our bed.
BRIDEGROOM: The beams of our house are of cedar, the panelling of cypress.
[tr. JB (1966)]

LOVER: How beautiful you are, my beloved, how beautiful you are! Your eyes are doves.
BELOVED: How beautiful you are, my love, and how you delight me! Our bed is the greensward.
LOVER: The beams of our house are cedar trees, its panelling the cypress.
[tr. NJB (1985)]

MAN: How beautiful you are, my love;
how your eyes shine with love!
WOMAN: How handsome you are, my dearest;
how you delight me!
The green grass will be our bed;
the cedars will be the beams of our house,
and the cypress trees the ceiling.
[tr. GNT (1992 ed.)]

MAN: Look at you — so beautiful, my dearest!
Look at you — so beautiful! Your eyes are doves!
WOMAN: Look at you—so beautiful, my love!
Yes, delightful! Yes, our bed is lush and green!
The ceilings of our chambers are cedars;
our rafters, cypresses.
[tr. CEB (2011)]

Ah, you are beautiful, my love;
ah, you are beautiful;
your eyes are doves.
Ah, you are beautiful, my beloved,
truly lovely.
Our couch is green;
the beams of our house are cedar;
our rafters are pine.
[tr. NRSV (2021 ed.)]

Martin, Judith -- “Miss Manners,” syndicated column (1993-03-07)

Dave — Mon, 24 Nov 2025 16:01:15 +0000

Contrary to rumor, bridesmaids are not obliged to entertain in honor of the bride, nor to wear clothes that they cannot afford and that make them look stupid.
And no, the bride does not have a “right” to demand either one because it is “her day.” Any sensible person who hears someone speaking in an imperious tone of “her day” would be wise to consider that it therefore isn’t going to be anyone else’s day, and to leave her to enjoy it alone.

Judith Martin (b. 1938) American author, journalist, etiquette expert [a.k.a. Miss Manners]
“Miss Manners,” syndicated column (1993-03-07)
(Source)

Shakespeare, William -- Taming of the Shrew, Act 3, sc. 2, l. 179ff (3.2.179-181) (c. 1591))

Dave — Mon, 16 Jun 2025 16:50:46 +0000

GREMIO:He took the bride about the neck
And kissed her lips with such a clamorous smack
That at the parting all the church did echo.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Taming of the Shrew, Act 3, sc. 2, l. 179ff (3.2.179-181) (c. 1591))
(Source)

Shelley, Mary Wallstonecraft -- Frankenstein, or, The Modern Prometheus, Vol. 2, ch. 9 [The Creature] (1818)

Dave — Sat, 25 Jan 2025 22:38:25 +0000

But I now indulge in dreams of bliss that cannot be realized. What I ask of you is reasonable and moderate; I demand a creature of another sex, but as hideous as myself: the gratification is small, but it is all that I can receive, and it shall content me. It is true, we shall be monsters, cut off from all the world; but on that account we shall be more attached to one another. Our lives will not be happy, but they will be harmless, and free from the misery I now feel. Oh! my creator, make me happy; let me feel gratitude towards you for one benefit! Let me see that I excite the sympathy of some existing thing; do not deny me my request!

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1797-1851) English novelist
Frankenstein, or, The Modern Prometheus, Vol. 2, ch. 9 [The Creature] (1818)
(Source)