CH. VI.

VIRGIN 1.

13 Return, return, O Solima!

Return, return, that we may behold thee!

VIRGIN 2.

What would ye behold in Solima?

VIRGIN 1.

As it were the chorus of two bands.

CH. VII.

SECTION XI. [6th Morning.]

FIRST VIRGIN.

How beautiful are thy feet in sandals,
O prince's daughter!

The cincture of thy loins is like jewellery,
The work of an artist's hands.

2 Thy clasp a round goblet, which wanteth not mixed wine:

Thy body a heap of wheat, encompassed with lilies.

3 Thy breasts are like twin fawns of the roe: 4 Thy neck is like a tower of ivory.

Thine eyes are as the pools in Heshbon,
By the gate of Bath-rabbim:

Thy nose is like the tower of Lebanon,
Looking toward Damascus.

5 Thy head upon thee is like Carmel ;
And the tresses of thy head like the Porpura.

SECOND VIRGIN.

The king is detained in the galleries.

BRIDEGROOM.

6 How beautiful and how pleasing art thou, O love, for delights!

7 This thy stature is like the palm-tree, And thy breasts are like [its] clusters.

CH. VII.

8 I said, I will ascend the palm-tree;

I will clasp its branches:

And thy breasts shall be to me as clusters of the vine,

And the odour of thy breath like citrons. 9 Also thy palate is as the best wine,

Which is sent to those whom I love for their integrity;

And causeth the lips of them who are asleep

to murmur.

SPOUSE.

10 I am my beloved's, and his desire is toward

me.

SECTION XII. [6th Evening.]

SPOUSE.

11 Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the fields,

Let us lodge in the villages.

12 We shall be ready for the vineyards,
We shall see whether the vine flourish,
[Whether] the tender bud open,
[Or] the pomegranate blossom.

There will I

grant thee my affections. 13 The mandrakes yield their odour,

And over our gates are all precious fruits,
Both new and old,

[Which] my beloved, I have reserved for
thee.

O that thou wert as my brother,

That sucked the breasts of my mother!
Should I find thee in the street,

I would kiss thee, and not be despised.

CH. VIII.

2 I would lead thee, I would bring thee
Into the house of my mother, who would
instruct me.

I would cause thee to drink of spiced wine,
Of the new wine of my pomegranates.
[To the Virgins.]

3 His left hand is under my head,
And his right hand embraceth me.
4 I adjure ye, O daughters of Jerusalem,
Why should ye disturb, or why awake
The lovely one, until it please him?

SECTION XIII. [7th Morning.]

VIRGINS.

5 Who is this that came from the wilderness, Leaning upon her beloved?

BRIDEGROOM.

Under the citron tree I courted thee;
There thy mother plighted thee unto me,
[Even] there she that bare thee plighted

thee unto me.

SPOUSE.

6 Place me as a signet upon thine heart,
As a signet upon thine arm:
For love is strong as death;
Jealousy is cruel as the grave;
The darts thereof are darts of fire,
Which have the fiery flame of JAH.
↑ Many waters cannot quench love;
Neither can the floods drown it.

If a man would give all the substance of his
house for love,

It would utterly be contemned.

CH. VIII.

SECTION XIV. [7th Evening.]

SPOUSE.

8 We have a sister who is little, and her breasts are not [grown;]

What shall we do for our sister in the day that she is spoken for?

BRIDEGROOM.

9 If she be a wall, we will build on her turrets of silver;

If she be a door, we will enclose her with boards of cedar.

SPOUSE.

10 I am a wall, and my breasts are like towers: Thence was I in his eyes as one that findeth

peace.

TO THE VIRGINS.

11 Solomon hath a vineyard at Baal-hamon : He hath let the vineyard to keepers, Each shall bring for the fruit thereof a thousand silverlings.

TO THE BRIDEGROOM.

12 My own vineyard is before me;

A thousand to thee, O Solomon !

And two hundred to the keepers of its fruits.

BRIDEGROOM.

13 O thou who inhabitest the gardens, The companions listen to thy voice, Cause me to hear it!

SPOUSE.

14 Haste thee, my beloved,

And be thou like an antelope, or a young

hart,

Upon the craggy mountains.

END OF THE POEM.

A NEW

COMMENTARY

ON THE

SONG OF SOLOMON,

WITH NOTES.

T