Solomon’s Love Expressed
(The Bridegroom)
1“How fair and beautiful you are, my darling,
How very beautiful!
Your eyes behind your veil are like those of a dove;
Your hair is like [the shimmering black fleece of] a flock of [Arabian] goats
That have descended from Mount Gilead [beyond the Jordan].
2
“Your teeth are like a flock of newly shorn ewes
Which have come up from washing,
All of which bear twins,
And not one among them has lost her young.
3
“Your lips are like a ribbon of scarlet,
And your mouth is lovely.
Your temples are like a slice of the pomegranate
Behind your veil.
4
“Your neck is like the tower of David,
Built with rows of [glistening] stones,
Whereon hang a thousand shields,
All of them shields of warriors.
5
“Your two breasts are like two fawns,
Twins of a gazelle
Which feed among the lilies.
6
“Until the day breaks
And the shadows flee away,
[In my thoughts] I will go my way to the mountain of myrrh
And to the hill of frankincense.
7
“O my love, you are altogether beautiful and fair.
There is no flaw nor blemish in you!
8
“Come away with me from Lebanon, my [promised] bride,
May you come with me from Lebanon.
Journey down from the top of Amana,
From the summit of Senir and Hermon,
From the dens of lions,
From the mountains of leopards.
9
“You have ravished my heart and given me courage, my sister, my [promised] bride;
You have ravished my heart and given me courage with a single glance of your eyes,
With one jewel of your necklace.
10
“How beautiful is your love, my sister, my [promised] bride!
How much better is your love than wine,
And the fragrance of your oils
Than all kinds of balsam and spices.
11
“Your lips, my [promised] bride, drip honey [as the honeycomb];
Honey and milk are under your tongue,
And the fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon.
12
“A garden enclosed is my sister, my [promised] bride—
A rock garden locked, a spring sealed up.
13
“Your shoots are an orchard of pomegranates,
[A paradise] with precious fruits, henna with fragrant plants,
14
Fragrant plants and saffron, calamus and cinnamon,
With all trees of frankincense,
Myrrh and aloes, along with all the finest spices.
15
“You are a fountain in a garden,
A well of fresh and living water,
And streams flowing from Lebanon.”
(The Shulammite Bride)
16
“Awake, O north wind,
And come, south wind [blow softly upon my garden];
Make my garden breathe out fragrance, [for the one in whom my soul delights],
Let its spices flow forth.
Let my beloved come into his garden
And eat its choicest fruits.”