How can the literary form of the Song of Songs be best described? Are we dealing here with a collection or a monolithic work? This essay argues in favour of its nature as a collection and tries to describe the character of a collection in more detail. A collection characterized by a loose order is - this is the main argument - especially suitable for topics that cannot be put into a systematic frame, like the emotional phenomenon of love, for example. Therefore the form of the Song of Songs follows to a large extent from its very subject. Akin to the form of the Song as a collection we find the Psalter and, last but not least, the canon, each of which treats highly dynamic phenomena as central themes under a number of aspects, reflecting the emotional side of faith.
