Chapter 7

Admiration by the Bridegroom

¹How beautiful are your sandaled feet,

O daughter of the prince!

The curves of your thighs are like jewels,

the handiwork of a master.

²Your navel is a rounded goblet;

it never lacks blended wine.

Your waist is a mound of wheat

encircled by the lilies.

³Your breasts are like two fawns,

twins of a gazelle.

⁴Your neck is like a tower

made of ivory;

your eyes are like the pools of Heshbon

by the gate of Bath-rabbim;

your nose is like the tower of Lebanon,

facing toward Damascus.

⁵Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel,

the hair of your head like purple threads;

the king is captured in your tresses.

⁶How fair and pleasant you are,

O love, with your delights!

⁷Your stature is like a palm tree;

your breasts are clusters of fruit.

⁸I said, “I will climb the palm tree;

I will take hold of its fruit.”

May your breasts be like clusters of the vine,

the fragrance of your breath like apples,

⁹and your mouth^a like the finest wine.

The Bride

May it flow smoothly to my beloved,

gliding gently over lips and teeth.^b

¹⁰I belong to my beloved,

and his desire is for me.

¹¹Come, my beloved,

let us go to the countryside;

let us spend the night among the wildflowers.^c

¹²Let us go early to the vineyards

to see if the vine has budded,

if the blossom has opened,

if the pomegranates are in bloom—

there I will give you my love.

¹³The mandrakes send forth a fragrance,

and at our door is every delicacy,

new as well as old,

that I have treasured up for you, my beloved.