The Beloved

4 Behold, ayou are fair, my love!

Behold, you are fair!

You have dove’s eyes behind your veil.

Your hair is like a bflock of goats,

Going down from Mount Gilead.

2 cYour teeth are like a flock of shorn sheep

Which have come up from the washing,

Every one of which bears twins,

And none is 1barren among them.

3 Your lips are like a strand of scarlet,

And your mouth is lovely.

dYour temples behind your veil

Are like a piece of pomegranate.

4 eYour neck is like the tower of David,

Built ffor an armory,

On which hang a thousand 2bucklers,

All shields of mighty men.

5 gYour two breasts are like two fawns,

Twins of a gazelle,

Which feed among the lilies.

6 hUntil the day breaks

And the shadows flee away,

I will go my way to the mountain of myrrh

And to the hill of frankincense.

7 iYou are all fair, my love,

And there is no spot in you.

8 Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse,

With me from Lebanon.

Look from the top of Amana,

From the top of Senir jand Hermon,

From the lions’ dens,

From the mountains of the leopards.

9 You have ravished my heart,

My sister, my spouse;

You have ravished my heart

With one look of your eyes,

With one link of your necklace.

10 How fair is your love,

My sister, my spouse!

kHow much better than wine is your love,

And the 3scent of your perfumes

Than all spices!

11 Your lips, O my spouse,

Drip as the honeycomb;

lHoney and milk are under your tongue;

And the fragrance of your garments

Is mlike the fragrance of Lebanon.

12 A garden 4enclosed

Is my sister, my spouse,

A spring shut up,

A fountain sealed.

13 Your plants are an orchard of pomegranates

With pleasant fruits,

Fragrant henna with spikenard,

14 Spikenard and saffron,

Calamus and cinnamon,

With all trees of frankincense,

Myrrh and aloes,

With all the chief spices—

15 A fountain of gardens,

A well of nliving waters,

And streams from Lebanon.