The Song of Songs in Thomas Campion's Work

This article investigates the influence that the biblical Song of Songs exercised on Thomas Campion’s work. Specific expressions and topoi, such as those of the black but comely beloved and of the woman as a magnificent garden, are used by the poet to enrich his amorous language, establishing an ambivalent relationship with the Petrarchan tradition. While in some cases the Song-related elements integrate seamlessly within the Petrarchan and Neoplatonic poetic paradigm, in other instances these images, in accordance with the lively and sensual tone of some of Campion’s songs, appear to be used as part of a discourse aimed at challenging this code. In particular, the Song of Songs contributes to the mise en question of the Petrarchan paradigm either by supplying expressions apt to celebrate the bliss of mutual passion, by contributing to the praise of an unconventional dark country maid, whose complexion and sensual behavior distances her from the refined fair ladies of the Petrarchan tradition, or by offering a basis for a sudden reversal of the sublime image of the unattainable Petrarchan beloved.