¶ I am the rose¹ of Sharon, and the lily² of the valleys.

³As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.

¶ As the apple tree⁴ among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved⁵ among the sons. I sat⁶ down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit⁷ was sweet to my taste⁸.

He brought⁹ me to the banqueting house¹⁰, and his banner¹¹ over me was love.

Stay¹² me with flagons¹³, comfort me¹⁴ with apples: for I am sick of love.

¹⁵His left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me.

I charge you,¹⁶ O ye¹⁷ daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes¹⁸, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir¹⁹ not up, nor awake my love, till he please.

¶ The voice²⁰ of my beloved! behold, he cometh leaping²¹ upon the mountains²², skipping upon the hills.

My beloved is like²³ a roe or a young hart: behold, he standeth²⁴ behind our wall, he looketh forth at the windows, shewing²⁵ himself through the lattice.

¶ My beloved spake²⁶, and said unto me, Rise²⁷ up, my love, my fair one, and come away.

²⁸For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone;

The flowers²⁹ appear on the earth; the time³⁰ of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle³¹ is heard in our land;

The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise³³, my love, my fair one, and come away.

¶ O my dove³⁴, that art³⁵ in the clefts³⁶ of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear³⁷ thy voice; for sweet³⁸ is thy voice, and thy countenance³⁹ is comely.

Take us the foxes⁴⁰, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender⁴¹ grapes.

My beloved⁴² is mine, and I am his: he⁴³ feedeth among the lilies.

Until the day⁴⁴ break, and the shadows⁴⁵ flee away, turn, my beloved⁴⁶, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether⁴⁷.