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A Dream of Love

3Upon my bed at night
   I sought him whom my soul loves;
I sought him, but found him not;
   I called him, but he gave no answer.^*
2 ‘I will rise now and go about the city,
   in the streets and in the squares;
I will seek him whom my soul loves.’
   I sought him, but found him not.
³ The sentinels found me,
   as they went about in the city.
‘Have you seen him whom my soul loves?’
⁴ Scarcely had I passed them,
   when I found him whom my soul loves.
I held him, and would not let him go
   until I brought him into my mother’s house,
   and into the chamber of her that conceived me.
⁵ I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
   by the gazelles or the wild does:
do not stir up or awaken love
   until it is ready!

The Groom and His Party Approach

⁶ What is that coming up from the wilderness,
   like a column of smoke,
perfumed with myrrh and frankincense,
   with all the fragrant powders of the merchant?
⁷ Look, it is the litter of Solomon!
Around it are sixty mighty men
   of the mighty men of Israel,
⁸ all equipped with swords
   and expert in war,
each with his sword at his thigh
   because of alarms by night.
⁹ King Solomon made himself a palanquin
   from the wood of Lebanon.
¹⁰ He made its posts of silver,
   its back of gold, its seat of purple;
its interior was inlaid with love.^*
   Daughters of Jerusalem,
¹¹   come out.
Look, O daughters of Zion,
   at King Solomon,
at the crown with which his mother crowned him
   on the day of his wedding,
   on the day of the gladness of his heart.

The Bride’s Beauty Extolled

4How beautiful you are, my love,
   how very beautiful!
Your eyes are doves
   behind your veil.
Your hair is like a flock of goats,
   moving down the slopes of Gilead.
² Your teeth are like a flock of shorn ewes
   that have come up from the washing,
all of which bear twins,
   and not one among them is bereaved.
³ Your lips are like a crimson thread,
   and your mouth is lovely.
Your cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate
   behind your veil.
⁴ Your neck is like the tower of David,
   built in courses;
on it hang a thousand bucklers,
   all of them shields of warriors.
⁵ Your two breasts are like two fawns,
   twins of a gazelle,
   that feed among the lilies.
⁶ Until the day breathes
   and the shadows flee,
I will hasten to the mountain of myrrh
   and the hill of frankincense.
⁷ You are altogether beautiful, my love;
   there is no flaw in you.
⁸ Come with me from Lebanon, my bride;
   come with me from Lebanon.
Depart^* from the peak of Amana,
   from the peak of Senir and Hermon,
from the dens of lions,
   from the mountains of leopards.

⁹ You have ravished my heart, my sister, my bride,
   you have ravished my heart with a glance of your eyes,
   with one jewel of your necklace.
¹⁰ How sweet is your love, my sister, my bride!
   how much better is your love than wine,
   and the fragrance of your oils than any spice!
¹¹ Your lips distil nectar, my bride;
   honey and milk are under your tongue;
   the scent of your garments is like the scent of Lebanon.
¹² A garden locked is my sister, my bride,
   a garden locked, a fountain sealed.
¹³ Your channel^* is an orchard of pomegranates
   with all choicest fruits,
   henna with nard,
¹⁴ nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon,
   with all trees of frankincense,
myrrh and aloes,
   with all chief spices—
¹⁵ a garden fountain, a well of living water,
   and flowing streams from Lebanon.

¹⁶ Awake, O north wind,
   and come, O south wind!
Blow upon my garden
   that its fragrance may be wafted abroad.
Let my beloved come to his garden,
   and eat its choicest fruits.