What a Beautiful Bride
He Speaks:
1 My darling, you are lovely,
so very lovely—
as you look through your veil,
your eyes are those of a dove.
Your hair tosses about
as gracefully as goats
coming down from Gilead.
2 Your teeth are whiter
than sheep freshly washed;
they match perfectly,
not one is missing.
3 Your lips are crimson cords,
your mouth is shapely;
behind your veil are hidden
beautiful rosy cheeks.
4 Your neck is more graceful
than the tower of David,
decorated with thousands
of warriors' shields.
5 Your breasts are perfect;
they are twin deer
feeding among lilies.
6 I will hasten to those hills
sprinkled with sweet perfume
and stay there till sunrise.
7 My darling, you are lovely
in every way.
8 My bride, together
we will leave Lebanon!
We will say goodbye
to the peaks of Mount Amana,
Senir, and Hermon,
where lions and leopards
live in the caves.
9 My bride, my very own,
you have stolen my heart!
With one glance from your eyes
and the glow of your necklace,
you have stolen my heart.
10 Your love is sweeter than wine;
the smell of your perfume
is more fragrant than spices.
11 Your lips are a honeycomb;
milk and honey
flow from your tongue.
Your dress has the aroma
of cedar trees from Lebanon.
12 My bride, my very own,
you are a garden, a fountain
closed off to all others.
13 Your arms are vines,
covered with delicious fruits
and all sorts of spices—
henna, nard, 14 saffron,
calamus, cinnamon,
frankincense, myrrh, and aloes
—all the finest spices.
15 You are a spring in the garden,
a fountain of pure water,
and a refreshing stream
from Mount Lebanon.
She Speaks:
16 Let the north wind blow,
the south wind too!
Let them spread the aroma
of my garden,
so the one I love
may enter and taste
its delicious fruits.
The Man
1 How beautiful you are, my love!
How your eyes shine with love behind your veil.
Your hair dances like a flock of goats
bounding down the hills of Gilead.
2 Your teeth are as white as sheep
that have just been shorn and washed.
Not one of them is missing;
they are all perfectly matched.
3 Your lips are like a scarlet ribbon;
how lovely they are when you speak.
Your cheeks glow behind your veil.
4 Your neck is like the tower of David,
round and smooth,
with a necklace like a thousand shields hung around it.
5 Your breasts are like gazelles,
twin deer feeding among lilies.
6 I will stay on the hill of myrrh,
the hill of incense,
until the morning breezes blow
and the darkness disappears.
7 How beautiful you are, my love;
how perfect you are!
8 Come with me from the Lebanon Mountains, my bride;
come with me from Lebanon.
Come down from the top of Mount Amana,
from Mount Senir and Mount Hermon,
where the lions and leopards live.
9 The look in your eyes, my sweetheart and bride,
and the necklace you are wearing
have stolen my heart.
10 Your love delights me,
my sweetheart and bride.
Your love is better than wine;
your perfume more fragrant than any spice.
11 The taste of honey is on your lips, my darling;
your tongue is milk and honey for me.
Your clothing has all the fragrance of Lebanon.
12 My sweetheart, my bride, is a secret garden,
a walled garden, a private spring;
13 there the plants flourish.
They grow like an orchard of pomegranate trees
and bear the finest fruits.
There is no lack of henna and nard,
14 of saffron, calamus, and cinnamon,
or incense of every kind.
Myrrh and aloes grow there
with all the most fragrant perfumes.
15 Fountains water the garden,
streams of flowing water,
brooks gushing down from the Lebanon Mountains.
The Woman
16 Wake up, North Wind.
South Wind, blow on my garden;
fill the air with fragrance.
Let my lover come to his garden
and eat the best of its fruits.