Song of Songs

The Sublime Song, from Solomon

I. The Wife 2Shower me with kisses of your mouth: your love is more delicious than wine.

Your oil smells sweeter than any perfume, your name spreads out like balm; no wonder the maidens long for you.

Lure me to you, let us fly!Bring me, O king, into your room,and be our joy, our excitement.We will praise your caresses more than wine,how rightly are you loved.

II. An Innocent Girl 5I am sunburned yet lovely,O daughters of Jerusalem, dark as the tents of Qedar,as the tent curtains of Solomon.

Stare not at my dark complexion;it is the sun that has darkened me.My mother’s sons were angry with me and made me work in the vineyards; for I had failed to tend my own.

III. The Inaccessible Shepherd 7Tell me, my soul’s beloved, where do you graze your flock, where do you rest your sheep at noon? Why must I be wandering beside the flocks of your companions?

Chorus 8If you do not know yourself, most beautiful woman, follow the tracks of the flock and pasture your young goats beside the shepherds’ tents.

IV. Feminine Charms 9To a mare in Pharaoh’s chariot would I liken you, my love.

Your cheeks look lovely between pendants, your neck beautiful with strings of beads.

We will make you earrings of gold and necklaces of silver.

V. A Night of Love 12While the king rests on his couch, my perfume gives forth its fragrance.

My lover is for me a sachet of myrrh lying between my breasts.

My lover is for me a cluster of henna from the vineyards of Engedi.

VI. Dialogue in the Forest 15How beautiful you are, my love, how beautiful! Your eyes are doves!

How handsome you are, my love, how handsome! Our bed is evergreen!

The beams of our house are cedar, our rafters are fir.