Admiration by the Bridegroom

¹ How beautiful are your sandaled feet,

O daughter of the prince!

The curves of your thighs are like jewels,

the handiwork of a master.

² Your navel is a rounded goblet;^*

it never lacks blended wine.^*

Your waist is a mound of wheat

encircled by the lilies.

³ Your breasts are like two fawns,

twins of a gazelle.

⁴ Your neck is like a tower

made of ivory;

your eyes are like the pools of Heshbon

by the gate of Bath-rabbim;

your nose is like the tower of Lebanon,

facing toward^* Damascus.

⁵ Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel,

the hair of your head like purple threads;

the king is captured in your tresses.

⁶ How fair and pleasant you are,

O love, with your delights!

⁷ Your stature is like a palm tree;

your breasts are clusters of fruit.

⁸ I said, “I will climb the palm tree;

I will take hold of its fruit.”

May your breasts be like clusters of the vine,

the fragrance of your breath like apples,

⁹ and your mouth like the finest wine.

The Bride

May it flow smoothly to my beloved,

gliding gently over lips and teeth.

¹⁰ I belong to my beloved,

and his desire is for me.

¹¹ Come, my beloved,

let us go to the countryside;

let us spend the night among the wildflowers.

¹² Let us go early to the vineyards

to see if the vine has budded,

if the blossom has opened,

if the pomegranates are in bloom —

there I will give you my love.

¹³ The mandrakes send forth a fragrance,

and at our door is every delicacy,

new as well as old,

that I have treasured up for you, my beloved.