The Lover to His Beloved:

1How beautiful are your sandaled feet,
O nobleman’s daughter!
The curves of your thighs are like jewels,
the work of the hands of a master craftsman.

2Your navel is a round mixing bowl –
may it never lack mixed wine!
Your belly is a mound of wheat,
encircled by lilies.

3Your two breasts are like two fawns,
twins of a gazelle.

4Your neck is like a tower made of ivory.
Your eyes are the pools in Heshbon
by the gate of Bath-Rabbim.
Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon
overlooking Damascus.

5Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel.
The locks of your hair are like royal tapestries –
the king is held captive in its tresses!

6How beautiful you are! How lovely,
O love, with your delights!

The Palm Tree and the Palm Tree Climber

The Lover to His Beloved:

7Your stature is like a palm tree,
and your breasts are like clusters of grapes.

8I want to climb the palm tree,
and take hold of its fruit stalks.
May your breasts be like the clusters of grapes,
and may the fragrance of your breath be like apricots!

9May your mouth be like the best wine,
flowing smoothly for my beloved,
gliding gently over our lips as we sleep together.

Poetic Refrain: Mutual Possession

The Beloved about Her Lover:

10I am my beloved’s,
and he desires me!

The Journey to the Countryside

The Beloved to Her Lover:

11Come, my beloved, let us go to the countryside;
let us spend the night in the villages.

12Let us rise early to go to the vineyards,
to see if the vines have budded,
to see if their blossoms have opened,
if the pomegranates are in bloom –
there I will give you my love.

13The mandrakes send out their fragrance;
over our door is every delicacy,
both new and old, which I have stored up for you, my lover.