The Lover to His Beloved: 1:15 Oh,54 how beautiful you are, my beloved!55 Oh, how beautiful you are! Your eyes56 are like doves!57

The Lover to His Beloved: 2:2 Like5 a lily among the thorns,6 so is my darling among the maidens

The Season of Love and the Song of the Turtle-Dove The Lover: 2:10 My lover spoke to me, saying: "Arise, my darling; My beautiful one, come away with me! 2:11 Look! The winter has passed, the winter rains are over and gone. 2:12 The pomegranates have appeared35 in the land, the time for pruning and singing36 has come; the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land. 2:13 The fig tree has budded, the vines have blossomed and give off their fragrance. Arise, my darling; my beautiful one, come away with me!" The Dove in the Clefts of En-Gedi The Lover: 2:14 O my dove,37 in the clefts of the rock, in the hiding places of the mountain crags, let me see your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.

The Wedding Night: Praise of the Bride1 The Lover: 4:1 Oh,2 you are beautiful, my darling!3 Oh, you are beautiful! Your eyes behind your veil are like doves.4 Your hair is like a flock of female goats flowing down5 from Mount Gilead. 4:2 Your teeth are like a flock of newly-shorn sheep coming up from the washing place;6 each of them has a twin, and not one of them is missing. 4:3 Your lips are like a scarlet thread;7 your mouth is lovely. Your forehead behind your veil is like a slice of pomegranate. 4:4 Your neck is like the tower8 of David built with courses of stones;9 one thousand shields are hung on it- all shields of valiant warriors.10 4:5 Your two breasts are like two fawns, twins of the gazelle browsing among the lilies. 4:6 Until the dawn arrives11 and the shadows flee, I will go up to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense. 4:7 You are altogether beautiful, my darling! There is no blemish in you! The Wedding Night: Beautiful as Lebanon 4:8 Come with me from Lebanon, my bride, come with me from Lebanon. Descend from the crest of Amana, from the top of Senir, the summit of Hermon, from the lions' dens and the mountain haunts of the leopards. 4:9 You have stolen my heart,12 my sister,13 my bride! You have stolen my heart with one glance of your eyes,14 with one jewel of your necklace. 4:10 How delightful is your love, my sister, my bride! How much better is your love than wine; the fragrance of your perfume is better than any spice! 4:11 Your lips drip sweetness like the honeycomb, my bride, honey and milk are under your tongue. The fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon. The Wedding Night: The Delightful Garden The Lover: 4:12 You are a garden locked,15 my sister, my bride; you are a spring enclosed, a fountain sealed up. 4:13 Your shoots are a royal garden16 full of pomegranates with choice fruits: henna with nard, 4:14 nard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon with every kind of spice, myrrh and aloes with all the finest spices.17 4:15 You are a garden spring,18 a well 19 of fresh water20 flowing down from Lebanon.

The Lover: 5:1 I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride; I have gathered my myrrh with my balsam spice. I have eaten my honeycomb and my honey; I have drunk my wine and my milk!

The Renewal of Love The Lover: 6:4 My darling, you are as beautiful as Tirzah,9 as lovely as Jerusalem, as awe-inspiring10 as bannered armies! 6:5 Turn your eyes away from me- they overwhelm11 me! Your hair is like a flock of goats descending from Mount Gilead. 6:6 Your teeth are like a flock of sheep coming up from the washing; each has its twin; not one of them is missing. 6:7 Like a slice of pomegranate is your temple12 behind your veil. 6:8 Sixty13 queens there may be, and eighty concubines, and maidens14 beyond number. 6:9 But she is the only one!15 My dove, my perfect one! She is the special daughter16 of her mother, she is the favorite17 of the one who bore her. The maidens18 saw her and called her blessed;19 the queens and concubines praised her: 6:10 "Who20 is this who appears21 like the dawn? 22 Beautiful as the moon,23 bright24 as the sun, awe-inspiring25 as the stars in procession?"26 The Return to the Vineyards The Lover or the Beloved:27 6:11 I went down to the orchard of walnut trees,28 to look for the blossoms of the valley,29 to see if the vines had budded or if the pomegranates were in bloom. 6:1230 I was beside myself with joy!31 There please give me your "myrrh,"32 O daughter of my princely people.33 The Wasfs Song and Dance Solomon to The Beloved: 6:13 34 Turn35, turn, O36 "Perfect One"!37 Turn, turn, that I38 may stare at you!

Solomon to The Beloved: 7:1 How beautiful are your sandaled1 feet, O nobleman's daughter!2 The curves3 of your thighs4 are like jewels, the work of the hands of a master craftsman. 7:2 Your "navel"5 is a round mixing bowl6- may it never lack7 mixed wine!8 Your belly9 is a mound of wheat, encircled10 by lilies. 7:3 Your two breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle. 7:4 Your neck is like a tower made of ivory.11 Your eyes are the pools in Heshbon by the gate of Bath-Rabbin.12 Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon overlooking Damascus. 7:5 Your head crowns13 you like Mount Carmel.14 The locks of your hair15 are like royal tapestries16- the king is held captive17 in its tresses! 7:6 How beautiful you are! How lovely, O love,18 with your delights!19 The Palm Tree and The Palm Tree Climber Solomon to The Beloved: 7:7 Your stature20 is like a palm tree,21 and your breasts are like clusters of grapes.22 7:8 I want23 to climb the palm tree,24 and take hold of its fruit stalks. May your breasts be like the clusters of grapes,25 and may the fragrance of your breath be like apricots!26 7:9 May your mouth27 be like the best wine, flowing smoothly for my beloved, gliding gently over our lips as we sleep together.28

The Nature of True Love 8:6 Set me like a cylinder seal14 over your heart,15 Like a signet16 on your arm.17 For love is as strong as death,18 passion19 is as unrelenting20 as Sheol. Its flames are ferocious,21 it is a mighty flame.22 8:7 Many waters cannot quench love; floodwaters23 cannot overflow it. If someone were to offer all his possessions24 to buy love,25 they would be utterly despised.26