7
He Praises Her Beauty
1 Princess,* your feet are beautiful in those sandals.
The curves of your thighs are like jewelry made by an artist.
2 Your navel is like a round cup†;
may it never be without wine.
Your belly is like a pile of wheat
surrounded by lilies.
3 Your breasts are like twin fawns
of a young gazelle.
4 Your neck is like an ivory tower.
Your eyes are like the pools in Heshbon
near the gate of Bath Rabbim.
Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon
that looks toward Damascus.
5 Your head is like Carmel,
and the hair on your head is like silk.
Your long flowing hair
captures even a king.
6 You are so beautiful and so pleasant,
a lovely, delightful young woman!
7 You are tall—
as tall as a palm tree.
And your breasts are like
the clusters of fruit on that tree.
8 I would love to climb that tree
and take hold of its branches.
May your breasts be like clusters of grapes
and your fragrance‡ like apples.
9 May your mouth be like the best wine,
flowing straight to my love,
flowing gently to the sleeper’s lips.
She Speaks to Him
10 I belong to my lover,
and he wants me.
11 Come, my lover,
let’s go out into the field;
let’s spend the night in the villages.
12 Let’s get up early and go to the vineyards.
Let’s see if the vines are in bloom.
Let’s see if the blossoms have opened
and if the pomegranates are in bloom.
There I will give you my love.
13 Smell the mandrakes§
and all the pleasant flowers by our door.
I have saved many pleasant things for you, my lover,
pleasant things, new and old.
* 7:1 Princess Literally, “Daughter of a prince.” † 7:2 round cup Or “turned bowl,” a stone bowl made on a lathe and used for mixing wine before it is poured into cups. This might also mean a bowl shaped like a crescent or half-moon. ‡ 7:8 fragrance Literally, “breath of your nose.” § 7:13 mandrakes Plants with roots that look like people. People thought these plants had the power to make people fall in love.