Note to Anon Lil 89VII
[1] dúfa ‘dove’: Medieval authors associated the dove with chastity, perhaps inspired by the S. of S.: soror mea amica mea columba mea inmaculata mea ‘my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled’ (S. of S. V.2). Bede comments on this text: Columba ergo simplicitatem turtur indicat castitatem quia et columba simplicitatis et castitatis amator est turtur ita ut si coniugem casu perdiderit non alium ultra quaerere curet ‘Therefore the dove signifies simplicity, the turtledove signifies chastity, because the dove so loves simplicity and the turtledove chastity, that if the mate should happen to die, it does not desire to seek another’ (Hurst and Fraipoint 1955, 129-30) Cf. also the Speculum Virginum (Seyfarth 1990, 58).