Top of Page
Page Style
I have eaten my honeycomb and my honey;
I have drunk my wine and my milk.
Eat, O friends, and drink.
Drink deeply of love.
2 I sleep, but my heart is awake.
Listen! My lover is knocking:
“Open to me, my sister, my darling,
my dove, my perfect one.
My head is drenched with dew,
my hair with the dampness of the night.”
3 I have taken off my robe,
must I put it back on?
I have washed my feet;
must I get them soiled again?
4 My lover thrust his hand through the latch opening of my door;
and my heart beat like a drum for him.
5 I arose to open for my darling.
My hands dripped with myrrh,
my fingers flowed with flowing myrrh,
on the handles of the bolt.
6 I opened to my lover,
but my lover had turned away and left.
My soul was crushed that he had left.
I looked for him but could not find him.
I called out to him but he did not answer.
7 The watchmen found me
as they were making their rounds in the city.
They beat me and wounded me;
they took away my cloak—
those who guard the city walls.
8 I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem:
If you find my lover,
tell him that I am sick with love.
9 How is the one you love better than others,
O most beautiful of women?
What makes him better than any other,
that you would charge us so?
10 My lover is radiant and ruddy,
outstanding among ten thousand.
11 His head is purest gold;
his hair is wavy
and black as a raven.
12 His eyes are like doves
beside streams of water,
washed in milk
and set like jewels.
13 His cheeks are like a bed of spices,
fragrantly scented.
His lips are like lilies
dripping with liquid myrrh.
14 His arms are like rods of gold
set with chrysolite.
His body is like a panel of polished ivory
overlaid with sapphires.
15 His legs are like pillars of marble
set on pedestals of pure gold.
His appearance is like Lebanon,
as majestic as the cedars.
16 His mouth is sweetness itself.
Truly, he is altogether desirable.
This is my lover, and this is my friend,
O daughters of Jerusalem.