1Oh that thou wert as my brother, That sucked the breasts of my mother! When I should find thee without , I would kiss thee ; Yea , and none would despise me . 2I would lead thee, and bring thee into my mother’s house , Who would instruct me ; I would cause thee to drink of spiced wine , Of the juice of my pomegranate . 3His left hand should be under my head , And his right hand should embrace me . 4I adjure you , O daughters of Jerusalem , That ye stir not up , nor awake my love , Until he please .
The Power of Love
5Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness , Leaning upon her beloved ? Under the apple-tree I awakened thee: There thy mother was in travail with thee, There was she in travail that brought thee forth . 6Set me as a seal upon thy heart , As a seal upon thine arm : For love is strong as death ; Jealousy is cruel as Sheol ; The flashes thereof are flashes of fire , A very flame of Jehovah . 7Many waters cannot quench love, Neither can floods drown it : If a man would give all the substance of his house for love, He would utterly be contemned.
The Call to Commitment
8We have a little sister, And she hath no breasts : What shall we do for our sister In the day when she shall be spoken for ? 9If she be a wall , We will build upon her a turret of silver : And if she be a door , We will inclose her with boards of cedar. 10I am a wall , and my breasts like the towers thereof : Then was I in his eyes as one that found peace . 11Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon ; He let out the vineyard unto keepers ; Every one for the fruit thereof was to bring a thousand pieces of silver . 12My vineyard , which is mine , is before me : Thou , O Solomon , shalt have the thousand, And those that keep the fruit thereof two hundred . 13Thou that dwellest in the gardens , The companions hearken for thy voice : Cause me to hear it. 14Make haste , my beloved , And be thou like to a roe or to a young hart Upon the mountains of spices .