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Awake and Waiting

I have come into my garden,
        my sister, my bride.
    I have gathered my myrrh with my spice.
    I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey.
    I have drunk my wine with my milk.

Eat, O friends,
Drink, yes, drink your fill, O lovers!

I sleep, but my heart is awake.
    A voice! My lover is knocking!
“Open to me, my sister, my darling,
    my dove, my perfect one!
For my head is drenched with dew,
    my locks with dewdrops of night.”
I have stripped off my coat.
    How can I put it on again?
I have washed my feet.
    How can I soil them?

My lover extended his hand through the opening
—my heart yearned for him.
I rose to open for my lover.
My hands dripped with myrrh,
    yes, my fingers with flowing myrrh,
    on the handles of the lock.
I opened to my lover—
    but my lover had departed,
    he was gone!
My soul went out to him when he spoke.
    I searched for him, but did not find him.
I called him, but he did not answer me.
The guards making rounds in the city found me.
They beat me, bruised me.
The guards on the walls took my veil from me.

Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you,
    if you should find my lover,
what will you tell him?
    That I am sick from love!

How is your lover different from other lovers,
    O most beautiful among women?
How is your lover different from other lovers
    that you charge us so?

10 My lover is dazzling and ruddy,
    standing out among ten thousand.
11 His head is purest gold,
    his hair is wavy,
    black as a raven.
12 His eyes are like doves
    beside streams of water,
washed with milk,
    mounted in their settings.
13 His cheeks are like a bed of spice,
    towers of sweet-scented perfume.
His lips are lilies,
    dripping with liquid myrrh.
14 His hands are rods of gold set with jasper.
His abdomen is carved ivory
    inlaid with sapphires.
15 His legs are pillars of alabaster
    set on bases of pure gold.
His appearance is like Lebanon—
    excellent like the cedars.
16 His mouth is sweetness.
    Yes, he is totally desirable.
This is my lover! Yes, this is my friend,
    O daughters of Jerusalem.