<p class="poetry">Draw me<n id="1" /> after you; let us hurry!<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">May the king<n id="3" /> bring<n id="4" /> me into his<n id="5" /> bedroom chambers!<n id="6" />p> <p class="sosspeaker"><b><i>The Maidensi>b><n id="7" /> <b><i>to the Lover:i>b>p> <p class="poetry">We will<n id="8" /> rejoice and delight in you;<n id="9" />p> <p class="poetry">we will praise<n id="10" /> your love more than wine.p> <p class="poetry"><b><i>The Beloved to Her Lover:i>b>p> <p class="poetry">How rightly<n id="11" /> the young women<n id="12" /> adore you!p>

<p class="sosspeaker"><b><i>The Beloved about Her Lover:i>b>p> <p class="poetry">Like<n id="1" /> an apple tree<n id="2" /> among the trees of the forest,p> <p class="poetry">so is my beloved among the young men.p> <p class="poetry">I delight<n id="3" /> to sit<n id="4" /> in his shade,<n id="5" />p> <p class="poetry">and his fruit<n id="6" /> is sweet<n id="7" /> to my taste.<n id="8" />p>

<p class="poetry">My lover is like a gazelle or a young stag.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Look! There he stands behind our wall,p> <p class="poetry">gazing through the window,p> <p class="poetry">peering through the lattice.p>

<t /><p class="sosspeaker"><b><i>The Beloved to Her Lover:i>b>p> <p class="poetry">Until the dawn arrives<n id="1" /> and the shadows flee,p> <p class="poetry">turn,<n id="2" /> my beloved &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">be like a gazelle or a young stagp> <p class="poetry">on the mountain gorges.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="sosspeaker"><b><i>The Beloved to Her Lover:i>b>p> <p class="poetry">Awake, O north wind; come, O south wind!p> <p class="poetry">Blow on my garden so that its fragrant spices may send out their sweet smell.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">May my beloved come into his gardenp> <p class="poetry">and eat its delightful fruit!p>

<p class="poetry">I arose to open for my beloved;p> <p class="poetry">my hands dripped with myrrh &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">my fingers flowed with myrrhp> <p class="poetry">on the handles of the lock.p>

<t /><p class="sosspeaker"><b><i>The Beloved to the Maidens:i>b>p> <p class="poetry">O maidens of Jerusalem, I command you &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">If you find my beloved, what will you tell him?p> <p class="poetry">Tell him that I am lovesick!<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">Let us rise early to go to the vineyards,p> <p class="poetry">to see if the vines have budded,p> <p class="poetry">to see if their blossoms have opened,p> <p class="poetry">if the pomegranates are in bloom &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">there I will give you my love.p>

<p class="poetry">The mandrakes<n id="1" /> send out their fragrance;p> <p class="poetry">over our door is every delicacy,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">both new and old, which I have stored up for you, my lover.p>

<t /><p class="sosspeaker"><b><i>The Maidens about His Beloved:i>b>p> <p class="poetry">Who is this coming up from the desert,p> <p class="poetry">leaning on her beloved?p> <p class="sosspeaker"><b><i>The Beloved to Her Lover:i>b>p> <p class="poetry">Under the apple tree I aroused you;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">there your mother conceived you,p> <p class="poetry">there she who bore you was in labor of childbirth.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="sosspeaker"><b><i>The Lover to His Beloved:i>b>p> <p class="poetry">I have entered my garden, O my sister, my bride;p> <p class="poetry">I have gathered my myrrh with my balsam spice.p> <p class="poetry">I have eaten my honeycomb and my honey;p> <p class="poetry">I have drunk my wine and my milk!p> <p class="sosspeaker"><b><i>The Poet to the Couple:i>b><n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Eat, friends, and drink!<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Drink freely, O lovers!p>

<t /><p class="sosspeaker"><b><i>The Beloved about Her Lover:i>b>p> <p class="poetry">I was asleep, but my mind<n id="1" /> was dreaming.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Listen!<n id="3" /> My lover<n id="4" /> is knocking<n id="5" /> at the door!<n id="6" />p> <p class="sosspeaker"><b><i>The Lover to His Beloved:i>b>p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Open<n id="7" /> for me, my sister, my darling,p> <p class="poetry">my dove, my flawless one!p> <p class="poetry">My head is drenched with dew,p> <p class="poetry">my hair with the dampness of the night.&#8221;p>