1 I am a rose of Sharon, A lily of the valleys.
2 As a lily among thorns, So is my love among the daughters.
3 As an apple-tree among the trees of the wood, So is my beloved among the sons. Under its shadow I delighted to sit, And its fruit was sweet to my taste.
4 He hath brought me to the banqueting-house, And his banner over me is love.
5 ’Stay ye me with dainties, refresh me with apples; For I am love-sick.’
6 Let his left hand be under my head, And his right hand embrace me.
7 ’I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, By the gazelles, and by the hinds of the field, That ye awaken not, nor stir up love, until it please.’
8 Hark! my beloved! behold, he cometh, Leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills.
9 My beloved is like a gazelle or a young hart; Behold, he standeth behind our wall, He looketh in through the windows, He peereth through the lattice.
10 My beloved spoke, and said unto me: ‘Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.
11 For, lo, the winter is past, The rain is over and gone;
12 The flowers appear on the earth; The time of singing is come, And the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;
13 The fig-tree putteth forth her green figs, And the vines in blossom give forth their fragrance. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.
14 O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the covert of the cliff, Let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; For sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely.’
15 ’Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vineyards; For our vineyards are in blossom.’
16 My beloved is mine, and I am his, That feedeth among the lilies.
17 Until the day breathe, and the shadows flee away, Turn, my beloved, and be thou like a gazelle or a young hart Upon the mountains of spices.