The Renewal of Love

The Lover to His Beloved:

6:4 My darling, you are as beautiful as Tirzah,9

as lovely as Jerusalem,10

as awe-inspiring11 as bannered armies!

6:5 Turn your eyes away from me—

they overwhelm12 me!

Your hair is like a flock of goats

descending from Mount Gilead.

6:6 Your teeth are like a flock of sheep

coming up from the washing;

each has its twin;

not one of them is missing.

6:7 Like a slice of pomegranate

is your forehead13 behind your veil.

6:8 There may be sixty14 queens,

and eighty concubines,

and young women15 without number.

6:9 But she is unique!16

My dove, my perfect one!

She is the special daughter17 of her mother,

she is the favorite18 of the one who bore her.

The maidens19 saw her and complimented her;20

the queens and concubines praised her:

6:10 “Who21 is this who appears22 like the dawn?23

Beautiful as the moon,24 bright25 as the sun,

awe-inspiring26 as the stars in procession?”27