Admiration by the Bridegroom

¹“How beautiful are your feet in sandals,

O prince’s daughter!

The curves of your hips are like jewels,

The work of the hands of an artist.

²“Your navel is a round goblet

Which never lacks mixed wine.

Your belly is like a heap of wheat

Surrounded with lilies.

³“Your two breasts are like two fawns,

The twins of a gazelle.

⁴“Your neck is like a tower of ivory,

Your eyes the [sparkling] pools of Heshbon

By the gate of Bath-rabbim.

Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon

Which looks toward Damascus.

⁵“Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel,

And the flowing hair of your head like purple threads;

I, the king, am held captive by your tresses.

⁶“How beautiful and how delightful you are,

My love, with all your delights!

⁷“Your stature is like that of a palm tree

And your breasts like its clusters [of dates].

⁸“I said, ‘I will climb the palm tree;

I will grasp its branches.

Let your breasts be like clusters of the grapevine,

And the fragrance of your breath like apples,

⁹And your kisses like the best wine!’ ”

“I t goes down smoothly and sweetly for my beloved,

Gliding gently over his lips while he sleeps.

The Union of Love

¹⁰¶“I am my beloved’s,

And his desire is for me. [John 10:28]

¹¹“Come, my beloved, let us go out into the country,

Let us spend the night in the villages. [Luke 14:33]

¹²“Let us go out early to the vineyards;

Let us see whether the vine has budded

And its blossoms have opened,

And whether the pomegranates have flowered.

There I will give you my love.

¹³“The mandrakes give forth fragrance,

And over our doors are all [kinds of] choice fruits,

Both new and old,

Which I have saved up for you, my beloved.