The Wedding Dance
He Speaks:
1 You are a princess,
and your feet are graceful
in their sandals.
Your thighs are works of art,
each one a jewel;
2 your navel is a wine glass
filled to overflowing.
Your body is full and slender
like a bundle of wheat
bound together by lilies.
3 Your breasts are like twins
of a deer.
4 Your neck is like ivory,
and your eyes sparkle
like the pools of Heshbon
by the gate of Bath-Rabbim.
Your nose is beautiful
like Mount Lebanon
above the city of Damascus.
5 Your head is held high
like Mount Carmel;
your hair is so lovely
it holds a king prisoner.
6 You are very beautiful,
so desirable!
7 You are tall and slender
like a palm tree,
and your breasts are full.
8 I will climb that tree
and cling to its branches.
I will discover that your breasts
are clusters of grapes,
and that your breath
is the aroma of apples.
9 Kissing you is more delicious
than drinking the finest wine.
How wonderful and tasty!
She Speaks:
10 My darling, I am yours,
and you desire me.
11 Let's stroll through the fields
and sleep in the villages.
12 At dawn let's slip out and see
if grapevines and fruit trees
are covered with blossoms.
When we are there,
I will give you my love.
13 Perfume from the magic flower
fills the air, my darling.
Right at our doorstep
I have stored up for you
all kinds of tasty fruits.
The Man
1 What a magnificent young woman you are!
How beautiful are your feet in sandals.
The curve of your thighs
is like the work of an artist.
2 A bowl is there,
that never runs out of spiced wine.
A sheaf of wheat is there,
surrounded by lilies.
3 Your breasts are like twin deer,
like two gazelles.
4 Your neck is like a tower of ivory.
Your eyes are like the pools in the city of Heshbon,
near the gate of that great city.
Your nose is as lovely as the tower of Lebanon
that stands guard at Damascus.
5 Your head is held high like Mount Carmel.
Your braided hair shines like the finest satin;
its beauty could hold a king captive.
6 How pretty you are, how beautiful;
how complete the delights of your love.
7 You are as graceful as a palm tree,
and your breasts are clusters of dates.
8 I will climb the palm tree
and pick its fruit.
To me your breasts are like bunches of grapes,
your breath like the fragrance of apples,
9 and your mouth like the finest wine.
The Woman
Then let the wine flow straight to my lover,
flowing over his lips and teeth.
10 I belong to my lover, and he desires me.
11 Come, darling, let's go out to the countryside
and spend the night in the villages.
12 We will get up early and look at the vines
to see whether they've started to grow,
whether the blossoms are opening
and the pomegranate trees are in bloom.
There I will give you my love.
13 You can smell the scent of mandrakes,
and all the pleasant fruits are near our door.
Darling, I have kept for you
the old delights and the new.