The Song of Spring

The coming of Spring is an essential element in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Its arrival indicates the coming of Aslan into Narnia and the breaking of the White Witch's power manifest by the unending Winter.  Spring thus indicates the coming of God, defeat of evil, and redemption of God's chosen. No doubt Lewis' model for this is the bible itself in which the Children of Israel are redeemed from Egypt in the month of Spring (Exodus 23:15 and Exodus 34:18). 

Interestingly, Passover, the Spring Festival, is graced by the reading of Song of Songs. Superficially, this may be because the context of that work which, beyond its ample use of metaphorical flora and fauna, is Springtime (Song of Songs 7:13), "Let us go early to the vineyards, let us see if the vine has flowered, if its blossoms have opened, if the pomegranates are in bloom." More so, Spring is an appropriate context for the budding relationship between the beloved (guy) and darling (girl), representing God and Israel, is Song of Songs. That relationship blossomed with Israel's exodus from Egypt. The verse, (Song of Songs 1:9), "I have likened you, my darling, to a mare in Pharaoh’s chariots," hints to said exodus, and the midrashic literature then likens ups and downs of the relationship described in Song of Songs to the events surrounding the Exodus. 

The Narnian creation story is thus at odds with the biblical saga. In Narnia, Aslan creates the world through song, but does not appear to sing again. In the bible God creates the world via speech, and the song, or the Song of Songs, is initiated and employed when a relationship is formed between God and His chosen people. 

I think this is worth some contemplation. The evolution from creation to God's people, capable of bringing His presence down to earth, is the process that goes from prose to poetry. What is the difference between prose and poetry? Well, prose is much more free form and mirrors the way we talk colloquially. We use prose to convey information, stories, or ideas and when we want to do so precisely. 

Poetry, is much more constricted as it requires rhythm and perhaps rhyme. However, that constriction demonstrates that there is more to the words than meets the eye. There is an emotion, a tune, that the words alone are unable to convey. Thus, poetry and song are used for joy and sadness, to communicate love and convey emotion. 

God creates the world with speech, the placement of the spheres, the growing of the trees, the exactness of the sciences. Love, however, requires a response. It must be humanity that will grow from just another facet of mundane earth into beings capable of relating to and loving God. When that has been fulfilled, when humanity recognizes God, not only as Creator, but as the engine of history and as Being with whom to form a relationship, then, and only then, can there be song. This threshold was reached at the time of the Exodus and its subsequent events through the giving of the Torah at Sinai. 

Thus, on Passover, the time of freedom, at the beginning of Spring, we read the poetry of Song of Songs. On the one hand this commemorates the miracles of the past and relationship between God and Israel that first produced song.  On the other, reading the Song of Songs demonstrates our commitment to and desire for a continued relationship with God. The relationship is ongoing, God is still singing, and so are we.