St. Bernard has a reputation for eloquence of his writings. Equally compelling as is the rhetoric in the quote that follows is the loftiness of the sentiment:
Sermon 1:11
"But there is that other song, by its unique dignity and
sweetness, exceeds all those I have mentioned and any others there might be;
hence by every right do I acclaim it as the Song of Songs
. It stands at a point where all the others
culminate. Only the touch of the Spirit can inspire a song like this, and only
personal experience can unfold its meaning. Let those who are versed in the
mystery revel in it; let all others burn with desire rather to attain to this
experience than merely to learn about it. For it is not a melody that resounds
abroad but the very music of the heart, not a trilling on the lips but an inward
pulsing of delight, a harmony not of voices but of wills. It is a tune you will
not hear in the streets, these notes do not sound where crowds assemble; only
the singer hears it and the one to whom he sings – the lover and the beloved.
It is preeminently a marriage song telling of chaste souls in loving embrace,
of their wills in sweet accord, of the mutual exchange of the heart's affections."
CISTERCIAN FATHERS SERIES: NUMBER FOUR - THE WORKS OF BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX Volume Two - Song of Songs I
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