"The Song of Songs of Solomon" ( Chapter II in English)

1 I am a flower of Sharon,

a lily of the valley.

2 Bridegroom: As a lily among thorns,

so is my beloved among women.

3 Bride: As an apple tree among the trees of the woods,

so is my lover among men.

I delight to rest in his shadow,

and his fruit is sweet to my mouth.

4 He brings me into the banquet hall

and his emblem over me is love.

5 Strengthen me with raisin cakes,

refresh me with apples,

for I am faint with love.

6 His left hand is under my head

and his right arm embraces me.

7 I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem,

by the gazelles and hinds of the field,

Do not arouse, do not stir up love

before its own time.

(Second Poem)

8 Bride: Hark! my lover-here he comes

springing across the mountains,

leaping across the hills.

9 My lover is like a gazelle

or a young stag.

Here he stands behind our wall,

gazing through the windows,

peering through the lattices.

10 My lover speaks; he says to me,

"Arise, my beloved, my beautiful one,

and come!

11 "For see, the winter is past,

the rains are over and gone.

12 The flowers appear on the earth,

the time of pruning the vines has come,

and the song of the dove is heard in our land.

13 The fig tree puts forth its figs,

and the vines, in bloom, give forth fragrance.

Arise, my beloved, my beautiful one,

and come!

14 "O my dove in the clefts of the rock,

in the secret recesses of the cliff,

Let me see you,

let me hear your voice,

For your voice is sweet,

and you are lovely."

15 Bride: Catch us the foxes, the little foxes

that damage the vineyards; for our vineyards are in bloom!

16 My lover belongs to me and I to him;

he browses among the lilies.

17 Until the day breathes cool and the shadows lengthen,

roam, my lover,

Like a gazelle or a young stag

upon the mountains of Bether.