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Young Man

You are beautiful, my darling,
    beautiful beyond words.
Your eyes are like doves
    behind your veil.
Your hair falls in waves,
    like a flock of goats winding down the slopes of Gilead.
Your teeth are as white as sheep,
    recently shorn and freshly washed.
Your smile is flawless,
    each tooth matched with its twin.[a]
Your lips are like scarlet ribbon;
    your mouth is inviting.
Your cheeks are like rosy pomegranates
    behind your veil.
Your neck is as beautiful as the tower of David,
    jeweled with the shields of a thousand heroes.
Your breasts are like two fawns,
    twin fawns of a gazelle grazing among the lilies.
Before the dawn breezes blow
    and the night shadows flee,
I will hurry to the mountain of myrrh
    and to the hill of frankincense.
You are altogether beautiful, my darling,
    beautiful in every way.

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Footnotes

  1. 4:2 Hebrew Not one is missing; each has a twin.

In praise of her

[Man]

Look at you—so beautiful, my dearest!
Look at you—so beautiful! Your eyes are doves
        behind the veil of your hair!
Your hair is like a flock of goats
        as they stream down Mount Gilead.
Your teeth are like newly shorn ewes
        as they come up from the washing pool—
        all of them perfectly matched,
        not one of them lacks its twin.
Like a crimson ribbon are your lips;
        when you smile, it is lovely.
Like a slice of pomegranate is the curve of your face
        behind the veil of your hair.
Like David’s tower is your neck,
        splendidly built!
A thousand shields are hung upon it—
        all the weapons of the warriors.
Your two breasts are like two fawns,
        twins of a gazelle doe,
        that graze among the lilies.
Before the day breeze blows
        and the shadows flee,
        I will be off to the mountain of myrrh,
        to the hill of frankincense.
You are utterly beautiful, my dearest;
        there’s not a single flaw in you.

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He

How beautiful you are, my darling!
    Oh, how beautiful!
    Your eyes behind your veil(A) are doves.(B)
Your hair is like a flock of goats
    descending from the hills of Gilead.(C)
Your teeth are like a flock of sheep just shorn,
    coming up from the washing.
Each has its twin;
    not one of them is alone.(D)
Your lips are like a scarlet ribbon;
    your mouth(E) is lovely.(F)
Your temples behind your veil
    are like the halves of a pomegranate.(G)
Your neck is like the tower(H) of David,
    built with courses of stone[a];
on it hang a thousand shields,(I)
    all of them shields of warriors.
Your breasts(J) are like two fawns,
    like twin fawns of a gazelle(K)
    that browse among the lilies.(L)
Until the day breaks
    and the shadows flee,(M)
I will go to the mountain of myrrh(N)
    and to the hill of incense.
You are altogether beautiful,(O) my darling;
    there is no flaw(P) in you.

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Footnotes

  1. Song of Songs 4:4 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.