[1]I am a flower of the plain, a lily of the valleys. [2]As a lily among thorns, so is my companion among the daughters. [3]As the apple among the trees of the wood, so is my kinsman among the sons. I desired his shadow, and sat down, and his fruit was sweet in my throat. [4]Bring me into the wine house; set love before me. [5]Strengthen me with perfumes, stay me with apples: for I am wounded with love. [6]His left hand shall be under my head, and his right hand shall embrace me. [7]I have charged you, ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the powers and by the virtues of the field, that ye do not rouse or wake my love, until he please. [8]The voice of my kinsman! behold, he comes leaping over the mountains, bounding over the hills. [9]My kinsman is like a roe or a young hart on the mountains of Baethel: behold, he is behind our wall, looking through the windows, peeping through the lattices. [10]My kinsman answers, and says to me, Rise up, come, my companion, my fair one, my dove. [11]For, behold, the winter is past, the rain is gone, it has departed. [12]The flowers are seen in the land; the time of pruning has arrived; the voice of the turtle-dove has been heard in our land. [13]The fig-tree has put forth its young figs, the vines put forth the tender grape, they yield a smell: arise, come, my companion, my fair one, my dove; yea, come. [14]Thou art my dove, in the shelter of the rock, near the wall: shew me thy face, and cause me to hear thy voice; for thy voice is sweet, and thy countenance is beautiful. [15]Take us the little foxes that spoil the vines: for our vines put forth tender grapes. [16]My kinsman is mine, and I am his: he feeds his flock among the lilies. [17]Until the day dawn, and the shadows depart, turn, my kinsman, be thou like to a roe or young hart on the mountains of the ravines.
Credit

Author: Sir Lancelot Charles Lee Brenton (1851)
Source: ecmarsh.com
Top