Love in bloom

¹I’m a rose of the Sharon plain,

²Like a lily among thornbushes,

³Like an apple tree among the wild trees,

In his shade I take pleasure in sitting,

⁴He has brought me to the house of wine;

⁵Sustain me with raisin cakes,

⁶His left arm is beneath my head,

⁷Make a solemn pledge, daughters of Jerusalem,

Don’t rouse, don’t arouse love

⁸Listen! It’s my lover: here he comes now,

⁹My lover is like a gazelle

Here he stands now,

¹⁰My lover spoke and said to me,

“Rise up, my dearest,

¹¹Here, the winter is past;

¹²Blossoms have appeared in the land;

¹³The green fruit is on the fig tree,

Rise up, my dearest,

¹⁴My dove—in the rock crevices,

The sound of your voice is sweet,

¹⁵Catch foxes for us—

¹⁶I belong to my lover and he belongs to me—

turn about, my love; be like a gazelle