For thy love is more pleasant than wine,

and that because of the good and pleasant savour. Thy name is sweet smelling ointment when it is shed forth; therefore do the maidens love thee.

Draw thou me unto thee; we will run after thee. The king hath brought me into his privy chamber: We will be glad and rejoice in thee, we think more of thy love than of wine. They that be righteous love thee.

Marvel not at me that I am so black: For why? The sun hath shined upon me. My mother's children had evil will at me, they made me the keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept.

When the king sitteth at the table, he shall smell my Nardus:

A cluster of Camphire in the vineyards of Engedi art thou unto me, O my beloved.

As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. In his shadow was my desire to sit, for his fruit was sweet to my mouth.

He brought me into his wine cellar: and his behavior to me ward was lovely.

Set about me cups of wine, comfort me with apples; for I am sick of love.

My beloved is like a Roe or a young hart. Behold, he standeth behind our wall, he looketh in at the window, and peepeth through the grate.

The flowers appear in our country and the time is come to cut the vines. The voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.

Up, haste my love, my dove, in the holes of the rock and secret places of the walls. Show me thy face and let me hear thy voice: for thy voice is sweet and thy fashion beautiful.

By night in my bed I sought him, whom my soul loveth: yea, diligently sought I him, but I found him not.

I will get up, thought I, and go about the city, in the ways and in all the streets will I seek him whom my soul loveth: but when I sought him, I found him not.

So when I was a little past them, I found him whom my soul loveth. I have gotten hold upon him, and will not let him go, until I bring him into my mother's house, and in to her chamber that bare me.

Behold, about Solomon's bedstead there stand sixty valiant men of the most mighty in Israel.

They hold swords every one, and are expert in war. Every man hath his sword upon his thigh, because of fear in the night.

Go forth, O ye daughters of Zion, and behold king Solomon in the crown, wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his marriage, and in the day of the gladness of his heart.

O how fair art thou, my love, how fair art thou? Thou hast doves' eyes, beside that which lieth hid within. Thy hairy locks are like the wool of a flock of goats that be shorn on Mount Gilead.

Thy teeth are like sheep that be clipped, which go first up from the washing place: where every one beareth two twins, and not one unfruitful among them.

Thou art all fair, O my love, and no spot is there in thee.

Thou hast bewitched my heart, O my sister, my spouse; thou hast bewitched my heart with one of thine eyes, and with one chain of thy neck.

O how fair are thy breasts, my sister, my spouse? Thy breasts are more pleasant than wine, and the smell of thine ointments passeth all spices.

The fruits that sprout in thee are like a very Paradise of pomegranates with sweet fruits:

Up thou North wind, come thou South wind, and blow upon my garden, that the smell thereof may be carried on every side: yea, that my beloved may come into my garden, and eat of the fruits and apples that grow therein.

Come into my garden O my sister, my Spouse: I have gathered my Myrrh with my spice. I will eat my honey and my honeycomb, I will drink my wine and my milk. Eat, O ye friends, drink and be merry, O ye beloved.

As I was asleep, and my heart waking, I heard the voice of my beloved, when he knocked. Open to me, said he, O my sister, my love, my darling, my dove: for my head is full of dew, and my locks of my hair are full of the night drops.

I have put off my coat: how can I do it on again? I have washed my feet, how shall I defile them again?

But when my love put in his hand at the hole, my heart was moved within me:

Nevertheless when I had opened unto my beloved, he was departed and gone his way. Now like as afore time when he spake, my heart could not longer refrain: Even so now I sought him, but I could not find him: I cried upon him, nevertheless he gave me no answer.

His eyes are as the eyes of doves by the water brooks, as though they were washed with milk and set like pearls in gold.

His throat is sweet; yea, he is altogether lovely. Such one is my love, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, such one is my love.

My love is gone down into his garden, unto the sweet smelling beds, that he may refresh himself in the garden, and gather flowers.

Thou art beautiful, O my love, even as loveliness itself; thou art fair as Jerusalem, glorious as an army of men with their banners.

Turn away thine eyes from me, for they have set me on fire! Thy hairy locks are like a flock of goats upon the mount of Gilead.

Thy teeth are like a flock of sheep that be clipped, which go out of the washing place: where every one beareth two twins, and not one unfruitful among them.

But one is my dove, my darling. She is the only beloved of her mother, and dear unto her that bare her. When the daughters saw her, they said, she was blessed: Yea the Queens and concubines praised her.

What is she, this that peepeth out as the morning, fair as the moon, excellent as the sun, glorious as an army of men with their banners?

Turn again, turn again, O thou Shulamite; turn again, turn again, that we may look upon thee. What pleasure have ye more in the Shulamite, than when she danceth among the men of war?

Thy neck is as it were a tower of ivory; thine eyes are like the water pools in Heshbon, by the port of Bathrabbim. Thy nose is like the tower of Lebanon, which looketh toward Damascus.

That head that standeth upon thee is like Carmel; the hair of thy head is like the king's purple folden up in plates.

O how fair and lovely art thou, my darling, in pleasures?

and thy throat like the best wine. This shall be pure and clear for my love, his lips and teeth shall have their pleasure.

O come on my love; let us go forth into the field, and take our lodging in the villages.

In the morning will we rise betimes, and go see the vineyard: if it be sprung forth, if the grapes be grown, and if the pomegranates be shot out. There will I give thee my breasts;

if I took thee, and brought thee into my mother's house - that thou mightest teach me, and that I might give thee drink of spiced wine and of the sweet sap of my pomegranates.

I am the same that waked thee up among the apple trees, where thy mother bare thee, where thy mother brought thee in to the world.

Our sister is but young, and hath no breasts: what shall we do for our sister when she shall be spoken for?

If she be a wall, we shall build a silver bulwark thereupon: if she be an open door, we shall fasten her with boards of Cedar tree.

I am a wall, and my breasts like towers, then was I as one that hath found favour in his sight.

Solomon had a vineyard at Baalhamon; this vineyard delivered he unto the keepers, that every one for the fruit thereof should give him a thousand pieces of silver.

Thou that dwellest in the gardens, O let me hear thy voice, that my companions may hearken to the same.