Chapter 8

Young Woman

1 Oh, I wish you were my brother,

who nursed at my mother’s breasts.

Then I could kiss you no matter who was watching,

and no one would criticize me.

2 I would bring you to my childhood home,

and there you would teach me.*

I would give you spiced wine to drink,

my sweet pomegranate wine.

3 Your left arm would be under my head,

and your right arm would embrace me.

4 Promise me, O women of Jerusalem,

not to awaken love until the time is right.*

Young Women of Jerusalem

5 Who is this sweeping in from the desert,

leaning on her lover?

Young Woman

I aroused you under the apple tree,

where your mother gave you birth,

where in great pain she delivered you.

6 Place me like a seal over your heart,

like a seal on your arm.

For love is as strong as death,

its jealousy* as enduring as the grave.*

Love flashes like fire,

the brightest kind of flame.

7 Many waters cannot quench love,

nor can rivers drown it.

If a man tried to buy love

with all his wealth,

his offer would be utterly scorned.

The Young Woman’s Brothers

8 We have a little sister

too young to have breasts.

What will we do for our sister

if someone asks to marry her?

9 If she is a virgin, like a wall,

we will protect her with a silver tower.

But if she is promiscuous, like a swinging door,

we will block her door with a cedar bar.

Young Woman

10 I was a virgin, like a wall;

now my breasts are like towers.

When my lover looks at me,

he is delighted with what he sees.

11 Solomon has a vineyard at Baal-hamon,

which he leases out to tenant farmers.

Each of them pays a thousand pieces of silver

for harvesting its fruit.

12 But my vineyard is mine to give,

and Solomon need not pay a thousand pieces of silver.

But I will give two hundred pieces

to those who care for its vines.

Young Man

13 O my darling, lingering in the gardens,

your companions are fortunate to hear your voice.

Let me hear it, too!

Young Woman

14 Come away, my love! Be like a gazelle

or a young stag on the mountains of spices.