1   
I wish that you were my brother,
  that my mother had nursed you at her breast.
Then, if I met you in the street,
  I could kiss you and no one would mind.

2   
I would take you to my mother's house,
  where you could teach me love.

I would give you spiced wine,
  my pomegranate wine to drink.

3   
Your left hand is under my head,
  and your right hand caresses me.

4   
Promise me, women of Jerusalem,
  that you will not interrupt our love.
The Sixth Song The Women

5   
Who is this coming from the desert,
  arm in arm with her lover?
The Woman

5   
Under the apple tree I woke you,
  in the place where you were born.

6   
Close your heart to every love but mine;
  hold no one in your arms but me.
Love is as powerful as death;
  passion is as strong as death itself.
It bursts into flame
  and burns like a raging fire.

7   
Water cannot put it out;
  no flood can drown it.
But if anyone tried to buy love with his wealth,
  contempt is all he would get.
The Woman's Brothers

8   
We have a young sister,
  and her breasts are still small.
What will we do for her
  when a young man comes courting?

9   
If she is a wall,
  we will build her a silver tower.
But if she is a gate,
  we will protect her with panels of cedar.
The Woman

10   
I am a wall,
  and my breasts are its towers.
My lover knows that with him
  I find contentment and peace.
The Man

11   
Solomon has a vineyard
  in a place called Baal Hamon.
There are farmers who rent it from him;
  each one pays a thousand silver coins.

12   
Solomon is welcome to his thousand coins,
  and the farmers to two hundred as their share;
I have a vineyard of my own!

13   
Let me hear your voice from the garden, my love;
  my companions are waiting to hear you speak.
The Woman

14   
Come to me, my lover, like a gazelle,
  like a young stag on the mountains where spices grow.

Previous section