4
The man speaks
1 My darling, you are beautiful,
you are very beautiful!
Underneath your veil, your eyes are as gentle as [MET] doves.
Your long black hair moves from side to side like [SIM] a flock of black goats
moving down the slopes of Gilead Mountain.
2 Your teeth are very white
like [SIM] a flock of sheep whose wool has just been ◄shorn/cut off►
and that have come up from being washed in a stream.
You have all of your teeth;
none of them is missing.
3 Your lips are like [SIM] a scarlet ribbon,
and your mouth is lovely.
Beneath your veil,
your round, rosy/red cheeks are like [SIM] the halves of a pomegranate.
4 Your long neck is beautiful like [SIM] the tower of King David
that was built using layers/rows of stone.
The ornaments on your necklaces are like 1,000 [HYP] shields that are hanging on the walls of a tower;
each one belongs to a warrior.
5 Your breasts are as beautiful [SIM] as two ◄fawns/young gazelles►
that eat grass among lilies.
6 Until dawn tomorrow morning
and the nighttime shadows/darkness disappear,
I will lie close to your breasts
that are like [MET] hills that are covered with incense [DOU].
7 My darling, you are completely beautiful;
your body is perfectly formed!
8 My bride, it is as though you are in [MET] Lebanon
far away, where I cannot reach you;
come back to me.
It is as though you are inaccessible [MET]
on the top of Hermon Mountain or the nearby peaks.
Come from where the lions have their dens
and where the leopards live on the mountains.
9 My bride [DOU], you who are dearer to me than my sister, you have captured my affection [IDM]
by only once quickly looking at me,
and by one strand of jewels in your necklace.
10 My bride, your love for me is delightful!
It more delightful than wine!
And the fragrance of your perfume
is more pleasing than any spice!
11 Being kissed by you is as enjoyable as eating [MTY] honey;
your kisses are as sweet as milk mixed with honey.
The aroma of your clothes
is like [SIM] the aroma of cedar trees in Lebanon.
12 My bride, you who are dearer to me than [MET] my sister, you are like [MET] a garden that is locked
in order that other men cannot enter it;
you are like [MET] a spring or a fountain that is covered
in order that others may not drink from it.
13 You are like [MET] an orchard of pomegranate trees
full of delicious fruit,
and plenty of plants that produce henna and nard spices,
14 and saffron and calamus and cinnamon
and many other kinds of incense,
and myrrh and aloes
and many other fine spices.
15 You are like [MET] a fountain in a garden,
like [MET] a spring of clear water
that flows down from the mountains of Lebanon.
The woman speaks
16 I want the north wind and the south wind to come,
and blow on my garden,
in order that the fragrance of the spices will spread through the air.
Similarly, I want the one who loves me to come and enjoy cuddling up to me
like [MET, EUP] someone comes into a garden and enjoys eating the fruit that grows there.