Solomon’s Love Expressed
“How beautiful ayou are, my darling,
How beautiful you are!
Your beyes are like doves cbehind your veil;
Your dhair is like a flock of goats
That have descended from Mount eGilead.
2 “Your ateeth are like a flock of newly shorn ewes
Which have come up from their washing,
All of which bear twins,
And not one among them has lost her young.
3 “Your lips are like a ascarlet thread,
And your bmouth is lovely.
Your ctemples are like a slice of a pomegranate
Behind your veil.
4 “Your aneck is like the tower of David,
Built with rows of stones
On which are bhung a thousand shields,
All the round cshields of the mighty men.
5 “Your atwo breasts are like two fawns,
Twins of a gazelle
Which bfeed among the lilies.
6 “aUntil the cool of the day
When the shadows flee away,
I will go my way to the mountain of bmyrrh
And to the hill of bfrankincense.
7 “aYou are altogether beautiful, my darling,
And there is no blemish in you.
8 “Come with me from aLebanon, my bbride,
May you come with me from Lebanon.
Journey down from the summit of cAmana,
From the summit of dSenir and Hermon,
From the dens of lions,
From the mountains of leopards.
9 “You have made my heart beat faster, amy sister, my bride;
You have made my heart beat faster with a single glance of your eyes,
With a single strand of your bnecklace.
10 “aHow beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride!
How much bbetter is your love than wine,
And the cfragrance of your oils
Than all kinds of spices!
11 “Your lips, my bride, adrip bhoney;
Honey and milk are under your tongue,
And the fragrance of your garments is like the cfragrance of Lebanon.
12 “A garden locked is my sister, my bride,
A rock garden locked, a aspring bsealed up.
13 “Your shoots are an aorchard of bpomegranates
With cchoice fruits, dhenna with nard plants,
14 aNard and saffron, calamus and bcinnamon,
With all the trees of cfrankincense,
dMyrrh and aloes, along with all the finest spices.
15 “You are a garden spring,
A well of afresh water,
And streams flowing from Lebanon.”
16 “Awake, O north wind,
And come, wind of the south;
Make my agarden breathe out fragrance,
Let its spices be wafted abroad.
May bmy beloved come into his garden
And eat its cchoice fruits!”
The Torment of Separation
“I have acome into my garden, bmy sister, my bride;
I have gathered my cmyrrh along with my balsam.
I have eaten my honeycomb and my dhoney;
I have edrunk my wine and my milk.
Eat, ffriends;
Drink and imbibe deeply, O lovers.”
2 “I was asleep but my heart was awake.
A voice! My beloved was knocking:
‘Open to me, amy sister, my darling,
bMy dove, my perfect one!
For my head is drenched with dew,
My clocks with the damp of the night.’
3 “I have ataken off my dress,
How can I put it on again?
I have bwashed my feet,
How can I dirty them again?
4 “My beloved extended his hand through the opening,
And my afeelings were aroused for him.
5 “I arose to open to my beloved;
And my hands adripped with myrrh,
And my fingers with liquid myrrh,
On the handles of the bolt.
6 “I opened to my beloved,
But my beloved had aturned away and had gone!
My heart went out to him as he bspoke.
I csearched for him but I did not find him;
I dcalled him but he did not answer me.
7 “The awatchmen who make the rounds in the city found me,
They struck me and wounded me;
The guardsmen of the walls took away my shawl from me.
8 “I aadjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
If you find my beloved,
As to what you will tell him:
For bI am lovesick.”
9 “What kind of beloved is your beloved,
O amost beautiful among women?
What kind of beloved is your beloved,
That thus you adjure us?”
Admiration by the Bride
10 “My beloved is dazzling and aruddy,
bOutstanding among ten thousand.
11 “His head is like gold, pure gold;
His alocks are like clusters of dates
And black as a raven.
12 “His aeyes are like doves
Beside streams of water,
Bathed in milk,
And reposed in their bsetting.
13 “His cheeks are like a abed of balsam,
Banks of sweet‑scented herbs;
His lips are blilies
cDripping with liquid myrrh.
14 “His hands are rods of gold
Set with aberyl;
His abdomen is carved ivory
Inlaid with bsapphires.
15 “His legs are pillars of alabaster
Set on pedestals of pure gold;
His appearance is like aLebanon
Choice as the bcedars.
16 “His amouth is full of sweetness.
And he is wholly bdesirable.
This is my beloved and this is my friend,
O daughters of Jerusalem.”
Mutual Delight in Each Other
“aWhere has your beloved gone,
O bmost beautiful among women?
Where has your beloved turned,
That we may seek him with you?”
2 “My beloved has gone down to his agarden,
To the bbeds of balsam,
To cpasture his flock in the gardens
And gather dlilies.
3 “aI am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine,
He who bpastures his flock among the lilies.”
4 “aYou are as beautiful as bTirzah, my darling,
As clovely as dJerusalem,
As eawesome as an army with banners.
5 “Turn your eyes away from me,
For they have confused me;
aYour hair is like a flock of goats
That have descended from Gilead.
6 “aYour teeth are like a flock of ewes
Which have come up from their washing,
All of which bear twins,
And not one among them has lost her young.
7 “aYour temples are like a slice of a pomegranate
Behind your veil.
8 “There are sixty aqueens and eighty concubines,
And bmaidens without number;
9 But amy dove, my perfect one, is unique:
She is her mother’s only daughter;
She is the pure child of the one who bore her.
The bmaidens saw her and called her blessed,
The cqueens and the concubines also, and they praised her, saying,
10 ‘Who is this that grows like the dawn,
As beautiful as the full amoon,
As pure bas the sun,
As cawesome as an army with banners?’
11 “I went down to the orchard of nut trees
To see the blossoms of the valley,
To see whether athe vine had budded
Or the bpomegranates had bloomed.
12 “Before I was aware, my soul set me
Over the chariots of my noble people.”
13 “Come back, come back, O Shulammite;
Come back, come back, that we may gaze at you!”
“Why should you gaze at the Shulammite,
As at the adance of bthe two companies?