1[Lad.] Whither is thy beloved gone, thou fairest among women? Whither hath thy beloved betaken himself? That we may seek him with thee. 2[M.] My beloved is gone down to his garden, To the beds of balsam, To feed in the gardens, And to gather lilies. 3I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine; He feedeth among the lilies. 4Beautiful art thou, my love, as Tirzah, Lovely as Jerusalem; But terrible as an army with banners. 5Turn away thine eyes from me! They overpower me! Thy locks are like a flock of goats, Which lie down upon Gilead. 6Thy teeth are like a flock of sheep, Which come up from the washing-place, Of which every one hath twins, And none is barren among them. 7As a divided pomegranate Are thy cheeks behind thy veil. 8Threescore are the queens, and fourscore the concubines, And the maidens without number. 9But my dove, my undefiled, is the one; She is the incomparable one of her mother, The darling of her that bore her. The daughters saw her, and blessed her; The queens and concubines, and they praised her. 10[Lov.] Who is this that looketh forth like the morning, Fair as the moon, bright as the sun, And terrible as an army with banners? 11[M.] I went down into the garden of nuts, To see the green plants of the valley, To see whether the vine blossomed, And the pomegranates budded. 12Or ever I was aware, My soul had made me like the chariots of the prince’s train. 13[Lad.] Return, return, O Shulamite! Return, return, that we may look upon thee! [M.] Why should ye look upon the Shulamite, As upon a dance of the hosts?