Song of Solomon
The Song of Solomon is a poetic and symbolic portrayal of the love between a bride and her groom. The bride longs for her beloved's affection, praising his beauty and expressing her desire for him, while the groom reciprocates with lavish descriptions of her beauty, likening her to various natural wonders and precious objects. Throughout the book, the couple exchanges romantic language, with the bride asking the groom to reveal himself to her and the groom warning others not to disturb her until she is ready. The couple's love is portrayed as a flourishing and all-consuming force, with the bride declaring that love is stronger than death and cannot be extinguished by anything. The book also includes vivid imagery and symbolism, with the bride and groom using metaphors and similes to describe each other's beauty and their love for one another.
1---2Bride: May he kiss me with the kiss of his mouth. Groom to Bride: So much better than wine are your breasts, fragranced with the finest perfumes.3Bride to Groom: Your name is oil that has been poured out; therefore, the maidens have loved you. Draw me forward4Chorus to Bride: We will run after you in the odor of your perfumes. Bride to Chorus: The king has led me into his storerooms. Chorus to Bride5Bride to Chorus: O daughters of Jerusalem: I am black, but shapely, like the tabernacles of Kedar, like the tents of Solomon6Do not be concerned that I am dark, for the sun has changed my color. The sons of my mother have fought against me. They have made me the keeper of the vineyards. My own vineyard I have not kept7Bride to Groom: Reveal to me, you whom my soul loves, where you pasture, where you recline at midday, lest I begin to wander after the flocks of your companions8Groom to Bride: If you yourself do not know, O most beautiful among women, then go out and follow after the steps of the flocks, and pasture your young goats beside the tabernacles of the shepherds9O my love, I have compared you to my company of horsemen against the chariots of Pharaoh10Your cheeks are beautiful, like those of a turtledove. Your neck is like a bejeweled collar11Chorus to Bride: We will fashion for you chains of gold, accented with reddened silver12Bride to Chorus: While the king was taking his rest, my aromatic ointment sent forth its odor13My beloved is a bundle of myrrh to me. He shall abide between my breasts14My beloved is a cluster of Cyprus grapes to me, in the vineyards of Engaddi15Groom to Bride: Behold, you are beautiful, O my love. Behold, you are beautiful. Your eyes are those of a dove16Bride to Groom: Behold, you are handsome, O my beloved, and graceful. Our bed is flourishing17Groom to Bride: The timbers of our houses are of cedar; our ceilings are of cypress
1Bride: I am a flower of the open field and a lily of the steep valleys2Groom: Like a lily among the thorns, so is my loved one among the daughters3Bride to Chorus: Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat beneath the shadow of the one whom I desired, and his fruit was sweet to my palate4He brought me into the storeroom of wine. He set charity in order within me5Prop me up with flowers. Close me in with apples. For I languish through love6His left hand is under my head, and his right hand shall embrace me7Groom to Chorus: I bind you by oath, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the does and the stags of the open field, not to disturb or awaken the beloved, even for as long as she wills8Bride to Chorus: The voice of my beloved! Behold, he arrives leaping along the mountains, jumping across the hills9My beloved is like a doe and like a young stag. Lo, he stands beyond our wall, gazing through the windows, watching through the lattices10Lo, my beloved speaks to me: Groom to Bride: Rise up, quickly, my love, my dove, my shapely one, and advance11For winter has now past; the rain has decreased and gone away12The flowers have appeared in our land; the time for pruning has arrived. The voice of the turtledove has been heard in our land13The fig tree has brought forth its green figs; the flowering vines bestow their odor. Rise up, my love, my brilliant one, and advance14My dove in the clefts of the rock, in the hollows of the wall, reveal to me your face. Let your voice sound in my ears. For your voice is sweet, and your face is graceful15Chorus to Groom and Bride: Capture for us the little foxes, which are tearing down the vines; for our vineyard has flourished16Bride to Chorus: My beloved is for me, and I am for him. He pastures among the lilies, until the day rises and the shadows decline17Bride to Groom: Return, O my beloved. Be like a doe and like a young stag upon the mountains of Bether
