The Man
5 I come to my garden, my sister, my bride;
I gather my myrrh with my spice;
I eat my honeycomb with my honey;
I drink my wine with my milk.
Friends of the Man
Eat, friends!
Drink, and be drunk with love!
The Woman
2 I slept, but my heart was awake.
A sound! My beloved is knocking. “Open to me, my sister, and my love,
my dove, my perfect one;
for my head is wet with dew,
my locks with the drops of the night.”
3 I had taken off my garment;
how could I put it on again?
I had bathed my feet;
how could I soil them?
4 My beloved put his hand by the latch,
and my heart yearned for him.
5 I rose up to open to my beloved,
and my hands dripped with myrrh,
my fingers with liquid myrrh
on the handles of the bolt.
6 I opened to my beloved,
but my beloved had turned and was gone.
My soul failed me when he spoke.
I sought him, but found him not;
I called him, but he gave no answer.
7 The watchmen found me
as they went about the city;
they struck me, they wounded me;
they took away my mantle,
those watchmen of the walls.
8 I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
if you find my beloved,
that you tell him I am faint with love.
Friends of the Woman
9 What is your beloved more than another beloved,
O fairest among women?
What is your beloved more than another beloved,
that you so charge us?
The Woman
10 My beloved is white and ruddy,
distinguished among ten thousand.
11 His head is the finest gold;
his locks are wavy,
black as a raven.
12 His eyes are like doves
beside rivers of water,
bathed in milk,
fitly set.
13 His cheeks are like beds of spices,
mounds of scented herbs.
His lips are lilies,
dripping liquid myrrh.
14 His arms are rods of gold,
set with jewels.
His body is bright ivory,
inlaid with sapphires.
15 His legs are alabaster columns,
set on bases of gold.
His appearance is like Lebanon,
choice as the cedars.
16 His mouth is most sweet,
and he is altogether desirable.
This is my beloved and this is my friend,
O daughters of Jerusalem.
