The Song of Songs Second Encounter

[Woman] The sound of my lover! here he comes springing across the mountains, leaping across the hills. My lover is like a gazelle or a young stag. See! He is standing behind our wall, gazing through the windows, peering through the lattices. My lover speaks and says to me, [Man] Arise, my friend, my beautiful one, and come! For see, the winter is past, the rains are over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth, the time of pruning the vines has come, and the song of the turtledove is heard in our land. The fig tree puts forth its figs, and the vines, in bloom, give forth fragrance. Arise, my friend, my beautiful one, and come! My dove in the clefts of the rock, in the secret recesses of the cliff, Let me see your face, let me hear your voice, For your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely. [Woman] Catch us the foxes, the little foxes that damage the vineyards; for our vineyards are in bloom! My lover belongs to me and I to him; he feeds among the lilies. Until the day grows cool and the shadows flee, roam, my lover, Like a gazelle or a young stag upon the rugged mountains. [Instrumental] [Woman] On my bed at night I sought him whom my soul loves— I sought him but I did not find him. “Let me rise then and go about the city, through the streets and squares; Let me seek him whom my soul loves.” I sought him but I did not find him. The watchmen found me, as they made their rounds in the city: “Him whom my soul loves—have you seen him?” Hardly had I left them when I found him whom my soul loves. I held him and would not let him go until I had brought him to my mother’s house, to the chamber of her who conceived me. I adjure you, Daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles and the does of the field, Do not awaken or stir up love until it is ready. [Female Choir] Who is this coming up from the desert, like columns of smoke Perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all kinds of exotic powders? See! it is the litter of Solomon; sixty valiant men surround it, of the valiant men of Israel: All of them expert with the sword, skilled in battle, Each with his sword at his side against the terrors of the night. King Solomon made himself an enclosed litter of wood from Lebanon. He made its columns of silver, its roof of gold, Its seat of purple cloth, its interior lovingly fitted. Daughters of Jerusalem, go out and look upon King Solomon In the crown with which his mother has crowned him on the day of his marriage, on the day of the joy of his heart. [End] For your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely. [Woman] Catch us the foxes, the little foxes that damage the vineyards; for our vineyards are in bloom! My lover belongs to me and I to him; he feeds among the lilies. Until the day grows cool and the shadows flee, roam, my lover, Like a gazelle or a young stag upon the rugged mountains. [Instrumental] [Woman] On my bed at night I sought him whom my soul loves— I sought him but I did not find him. “Let me rise then and go about the city, through the streets and squares; Let me seek him whom my soul loves.” I sought him but I did not find him. The watchmen found me, as they made their rounds in the city: “Him whom my soul loves—have you seen him?” Hardly had I left them when I found him whom my soul loves. I held him and would not let him go until I had brought him to my mother’s house, to the chamber of her who conceived me. I adjure you, Daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles and the does of the field, Do not awaken or stir up love until it is ready. [Female Choir] Who is this coming up from the desert, like columns of smoke Perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all kinds of exotic powders? See! it is the litter of Solomon; sixty valiant men surround it, of the valiant men of Israel: All of them expert with the sword, skilled in battle, Each with his sword at his side against the terrors of the night. King Solomon made himself an enclosed litter of wood from Lebanon. He made its columns of silver, its roof of gold, Its seat of purple cloth, its interior lovingly fitted. Daughters of Jerusalem, go out and look upon King Solomon In the crown with which his mother has crowned him on the day of his marriage, on the day of the joy of his heart. [End] the field, Do not awaken or stir up love until it is ready. [Female Choir] Who is this coming up from the desert, like columns of smoke Perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all kinds of exotic powders? See! it is the litter of Solomon; sixty valiant men surround it, of the valiant men of Israel: All of them expert with the sword, skilled in battle, Each with his sword at his side against the terrors of the night. King Solomon made himself an enclosed litter of wood from Lebanon. He made its columns of silver, its roof of gold, Its seat of purple cloth, its interior lovingly fitted. Daughters of Jerusalem, go out and look upon King Solomon In the crown with which his mother has crowned him on the day of his marriage, on the day of the joy of his heart. [End]