1Bride: On my bed, throughout the night, I sought him whom my soul loves. I sought him, and did not find him2I will rise up, and I will circle through the city. Through the side streets and thoroughfares, I will seek him whom my soul loves. I sought him, and did not find him3The watchers who guard the city found me: "Have you seen him whom my soul loves?4When I had passed by them a little, I found him whom my soul loves. I held him, and would not release him, until I would bring him into my mother’s house, and into the chamber of her who bore me5Groom to Chorus: I bind you by oath, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the does and the stags of the open field, not to disturb or awaken the beloved, until she wills6Chorus to Groom: Who is she, who ascends through the desert, like a staff of smoke from the aromatics of myrrh, and frankincense, and every powder of the perfumer7Chorus to Bride: Lo, sixty strong ones, out of all the strongest in Israel, stand watch at the bed of Solomon8all holding swords and well-trained in warfare, each one’s weapon upon his thigh, because of fears in the night9Bride to Chorus: King Solomon made himself a portable throne from the wood of Lebanon10He made its columns of silver, the reclining place of gold, the ascent of purple; the middle he covered well, out of charity for the daughters of Jerusalem11O daughters of Zion, go forth and see king Solomon with the diadem with which his mother crowned him, on the day of his espousal, on the day of the rejoicing of his heart
1Groom to Bride: How beautiful you are, my love, how beautiful you are! Your eyes are those of a dove, except for what is hidden within. Your hair is like flocks of goats, which ascend along the mountain of Gilead2Your teeth are like flocks of shorn sheep, which ascend from the washing, each one with its identical twin, and not one among them is barren3Your lips are like a scarlet ribbon, and your eloquence is sweetness. Like a piece of pomegranate, so are your cheeks, except for what is hidden within4Your neck is like the tower of David, which was built with ramparts: a thousand shields are hanging from it, all the armor of the strong5Your two breasts are like two young does, twins that pasture among the lilies6Until the day rises and the shadows decline, I will go to the mountain of myrrh and to the hill of frankincense7You are totally beautiful, my love, and there is no blemish in you8Advance from Lebanon, my spouse, advance from Lebanon, advance. You shall be crowned at the head of Amana, near the summit of Senir and Hermon, by the dens of lions, by the mountains of leopards9You have wounded my heart, my sister, my spouse. You have wounded my heart with one look of your eyes, and with one lock of hair on your neck10How beautiful are your breasts, my sister, my spouse! Your breasts are more beautiful than wine, and the fragrance of your ointments is above all aromatic oils11Your lips, my spouse, are a dripping honeycomb; honey and milk are under your tongue. And the fragrance of your garments is like the odor of frankincense12An enclosed garden is my sister, my spouse: an enclosed garden, a sealed fountain13You send forth a paradise of pomegranates along with the fruits of the orchard: Cypress grapes, with aromatic oil14aromatic oil and saffron; sweet cane and cinnamon, with all the trees of Lebanon; myrrh and aloe, with all the best ointments15The fountain of the gardens is a well of living waters, which flow forcefully from Lebanon16Rise up, north wind, and advance, south wind. Send a breeze through my garden, and carry its aromatic scents
1Bride: May my beloved enter into his garden, and eat the fruit of his apple trees. Groom to Bride: I have arrived in my garden, O my sister, my spouse. I have harvested my myrrh, with my aromatic oils. I have eaten the honeycomb with my honey. I have drunk my wine with my milk. Eat, O friends, and drink, and be inebriated, O most beloved2Bride: I sleep, yet my heart watches. The voice of my beloved knocking. Groom to Bride: Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my immaculate one. For my head is full of dew, and the locks of my hair are full of the drops of the night3Bride: I have taken off my tunic; how shall I be clothed in it? I have washed my feet; how shall I spoil them4My beloved put his hand through the window, and my inner self was moved by his touch5I rose up in order to open to my beloved. My hands dripped with myrrh, and my fingers were full of the finest myrrh6I opened the bolt of my door to my beloved. But he had turned aside and had gone away. My soul melted when he spoke. I sought him, and did not find him. I called, and he did not answer me7The keepers who circulate through the city found me. They struck me, and wounded me. The keepers of the walls took my veil away from me8I bind you by oath, O daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my beloved, announce to him that I languish through love9Chorus to Bride: What kind of beloved is your beloved, O most beautiful among women? What kind of beloved is your beloved, so that you would bind us by oath10Bride: My beloved is white and ruddy, elect among thousands11His head is like the finest gold. His locks are like the heights of palm trees, and as black as a raven12His eyes are like doves, which have been washed with milk over rivulets of waters, and which reside near plentiful streams13His cheeks are like a courtyard of aromatic plants, sown by perfumers. His lips are like lilies, dripping with the best myrrh14His hands are smoothed gold, full of hyacinths. His abdomen is ivory, accented with sapphires15His legs are columns of marble, which have been established over bases of gold. His appearance is like that of Lebanon, elect like the cedars16His throat is most sweet, and he is entirely desirable. Such is my beloved, and he is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem
