Song of Solomon 2:17 - Lakeside Cemetery - Erie, PA - Etched in Stone on Waymarking.com

This verse from the Song of Solomon from the Old Testament of the Bible is on the gravestone of Lieutenant John P. Vincent Gridley at Lakeside Cemetery in Erie, Pennsylvania. Gridley died on April 13, 1904 due to an explosion on board the U.S.S. Missouri at Pensacola, Florida.

At the very bottom of the plaque on his gravestone are the words, "Until the daybreak and the shadows flee away." This is the beginning of the seventeenth verse of the second chapter of the Song of Solomon. This book of the Bible is also known as the Song of Songs or the Canticle of Canticles. The translation on the gravestone is the King James Version.

According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, "The book, whose author is unknown (Solomon’s name is a later addition), is a collection of love poems spoken alternately by a man and a woman. There is no coherent story in the book. A number of the poems systematically describe the beauty and excellence of the beloved. The Song of Solomon has received various interpretations, the most common being allegorical, dramatic, cultic, and literal. Among Jews, the allegorical interpretation regards the book as an allegory of God’s love for the Israelites, with whom he has made a sacred covenant. Among Christians, the book is interpreted as describing the covenantal love of Christ for his church. In medieval mysticism, the Song of Solomon was construed to apply to the love between Christ and the human soul."

Address: 1718 E Lake Rd, Erie, PA 16511 Website: [Web Link]

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