1By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth: I sought him , but I found him not . 2I said , I will rise now , and go about the city ; In the streets and in the broad ways I will seek him whom my soul loveth: I sought him , but I found him not . 3The watchmen that go about the city found me ; To whom I said , Saw ye him whom my soul loveth? 4It was but a little that I passed from them , When I found him whom my soul loveth: I held him , and would not let him go , Until I had brought him into my mother’s house , And into the chamber of her that conceived me .
The Arrival of the Beloved
5I adjure you , O daughters of Jerusalem , By the roes , or by the hinds of the field , That ye stir not up , nor awake my love , Until he please . 6Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness Like pillars of smoke , Perfumed with myrrh and frankincense , With all powders of the merchant ? 7Behold , it is the litter of Solomon ; Threescore mighty men are about it , Of the mighty men of Israel . 8They all handle the sword , and are expert in war : Every man hath his sword upon his thigh , Because of fear in the night . 9King Solomon made himself a palanquin Of the wood of Lebanon . 10He made the pillars thereof of silver , The bottom thereof of gold , the seat of it of purple, The midst thereof being paved with love, From the daughters of Jerusalem . 11Go forth , O ye daughters of Zion , and behold king Solomon , With the crown wherewith his mother hath crowned him In the day of his espousals , And in the day of the gladness of his heart .