Song of Solomon 2

¹The Lily among the Thorns and the Apple Tree in the ForestThe Beloved to Her Lover: I am a meadow flower from Sharon, a lily from the valleys.²The Lover to His Beloved: Like a lily among the thorns, so is my darling among the maidens.³The Beloved about Her Lover: Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest, so is my beloved among the young men. I delight to sit in his shade, and his fruit is sweet to my taste.⁴The Banquet Hall for the Love-SickThe Beloved about Her Lover: He brought me into the banquet hall, and he looked at me lovingly.⁵Sustain me with raisin cakes, refresh me with apples, for I am faint with love. The Double Refrain: Embracing and Adjuration⁶His left hand is under my head, and his right hand embraces me.⁷The Beloved to the Maidens: I admonish you, O maidens of Jerusalem, by the gazelles and by the young does of the open fields: Do not awaken or arouse love until it pleases!⁸The Arrival of the LoverThe Beloved about Her Lover: Listen! My lover is approaching! Look! Here he comes, leaping over the mountains, bounding over the hills!⁹My lover is like a gazelle or a young stag. Look! There he stands behind our wall, gazing through the window, peering through the lattice.¹⁰The Season of Love and the Song of the TurtledoveThe Lover to His Beloved: My lover spoke to me, saying:“Arise, my darling; My beautiful one, come away with me!¹¹Look! The winter has passed, the winter rains are over and gone.¹²Blossoms have appeared in the land, the time for pruning and singing has come; the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.¹³The fig tree has ripened its figs, the vines have blossomed and give off their fragrance. Arise, come away my darling; my beautiful one, come away with me!”¹⁴The Dove in the Clefts of En GediThe Lover to His Beloved: O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, in the hiding places of the mountain crags, let me see your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.¹⁵The Foxes in the VineyardThe Beloved to Her Lover: Catch the foxes for us, the little foxes, that ruin the vineyards– for our vineyard is in bloom.¹⁶Poetic Refrain: Mutual PossessionThe Beloved about Her Lover: My lover is mine and I am his; he grazes among the lilies.¹⁷The Gazelle and the Rugged MountainsThe Beloved to Her Lover: Until the dawn arrives and the shadows flee, turn, my beloved– be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountain gorges.