The Lover

1Look at you! You are beautiful, my darling.

Look at you! You are so beautiful.

Your eyes behind your veil are doves,

your hair is like a flock of goats

coming down from Mt. Gilead.

2Your teeth are like a flock of sheep about to be sheared,a

who are coming up from being washed.b

All of them are twins,

not one has lostc her young.

3Your lips are like a scarlet thread,

and your mouth is lovely.

Behind your veil,

your temple is like a slice of pomegranate.

4Your neck is like the tower of David,

built with rows of stones.

A thousand shields are hung upon it,

all the shields of the warriors.

5Your two breasts are like two fawns,

twins of a gazelle grazing among the lilies.

6Until the day breaksd and the shadows flee,

I’ll go to the mountain of myrrhe

and to the hill of frankincense.f

7My darling, you are altogether beautiful

and there is no blemish in you.

8Come with me from Lebanon, my bride,

come with me from Lebanon.

May you journey from the top of Amana,

from the tops of Senir and Hermon,

from the dens of lions,

from the mountain lairs of leopards.

9You have made my heart beat faster, my sister, myg bride.

You have made my heart beat faster

with one glance of your eyes,

with one strand of your necklace.

10How beautiful is your love, my sister, myh bride.

How much better is your love than wine,

and the fragrance of your perfume

than all kinds of spices.

11Your lips drip honey, myi bride;

milk and honey are under your tongue.

The scent of your garments

is like the fragrance of Lebanon.

12My sister, myj bride, is a locked garden

a locked rock garden, a sealed up spring.

13Your shoots are an orchardk of pomegranates,

with choice fruit, henna with nard,

14nard and saffron,

calamus and cinnamon,

with all the trees of frankincense,

along with myrrh and aloes, and all the finest spices.l

15You are a garden spring,

a well of fresh water,

streams flowing from Lebanon.

The Loved One

16Awake, north wind, and come, south wind.

Make my garden breathe out,

let its fragrancem flow.

Let my beloved come into his garden,

and let him eat its choicest fruits.