SPOUSE. 16. Arise, O north wind; and come thou south; Blow upon my garden that its perfumes may flow forth. CHAPTER V. BELOVED. 1. I have come into my garden, my sister-spouse; Eat, O friends, drink, Yea, beloved companions, drink abundantly. SPOUSE. 2. I was sleeping, but my heart was awake: My dove, my perfect one;* For my head is filled with dew, My locks with drops of the night." 3. I have put off my dress, How shall I put it on? I have washed my feet, How shall I soil them? 4. My beloved withdrew his hand from the aperture in the And door; my heart was moved towards him. * Equivalent to our expression, "My angel." 5. I arose for opening to my beloved, But my beloved had turned and gone away. My heart sunk in consequence of what he had said: I called him, and he answered me not. 7. The watchmen who go around in the city found me, They smote me, they wounded me; The guards of the walls stripped my veil from me. 8. I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, If ye shall find my beloved What shall ye tell him? That I am sick of love. DAUGHTERS OF JERUSALEM. 9. What is thy beloved more than another beloved, What is thy beloved more than another beloved, SPOUSE. 10. My beloved is white and ruddy, Conspicuous among a host. 11. His head is finest choice gold; His locks young waving palm branches, black as the raven: 12. His eyes as doves by valley rills of water, Washed in milk, reposing by the full water springs: 13. His cheeks as banks of fragrant flowers, As towering trellises covered with aromatic blooms; 14. His hands rollers of gold, set with the beryl; 15. His legs pillars of white marble Fixed on pedestals of fine gold; His appearance is as Lebanon, Pre-eminently noble as the cedars: 16. His voice is exquisitely sweet; His whole being is constituted of delightful attractions: CHAPTER VI. DAUGHTERS OF JERUSALEM. 1. Whither has thy beloved gone, thou most beautiful of women? Whither has thy beloved turned away? SPOUSE. 2. My beloved has gone down to his garden, To the banks of fragrant flowers, To feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies. 3. I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine, Who feeds among the lilies. BELOVED. 4. Beautiful as Tirzah art thou, my companion; Elegant as Jerusalem; Imposing as a military host with banners. 5. Turn away thine eyes from me, For they are taking me by storm. Thy hair is as a flock of goats Which lie along downwards from mount Gilead. 6. Thy teeth as a flock of sheep, Which come up from the washing-pool, All of them bearing twins, And none of them without its young. 7. As a piece of pomegranate, Are thy cheeks within thy tresses. 8. There are threescore queens, And fourscore concubines, And virgins without number: 9. My dove, my perfect one, she is the favourite; The darling is she of her mother, The delight of her who bore her. The virgins beheld her, and called her blessed; Beautiful as the moon, of purest brightness as the sun, 11. I went down to the fruit garden, To behold the green growths of the valley, As the chariots of Amminadib. 13. Return, return, O Shulamith; Return, return, that we may behold in thee,- CHAPTER VII. 1. How beautiful are thy feet in sandals, O noble woman. The contour of thy person Is like the rounding of a necklace Wrought by the hands of a finished artist: 2. Thy waist is a round goblet Full of the rich spiced wine: Thy body is a heap of wheat Thy two breasts as two fawns, 4. Thy neck as a tower of ivory; 5. Thy head crowning thee is as Carmel, And the full flowing hair of thy head rich as purple: 6. How beautiful and how charming, O my love, art thou in fascinating graces. 7. Thy stature is like a palm-tree; And thy breasts to its clusters. 8. I said I will go to the palm-tree; I will clasp its waving branches; And thy bosom shall now be as clusters of the vine; 9. And thy voice as the delicious wine Which flows pure to my best loved friend, Which makes the lips of the slumbering move gently. 10. I am my beloved's, SPOUSE. And his ardent affection is towards me. 11. Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the country; Let us abide in the villages; 12. Let us be early in the morning in the vineyards; Let us see whether the vine is budding, its blossom un- Whether the pomegranates are in bloom: 13. The choicest flowers are giving forth their fragrance, And at the entrance of our summer-houses are all kinds of delicious fruits, Both new and old, which I have treasured up, my loved, for thee. be |