The Journey to the Countryside

The Beloved to Her Lover:

11 Come, my beloved, let us go to the countryside;

let us spend the night in the villages.

12 Let us rise early to go to the vineyards,

to see if the vines have budded,

to see if their blossoms have opened,

if the pomegranates are in bloom –

there I will give you my love.

13 The mandrakes send out their fragrance;

over our door is every delicacy,

both new and old, which I have stored up for you, my lover.