Springtime Rhapsody

8 The voice of my beloved!

Look, he comes,

leaping upon the mountains,

bounding over the hills.

9 My beloved is like a gazelle

or a young stag.

Look, there he stands

behind our wall,

gazing in at the windows,

looking through the lattice.

10 My beloved speaks and says to me:

“Arise, my love, my fair one,

and come away;

11 for now the winter is past,

the rain is over and gone.

12 The flowers appear on the earth;

the time of singing has come,

and the voice of the turtledove

is heard in our land.

13 The fig tree puts forth its figs,

and the vines are in blossom;

they give forth fragrance.

Arise, my love, my fair one,

and come away.

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

in the covert of the cliff,

let me see your face,

let me hear your voice;

for your voice is sweet,

and your face is lovely.

15 Catch us the foxes,

the little foxes,

that ruin the vineyards—

for our vineyards are in blossom.”

16 My beloved is mine and I am his;

he pastures his flock among the lilies.

17 Until the day breathes

and the shadows flee,

turn, my beloved, be like a gazelle

or a young stag on the cleft mountains.b