Song of Solomon, 5
1. I have come to my garden, my sister, my bride; I gather my myrrh and my spices, I eat my honey and my sweetmeats, I drink my wine and my milk. Eat, friends; drink! Drink freely of love!
1. LOVER: I come into my garden, my sister, my promised bride, I pick my myrrh and balsam, I eat my honey and my honeycomb, I drink my wine and my milk. POET: Eat, friends, and drink, drink deep, my dearest friends.
2. I was sleeping, but my heart kept vigil; I heard my lover knocking: "Open to me, my sister, my beloved, my dove, my perfect one! For my head is wet with dew, my locks with the moisture of the night."
2. BELOVED: I sleep, but my heart is awake. I hear my love knocking. 'Open to me, my sister, my beloved, my dove, my perfect one, for my head is wet with dew, my hair with the drops of night.'
3. I have taken off my robe, am I then to put it on? I have bathed my feet, am I then to soil them?
3. -'I have taken off my tunic, am I to put it on again? I have washed my feet, am I to dirty them again?'
4. My lover put his hand through the opening; my heart trembled within me, and I grew faint when he spoke.
4. My love thrust his hand through the hole in the door; I trembled to the core of my being.
5. I rose to open to my lover, with my hands dripping myrrh: With my fingers dripping choice myrrh upon the fittings of the lock.
5. Then I got up to open to my love, myrrh ran off my hands, pure myrrh off my fingers, on to the handle of the bolt.
6. I opened to my lover - but my lover had departed, gone. I sought him but I did not find him; I called to him but he did not answer me.
6. I opened to my love, but he had turned and gone. My soul failed at his flight, I sought but could not find him, I called, but he did not answer.
7. The watchmen came upon me as they made their rounds of the city; They struck me, and wounded me, and took my mantle from me, the guardians of the walls.
7. The watchmen met me, those who go on their rounds in the city. They beat me, they wounded me, they took my cloak away from me: those guardians of the ramparts!
8. I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my lover - What shall you tell him? - that I am faint with love.
8. I charge you, daughters of Jerusalem, if you should find my love, what are you to tell him? -That I am sick with love!
9. How does your lover differ from any other, O most beautiful among women? How does your lover differ from any other, that you adjure us so?
9. CHORUS: What makes your lover better than other lovers, O loveliest of women? What makes your lover better than other lovers, to put us under such an oath?
10. My lover is radiant and ruddy; he stands out among thousands.
10. BELOVED: My love is fresh and ruddy, to be known among ten thousand.
11. His head is pure gold; his locks are palm fronds, black as the raven.
11. His head is golden, purest gold, his locks are palm fronds and black as the raven.
12. His eyes are like doves beside running waters, His teeth would seem bathed in milk, and are set like jewels.
12. His eyes are like doves beside the water-courses, bathing themselves in milk, perching on a fountain-rim.
13. His cheeks are like beds of spice with ripening aromatic herbs. His lips are red blossoms; they drip choice myrrh.
13. His cheeks are beds of spices, banks sweetly scented. His lips are lilies, distilling pure myrrh.
14. His arms are rods of gold adorned with chrysolites. His body is a work of ivory covered with sapphires.
14. His hands are golden, rounded, set with jewels of Tarshish. His belly a block of ivory covered with sapphires.
15. His legs are columns of marble resting on golden bases. His stature is like the trees on Lebanon, imposing as the cedars.
15. His legs are alabaster columns set in sockets of pure gold. His appearance is that of Lebanon, unrivalled as the cedars.
16. His mouth is sweetness itself; he is all delight. Such is my lover, and such my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.
16. His conversation is sweetness itself, he is altogether lovable. Such is my love, such is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.
