Man

How beautiful you are, my darling.
How very beautiful!
Behind your veil,
your eyes are doves.(A)
Your hair is like a flock of goats
streaming down Mount Gilead.(B)
Your teeth are like a flock of newly shorn sheep
coming up from washing,
each one bearing twins,
and none has lost its young.[a](C)
Your lips are like a scarlet cord,(D)
and your mouth[b] is lovely.
Behind your veil,
your brow[c] is like a slice of pomegranate.(E)
Your neck is like the tower of David,(F)
constructed in layers.
A thousand shields are hung on it—
all of them shields of warriors.
Your breasts are like two fawns,
twins of a gazelle,(G) that feed among the lilies.
Until the day breaks[d]
and the shadows flee,(H)
I will make my way to the mountain of myrrh
and the hill of frankincense.(I)
You are absolutely beautiful,(J) my darling;
there is no imperfection in you.

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Footnotes

  1. 4:2 Lit and no one bereaved among them
  2. 4:3 Or speech
  3. 4:3 Or temple, or cheek, or lips
  4. 4:6 Lit breathes

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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