Song of Solomon

2 I am a narcissus on the plain,

a lily in one of the vales.

2 —Like a lily among the briers,

such is my sweetheart among the daughters.

3 —Like an apple-tree among the trees on the rocks,

such is my truelove among the sons.

I am eager to sit in his shade

and his fruit is sweet to my palate.

4* He has brought me to the winehouse,

and his banner over me is love.

5 Refresh me with raisins,

recover me with apples,

because I am breaking down with love.

6* His left arm clasps my head

and his right embraces me.

7 I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem,

by the gazelles or the wild does,

Not to wake love or rouse it up

till it so please.

8* My truelove’s step!

here he comes

Leaping along the mountains,

bounding along the hills;

9 My truelove seems like a gazelle

or a young deer.

Here he is standing

outside the wall of our house,

Gazing through the windows,

glancing through the lattices.

10 My truelove speaks up and says to me

“Up, sweetheart;

come on, my beauty,

11 For the winter is over,

the rains are past and gone,

12 The flowers on the ground are out,

song-time has come in

and the turtledove’s note is heard in our country;

13 The fig-tree has its fruit-buds out

and the blooming grapevines are fragrant.

Up, sweetheart;

come on, my beauty.

14 My dove in the crannies of the cliff,

in the covert of the rock-ledge,

Let me see your form,

let me hear your voice,

Because your voice is sweet

and your form is lovely.”

15** “Catch foxes!

Little foxes are damaging vineyards,

and our vineyards are blooming!”

16 My truelove is mine and I am his,

who pastures his flock among the lilies

17* Till the day grows breezy

and the shadows take flight.

Truelove, come round

and do like a gazelle

Or a young deer

on the mountains of Bether.