A Troubled Night
The Shulamite
1By night on my bed I sought the one I love;
I sought him, but I did not find him.
2“I will rise now,” I said,
“And go about the city;
In the streets and in the squares
I will seek the one I love.”
I sought him, but I did not find him.
3The watchmen who go about the city found me;
I said,
“Have you seen the one I love?”
4Scarcely had I passed by them,
When I found the one I love.
I held him and would not let him go,
Until I had brought him to the house of my mother,
And into the achamber of her who conceived me.
5I bcharge you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
By the gazelles or by the does of the field,
Do not stir up nor awaken love
Until it pleases.
The Coming of Solomon
The Shulamite
6Who is this coming out of the wilderness
Like pillars of smoke,
Perfumed with myrrh and frankincense,
With all the merchant’s fragrant powders?
7Behold, it is Solomon’s couch,
With sixty valiant men around it,
Of the valiant of Israel.
8They all hold swords,
Being expert in war.
Every man has his sword on his thigh
Because of fear in the night.
9Of the wood of Lebanon
Solomon the King
Made himself a cpalanquin:
10He made its pillars of silver,
Its support of gold,
Its seat of purple,
Its interior paved with love
By the daughters of Jerusalem.
11Go forth, O daughters of Zion,
And see King Solomon with the crown
With which his mother crowned him
On the day of his wedding,
The day of the gladness of his heart.