SONG OF SONGS, WHICH IS BY CHAP. I. 2. L SOLOMON. SECTION I. [1st Morning.] SPOUSE. ET him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth! For better is thy love than wine; 3 Because of the odour of thy good ointments, (Thy name is as ointment poured out) Therefore do the virgins love thee. 4 O draw me! VIRGINS. After thee will we run. SPOUSE. The king hath brought me into his chambers. VIRGINS. We will be glad and rejoice in thee: We will celebrate thy love more than wine: SPOUSE. 5 Dark am I, but comely, ye daughters of Jerusalem, As the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solo mon. 6 Gaze not upon me because I am blackBecause the sun hath beamed on me. R CH. I. My mother's 'sons were angry with me; [Apostrophe to the Bridegroom.] 7 Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest? Where thou causest [thy flock] to rest at noon? For why should I be as a stranger VIRGINS. 8 If thou thyself knowest not, O most beautiful of women, Go thy way forth by the footsteps of this flock, And feed thy kids among the tents of these shepherds. SECTION II. [1st Evening.] BRIDEGROOM. 9 To the horse in Pharaoh's chariots Have I compared thee, my consort : 10 Thy cheeks are comely with rows, Thy neck with [ornamental] chains. VIRGINS. 11 Rows of gold will we make for thee, With studs of silver. SPOUSE. 12 While the king is in his circle [of friends] My spikenard shall yield its odour. 13 A bundle of myrrh is my beloved unto me, [Which] shall remain continually in my bo som. CH. I. 14 A cluster of cypress is my beloved unto me, [Such as is] in the vineyards of En-gedi. SECTION III. [2d Morning.] BRIDEGROOM. 15 Behold thou art beautiful, my consort: Behold thou art beautiful! thine eyes are doves. SPOUSE. 16 Behold thou art beautiful, my beloved; yea pleasant, Yea verdant is our carpet. BRIDEGROOM. 17 Cedars are the roof of our house, And the Brutine trees our rafters. BRIDEGROOM. 2 As a lily among thorns, So is my consort among the daughters. SPOUSE. 3 As a citron tree among the trees of the wood, So is my beloved among the sons. In his shade I delighted and sat down, And his fruit was sweet unto my taste. 4 He brought me into the house of wine, And his banner over me was love. 5 Support me with refreshments; • Strew citrons round me, For I am sick of love.' 6 His left hand was under my head, And his right hand embraced me. CH. II. 7 I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, Before the antelopes, and before the hinds of the field, That ye disturb not, nor awake This lovely one until she please. SECTION IV. [2d Evening.] SPOUSE. 8 The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh Leaping on the mountains, bounding on the hills. 9 My beloved resembles an antelope, or a young hart. Behold him standing behind our wall: Displaying himself through the lattice work. 10 My beloved answers, and speaks to me: BRIDEGROOM. Arise, my consort, my beauty, and come away, 11 For behold! the winter is past; The rain is over-is gone. 12 The flowers appear upon the earth; 1 The time of the singing [of birds] is come; The voice of the turtle-dove is heard in our land; 13 The fig-tree ripeneth her green figs; The vines [with] their tender buds yield fra grancy. Arise, my consort, my beauty, and come away! 14 My Dove [who art] in the clefts of the rock, In the secret fissures of the cliffs, CH. II. Let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice, For sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely. VIRGINS. [To the friends of the Bridegroom.] 15 Take for us the foxes, The little foxes that spoil our vines, SPOUSE. 16 My beloved is mine, and I am his; He feedeth among the lilies. 17 Until the day breathe, and the shades flee away, Return my beloved, and be unto me CH. III. SECTION V. [3d Morning.] SPOUSE. Upon my bed by night I sought him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not. 2 ' I will arise now, and go about the city; 3 The watchmen, who go round the city, found me: 'Have ye seen him whom my soul loveth?' 4 Scarcely had I passed from them, When I found him whom my soul loveth: |