The man speaks

4 My darling, you are beautiful,

you are very beautiful!

Underneath your veil, your eyes are as gentle as [MET] doves.

Your long black hair moves from side to side like [SIM] a flock of black goats

moving down the slopes of Gilead Mountain.

2 Your teeth are very white

like [SIM] a flock of sheep whose wool has just been ◄shorn/cut off►

and that have come up from being washed in a stream.

You have all of your teeth;

none of them is missing.

3 Your lips are like [SIM] a scarlet ribbon,

and your mouth is lovely.

Beneath your veil,

your round, rosy/red cheeks are like [SIM] the halves of a pomegranate.

4 Your long neck is beautiful like [SIM] the tower of King David

that was built using layers/rows of stone.

The ornaments on your necklaces are like 1,000 [HYP] shields that are hanging on the walls of a tower;

each one belongs to a warrior.

5 Your breasts are as beautiful [SIM] as two ◄fawns/young gazelles►

that eat grass among lilies.

6 Until dawn tomorrow morning

and the nighttime shadows/darkness disappear,

I will lie close to your breasts

that are like [MET] hills that are covered with incense [DOU].

7 My darling, you are completely beautiful;

your body is perfectly formed!

8 My bride, it is as though you are in [MET] Lebanon

far away, where I cannot reach you;

come back to me.

It is as though you are inaccessible [MET]

on the top of Hermon Mountain or the nearby peaks.

Come from where the lions have their dens

and where the leopards live on the mountains.

9 My bride [DOU], you who are dearer to me than my sister, you have captured my affection [IDM]

by only once quickly looking at me,

and by one strand of jewels in your necklace.

10 My bride, your love for me is delightful!

It more delightful than wine!

And the fragrance of your perfume

is more pleasing than any spice!

11 Being kissed by you is as enjoyable as eating [MTY] honey;

your kisses are as sweet as milk mixed with honey.

The aroma of your clothes

is like [SIM] the aroma of cedar trees in Lebanon.

12 My bride, you who are dearer to me than [MET] my sister, you are like [MET] a garden that is locked

in order that other men cannot enter it;

you are like [MET] a spring or a fountain that is covered

in order that others may not drink from it.

13 You are like [MET] an orchard of pomegranate trees

full of delicious fruit,

and plenty of plants that produce henna and nard spices,

14 and saffron and calamus and cinnamon

and many other kinds of incense,

and myrrh and aloes

and many other fine spices.

15 You are like [MET] a fountain in a garden,

like [MET] a spring of clear water

that flows down from the mountains of Lebanon.