1Chorus to Bride: Where has your beloved gone, O most beautiful among women? To where has your beloved turned aside, so that we may seek him with you?2Bride: My beloved has descended to his garden, to the courtyard of aromatic plants, in order to pasture in the gardens and gather the lilies3I am for my beloved, and my beloved is for me. He pastures among the lilies4Groom to Bride: My love, you are beautiful: sweet and graceful, like Jerusalem; terrible, like an army in battle array5Avert your eyes from me, for they have caused me fly away. Your hair is like a flock of goats, which have appeared out of Gilead6Your teeth are like a flock of sheep, which have ascended from the washing, each one with its identical twin, and not one among them is barren7Like the skin of a pomegranate, so are your cheeks, except for your hiddenness8There are sixty queens, and eighty concubines, and maidens without number9One is my dove, my perfect one. One is her mother; elect is she who bore her. The daughters saw her, and they proclaimed her most blessed. The queens and concubines saw her, and they praised her10Chorus to Groom: Who is she, who advances like the rising dawn, as beautiful as the moon, as elect as the sun, as terrible as an army in battle array11Bride: I descended to the garden of nuts, in order to see the fruits of the steep valleys, and to examine whether the vineyard had flourished and the pomegranates had produced buds12I did not understand. My soul was stirred up within me because of the chariots of Amminadab13Chorus to Bride: Return, return, O Sulamitess. Return, return, so that we may consider you
1Chorus to Groom: What will you see in the Sulamitess, other than choruses of encampments? Chorus to Bride: How beautiful are your footsteps in shoes, O daughter of a ruler! The joints of your thighs are like jewels, which have been fabricated by the hand of an artist2Your navel is a round bowl, never lacking in curvature. Your abdomen is like a bundle of wheat, surrounded with lilies3Your two breasts are like two young twin does4Your neck is like a tower of ivory. Your eyes like the fish ponds at Heshbon, which are at the entrance to the daughter of the multitude. Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon, which looks out toward Damascus5Your head is like Carmel, and the hairs of your head are like the purple of the king, bound into pleats6Most beloved one, how beautiful you are, and how graceful in delights7Your stature is comparable to the palm tree, and your breasts to clusters of grapes8Groom: I said, I will ascend to the palm tree, and take hold of its fruit. And your breasts will be like clusters of grapes on the vine. And the fragrance of your mouth will be like apples9Bride: Your throat is like the finest wine: wine worthy for my beloved to drink, and for his lips and teeth to contemplate10I am for my beloved, and his turning is to me11Approach, my beloved. Let us go out into the field; let us linger in the villages12Let us go up in the morning to the vineyards; let us see if the vineyard has flourished, if the flowers are ready to bear fruit, if the pomegranates have flourished. There I will give my breasts to you13The mandrakes yield their fragrance. At our gates is every fruit. The new and the old, my beloved, I have kept for you
1Bride to Groom: Who will give you to me as my brother, feeding from the breasts of my mother, so that I may discover you outside, and may kiss you, and so that now no one may despise me?2I will take hold of you and lead you into my mother’s house. There you will teach me, and I will give you a cup of spiced wine, and of new wine from my pomegranates3His left hand is under my head, and his right hand shall embrace me4Groom to Chorus: I bind you by oath, O daughters of Jerusalem, not to disturb or awaken the beloved, until she wills5Chorus to Groom: Who is she, who ascends from the desert, flowing with delights, leaning upon her beloved?. Groom to Bride: Under the apple tree, I awakened you. There your mother was corrupted. There she who bore you was violated6Set me like a seal upon your heart, like a seal upon your arm. For love is strong, like death, and envy is enduring, like hell: their lamps are made of fire and flames7A multitude of waters cannot extinguish love, nor can a river overwhelm it. If a man were to give all the substance of his house in exchange for love, he would despise it as nothing8Chorus: Our sister is little and has no breasts. What shall we do for our sister on the day when she is called upon9If she is a wall, let us build a rampart of silver upon it. If she is a door, let us join it together with boards of cedar10Bride to Chorus: I am a wall, and my breasts are like towers, since, in his presence, I have become like one who has discovered peace11The peaceful one had a vineyard, in that which held the peoples. He handed it on to the caretakers; a man brought, in exchange for its fruit, a thousand pieces of silver12Groom: My vineyard is before me. The thousand is for your peacefulness, and two hundred is for those who care for its fruit13Bride to Groom: Your friends are attentive to those who have been dwelling in the gardens. Cause me to heed your voice14Flee away, my beloved, and become like the doe and the young stag upon the mountains of aromatic plants
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