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SPOUSE.

16. Arise, O north wind; and come thou south;

Blow upon my garden that its perfumes may flow forth.
Let my beloved come into his garden,
And enjoy its delicious fruits.

CHAPTER V.

BELOVED.

1. I have come into my garden, my sister-spouse;
I am gathering my myrrh with my spice;
I am eating my honey-comb with my honey;
I am drinking my wine with my milk:

Eat, O friends, drink,

Yea, beloved companions, drink abundantly.

SPOUSE.

2. I was sleeping, but my heart was awake:
Hark! the voice of my beloved! he is knocking:
"Open to me, my sister, my companion,

My dove, my perfect one;*

For my head is filled with dew,

My locks with drops of the night."

3. I have put off my dress,

How shall I put it on?

I have washed my feet,

How shall I soil them?

4. My beloved withdrew his hand from the aperture in the

And

door;

my

heart was moved towards him.

* Equivalent to our expression, "My angel."

5. I arose for opening to my beloved,
And my hands dropped myrrh,
And my fingers liquid myrrh,
On the handles of the bolt.
6. I opened to my beloved;

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But my beloved had turned and gone away.

My heart sunk in consequence of what he had said:
I sought him, and found him not:

I called him, and he answered me not.

7. The watchmen who go around in the city found me, They smote me, they wounded me;

The guards of the walls stripped my veil from me. 8. I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, If ye shall find my beloved

What shall ye tell him?

That I am sick of love.

DAUGHTERS OF JERUSALEM.

9. What is thy beloved more than another beloved,
Thou most beautiful of women?

What is thy beloved more than another beloved,
That thou dost thus charge us?

SPOUSE.

10. My beloved is white and ruddy, Conspicuous among a host.

11. His head is finest choice gold;

His locks young waving palm branches, black as the

raven:

12. His eyes as doves by valley rills of water,

Washed in milk, reposing by the full water springs:

13. His cheeks as banks of fragrant flowers,

As towering trellises covered with aromatic blooms;
His lips lilies distilling liquid myrrh:

14. His hands rollers of gold, set with the beryl;
His body wrought ivory overlaid with sapphires.

15. His legs pillars of white marble

Fixed on pedestals of fine gold;

His appearance is as Lebanon, Pre-eminently noble as the cedars: 16. His voice is exquisitely sweet;

His whole being is constituted of delightful attractions:
This is my beloved, and this is my friend,
O daughters of Jerusalem.

CHAPTER VI.

DAUGHTERS OF JERUSALEM.

1. Whither has thy beloved gone, thou most beautiful of women?

Whither has thy beloved turned away?
Tell, that we may seek him with thee.

SPOUSE.

2. My beloved has gone down to his garden, To the banks of fragrant flowers,

To feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies. 3. I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine, Who feeds among the lilies.

BELOVED.

4. Beautiful as Tirzah art thou, my companion;

Elegant as Jerusalem;

Imposing as a military host with banners.

5. Turn away thine eyes from me,

For they are taking me by storm.

Thy hair is as a flock of goats

Which lie along downwards from mount Gilead.

6. Thy teeth as a flock of sheep,

Which come up from the washing-pool,

All of them bearing twins,

And none of them without its young. 7. As a piece of pomegranate,

Are thy cheeks within thy tresses. 8. There are threescore queens, And fourscore concubines,

And virgins without number:

9. My dove, my perfect one, she is the favourite; The darling is she of her mother,

The delight of her who bore her.

The virgins beheld her, and called her blessed;
The queens and concubines also praised her.
10. Who is this that looks forth as the dawn,

Beautiful as the moon, of purest brightness as the sun,
Imposing as bannered hosts?

11. I went down to the fruit garden,

To behold the green growths of the valley,
To see whether the vine was putting forth buds,
Whether the pomegranates were in bloom:
12. E'er I was aware, my soul made me

As the chariots of Amminadib. 13. Return, return, O Shulamith;

Return, return, that we may behold in thee,-
What shall you behold in the Shulamith?
As it were a festive choir of rejoicing hosts.

CHAPTER VII.

1. How beautiful are thy feet in sandals,

O noble woman.

The contour of thy person

Is like the rounding of a necklace

Wrought by the hands of a finished artist:

2. Thy waist is a round goblet

Full of the rich spiced wine:

Thy body is a heap of wheat
Enclosed with lilies:

Thy two breasts as two fawns,
Twins of a gazelle.

4. Thy neck as a tower of ivory;
Thine eyes pools in Heshbon,
By the gate of Bath-rabbim;
Thy nose as a tower on Lebanon,
Looking towards Damascus.

5. Thy head crowning thee is as Carmel,

And the full flowing hair of thy head rich as purple:
The king is captivated by the tresses.

6. How beautiful and how charming,

O my love, art thou in fascinating graces. 7. Thy stature is like a palm-tree; And thy breasts to its clusters. 8. I said I will go to the palm-tree;

I will clasp its waving branches;

And thy bosom shall now be as clusters of the vine;
And thy breath sweet as citrons;

9. And thy voice as the delicious wine

Which flows pure to my best loved friend,

Which makes the lips of the slumbering move gently.

10. I am my beloved's,

SPOUSE.

And his ardent affection is towards me.

11. Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the country; Let us abide in the villages;

12. Let us be early in the morning in the vineyards;

Let us see whether the vine is budding, its blossom un-
folding;

Whether the pomegranates are in bloom:
There will I give thee my loves.

13. The choicest flowers are giving forth their fragrance, And at the entrance of our summer-houses are all kinds

of delicious fruits,

Both new and old, which I have treasured up, my

loved, for thee.

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