Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest the sheep, where thou maketh the rest at the noon day: for why shall I be like him that goeth wrong about the flocks of thy companions?

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.

The watchmen that go about the city found me, to whom I said: Saw ye not him whom my soul loveth?

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.

Who is this, that cometh up out of the wilderness like pillars of smoke, as it were a smell of Myrrh, frankincense and all manner spices of the Apothecary?

Who is thy love above other lovers, O thou fairest among women? Or what can thy love do, more than other lovers, that thou chargest us so straightly?

O that I might find thee without, and kiss thee, whom I love as my brother which sucked my mother's breasts: and that thou wouldest not be offended,