He

⁴ You are as beautiful as Tirzah, my darling,
    as lovely as Jerusalem,
    as majestic as troops with banners.
⁵ Turn your eyes from me;
    they overwhelm me.
Your hair is like a flock of goats
    descending from Gilead.
⁶ Your teeth are like a flock of sheep
    coming up from the washing.
Each has its twin,
    not one of them is missing.
⁷ Your temples behind your veil
    are like the halves of a pomegranate.
⁸ Sixty queens there may be,
    and eighty concubines,
    and virgins beyond number;
⁹ but my dove, my perfect one, is unique,
    the only daughter of her mother,
    the favourite of the one who bore her.
The young women saw her and called her blessed;
    the queens and concubines praised her.

Friends

¹⁰ Who is this that appears like the dawn,
    fair as the moon, bright as the sun,
    majestic as the stars in procession?

He

¹¹ I went down to the grove of nut trees
    to look at the new growth in the valley,
to see if the vines had budded
    or the pomegranates were in bloom.
¹² Before I realised it,
    my desire set me among the royal chariots of my people.

Friends

¹³ Come back, come back, O Shulammite;
    come back, come back, that we may gaze on you!

He

Why would you gaze on the Shulammite
    as on the dance of Mahanaim?

7 How beautiful your sandalled feet,
    O prince’s daughter!
Your graceful legs are like jewels,
    the work of an artist’s hands.
² Your navel is a rounded goblet
    that never lacks blended wine.
Your waist is a mound of wheat
    encircled by lilies.
³ Your breasts are like two fawns,
    like twin fawns of a gazelle.
⁴ Your neck is like an ivory tower.
Your eyes are the pools of Heshbon
    by the gate of Bath Rabbim.
Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon
    looking towards Damascus.
⁵ Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel.
    Your hair is like royal tapestry;
    the king is held captive by its tresses.
⁶ How beautiful you are and how pleasing,
    my love, with your delights!
⁷ Your stature is like that of the palm,
    and your breasts like clusters of fruit.
⁸ I said, ‘I will climb the palm tree;
    I will take hold of its fruit.’
May your breasts be like clusters of grapes on the vine,
    the fragrance of your breath like apples,
⁹     and your mouth like the best wine.

She

May the wine go straight to my beloved,
    flowing gently over lips and teeth.