- Your love is better than wine. I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem. Look not upon me because I am black, because the sun has looked upon me: my mother’s children were angry with me; they made me keeper of the vineyards, but mine own vineyard I have not kept. #Sol1
- I am the rose of Sharon, the lily of the valleys. As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters. My beloved says: The winter is past, the rain is over and gone; The flowers appear on the Earth. Sweet is thy voice & countenance. My beloved is mine, & I am his. #Sol2
- I sought him that my soul loveth, but found him not. When I held him I would not let him go. I charge thee, O daughters of Jerusalem, do not awake my love, till he please. Behold King Solomon, in a chariot of silver and cedar, with the crown that his mother crowned him. #Sol3
- Behold, you are fair, my love: you have doves’ eyes & your two breasts are like two young roes that feed upon the lilies. You have ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse. How much better is your love than wine! Let my beloved come into his garden & eat his pleasant fruits. #Sol4
- I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk. Eat & drink of love. I opened to my beloved; but he was gone. His legs are as pillars of marble. His mouth is sweet; yea, he is all lovely. #Sol5
- Where has your beloved gone, most beautiful of women? Which way did he turn, that we may look for him with you? My beloved has gone down to his garden, to the beds of spices. I am my beloved’s & my beloved is mine; he browses among the lilies. Pomegranates are thy temples. #Sol6
- How beautiful are thy feet, O prince’s daughter! Thy navel is like a round goblet; thy belly is like a mound of wheat surrounded by lilies. Thy breasts are like clusters of grapes. The mandrakes give a fresh smell, & I have all manner of pleasant fruits, new & old, for you. #Sol7
- Under the apple tree I raised you; there your mother conceived you & she who labored gave you birth. Love burns like a mighty flame. Many waters cannot quench it or the floods drown it. Come away, my beloved, be like a roe or hart on spice mountain. Love is strong as death. #Sol8