The Lover

¹Behold, you are beautiful, my beloved!

Behold, you are beautiful!

Your eyes are like doves perched behind your veil.

Your hair is like a flock of goats,

leaping down the hills of Gilead.

²Your teeth are like a flock of newly shorn sheep

that have come up from their washing,

all of which bear twins,

and not one among them has lost her young.

³Your lips are like a thread of scarlet,[#Jos 2:18]

and your mouth is lovely.

Your cheeks are set like slices of a pomegranate

behind your veil.

⁴Your neck is like the tower of David,[#SS 7:4]

built with strength.

On it hang a thousand shields,

all of them shields of warriors.

⁵Your two breasts are like two fawns,

twins of a gazelle,

that feed among the lilies.

⁶Until the day breathes

and the shadows flee,

I will go my way to the mountain of myrrh

and to the hill of frankincense.

⁷You are altogether beautiful, my beloved,[#SS 1:15]

and there is no blemish on you.

⁸Come with me from Lebanon, my bride;

come with me from Lebanon.

Depart from the peak of Amana,

from the peak of Senir and Hermon,

from the lions’ dens,

from the mountains of the leopards.

⁹You have ravished my heart, my sister, my bride;

you have ravished my heart

with one glance of your eyes,

with one glimmer of your necklace.

¹⁰How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride!

How much better than wine is your love,

and the fragrance of your perfume than all kinds of spices!

¹¹Your lips drip sweet honey, my bride.

Honey and milk are under your tongue;

the fragrance of your clothing is like the fragrance of Lebanon.

¹²A garden enclosed is my sister, my bride,

a spring locked, a fountain sealed.

¹³Your shoots are like a paradise of pomegranates,

with most excellent fruits,

henna with nard,

¹⁴nard and saffron,

calamus and cinnamon,

with all trees of frankincense,

myrrh and aloes,

with all choice spices,

¹⁵like a spring from the gardens,

a well of living water,

and streams flowing from Lebanon.

The Beloved

¹⁶Awake, O north wind,

and come, O south wind!

Blow upon my garden,

let its fragrance flow abroad.

Let my lover come to his garden,

and eat its most excellent fruits.