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The Young Shulammite Bride and Jerusalem’s Daughters
The Song of Songs, which is Solomon’s.
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The Bride
“May he kiss me with the kisses of his mouth! For your love is sweeter than wine.
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The Bride
“I am black and beautiful, You daughters of Jerusalem, Like the tents of Kedar, Like the curtains of Solomon.
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Do not stare at me because I am dark, For the sun has tanned me. My mother’s sons were angry with me; They made me caretaker of the vineyards, But I have not taken care of my own vineyard.
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Tell me, you whom my soul loves, Where do you pasture your flock, Where do you have it lie down at noon? For why should I be like one who veils herself Beside the flocks of your companions?”
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Solomon, the Lover, Speaks
“If you yourself do not know, Most beautiful among women, Go out on the trail of the flock, And pasture your young goats By the tents of the shepherds.
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Your cheeks are delightful with jewelry, Your neck with strings of beads.”
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The Chorus
“We will make for you jewelry of gold With beads of silver.”
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The Bride
“How handsome you are, my beloved, And so delightful! Indeed, our bed is luxuriant!
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The Bride’s Admiration
“I am the rose of Sharon, The lily of the valleys.”
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The Groom
“Like a lily among the thorns, So is my darling among the young women.”
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The Bride
“Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest, So is my beloved among the young men. In his shade I took great delight and sat down, And his fruit was sweet to my taste.
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Refresh me with raisin cakes, Sustain me with apples, Because I am lovesick.
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The Groom
“Swear to me, you daughters of Jerusalem, By the gazelles or by the does of the field, That you will not disturb or awaken my love Until she pleases.”
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My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Behold, he is standing behind our wall, He is looking through the windows, He is peering through the lattice.
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“My beloved responded and said to me, ‘Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, And come along.
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The Groom
“My dove, in the clefts of the rock, In the hiding place of the mountain pathway, Let me see how you look, Let me hear your voice; For your voice is pleasant, And you look delightful.”
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Until the cool of the day, when the shadows flee, Turn, my beloved, and be like a gazelle Or a young stag on the mountains of Bether.”
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The Bride’s Troubled Dream
“On my bed night after night I sought him Whom my soul loves; I sought him but did not find him.
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‘I must arise now and go around in the city; In the streets and in the public squares I must seek him whom my soul loves.’ I sought him but did not find him.
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The watchmen who make the rounds in the city found me, And I said, ‘Have you seen him whom my soul loves?’
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Hardly had I left them When I found him whom my soul loves; I held on to him and would not let him go Until I had brought him to my mother’s house, And into the room of her who conceived me.”
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The Groom
“Swear to me, you daughters of Jerusalem, By the gazelles or by the does of the field, That you will not disturb or awaken my love Until she pleases.”
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Solomon’s Wedding Day
The Bride
“What is this coming up from the wilderness Like columns of smoke, Perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, With all the scented powders of the merchant?
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The Chorus
Behold, it is the traveling couch of Solomon; Sixty warriors around it, Of the warriors of Israel.
