8
If you can't find me, loveliest of all women,
it's all right. Stay with your flocks.
Lead your lambs to good pasture.
Stay with your shepherd neighbors.
9
You remind me of Pharaoh's
well-groomed and satiny mares.
Pendant earrings line the elegance of your cheeks;
strands of jewels illumine the curve of your throat.
I'm making jewelry for you, gold and silver jewelry
that will mark and accent your beauty.
12
When my King-Lover lay down beside me,
my fragrance filled the room.
His head resting between my breasts -
the head of my lover was a sachet of sweet myrrh.
My beloved is a bouquet of wildflowers
picked just for me from the fields of Engedi.
15
Oh, my dear friend! You're so beautiful!
And your eyes so beautiful - like doves!
16
And you, my dear lover - you're so handsome!
And the bed we share is like a forest glen.
We enjoy a canopy of cedars
enclosed by cypresses, fragrant and green.
1 I'm just a wildflower picked from the plains of Sharon, a lotus blossom from the valley pools.
2
A lotus blossoming in a swamp of weeds -
that's my dear friend among the girls in the village.
3
As an apricot tree stands out in the forest,
my lover stands above the young men in town.
All I want is to sit in his shade,
to taste and savor his delicious love.
He took me home with him for a festive meal,
but his eyes feasted on me!
5
Oh! Give me something refreshing to eat - and quickly!
Apricots, raisins - anything. I'm about to faint with love!
His left hand cradles my head,
and his right arm encircles my waist!
7
Oh, let me warn you, sisters in Jerusalem,
by the gazelles, yes, by all the wild deer:
Don't excite love, don't stir it up,
until the time is ripe - and you're ready.