The Bride Confesses Her Love

This is Solomon’s Song of Songs.

Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!

For your love is more delightful than wine.

The fragrance of your perfume is pleasing;

your name is like perfume poured out.

No wonder the maidens adore you.

Take me away with you—let us hurry!

May the king bring me to his chambers. We will rejoice and delight in you;

we will praise your love more than wine. It is only right that they adore you.

I am dark, yet lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem,

like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon.

Do not stare because I am dark,

for the sun has gazed upon me.

My mother’s sons were angry with me;

they made me a keeper of the vineyards,

but my own vineyard I have neglected.

Tell me, O one I love,

where do you pasture your sheep?

Where do you rest them at midday?

Why should I be like a veiled woman

beside the flocks of your companions?

If you do not know, O fairest of women,

follow the tracks of the flock,

and graze your young goats

near the tents of the shepherds.

I compare you, my darling,

to a mare among Pharaoh’s chariots.

Your cheeks are beautiful with ornaments,

your neck with strings of jewels.

We will make you ornaments of gold,

studded with beads of silver.

While the king was at his table,

my perfume spread its fragrance.

My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh

resting between my breasts.

My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms

in the vineyards of En-gedi.

How beautiful you are, my darling!

Oh, how very beautiful!

Your eyes are like doves.

How handsome you are, my beloved!

Oh, how delightful!

The soft grass is our bed.

The beams of our house are cedars;

our rafters are fragrant firs.