The Women

6 Most beautiful of women,

where has your lover gone?

Tell us which way your lover went,

so that we can help you find him.

2 My lover has gone to his garden,

where the balsam trees grow.

He is feeding his flock in the garden

and gathering lilies.

3 My lover is mine, and I am his;

he feeds his flock among the lilies.

The Fifth Song

The Man

4 My love, you are as beautiful as Jerusalem,

as lovely as the city of Tirzah,

as breathtaking as these great cities.h

5 Turn your eyes away from me;

they are holding me captive.

Your hair dances, like a flock of goats

bounding down the hills of Gilead.

6 Your teeth are as white as a flock of sheep

that have just been washed.

Not one of them is missing;

they are all perfectly matched.

7 Your cheeks glow behind your veil.

8 Let the king have sixty queens, eighty concubines,

young women without number!

9 But I love only one,

and she is as lovely as a dove.

She is her mother’s only daughter,

her mother’s favourite child.

All women look at her and praise her;

queens and concubines sing her praises.

10 Who is this whose glance is like the dawn?

She is beautiful and bright,

as dazzling as the sun or the moon.i

11 I have come down among the almond trees

to see the young plants in the valley,

to see the new leaves on the vines

and the blossoms on the pomegranate trees.

12 I am trembling; you have made me as eager for love

as a chariot driver is for battle.j

The Women

13 Dance, dance,k girl of Shulam. Let us watch you as you dance.

The Woman

Why do you want to watch me

as I dance between the rows of onlookers?