I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem,
by the gazelles and hinds of the field,
Do not arouse, do not stir up love before its own time.
I came down to the nut garden to look at the fresh growth of the valley,
To see if the vines were in bloom, if the pomegranates had blossomed.
Before I knew it, my heart had made me the blessed of my kinswomen.
I belong to my lover and for me he yearns.
Come, my lover, let us go forth to the fields
and spend the night among the villages.
Let us go early to the vineyards, and see if the vines are in bloom,
If the buds have opened, if the pomegranates have blossomed.
Set me as a seal on your heart as a seal on your arm;
For stern as death is love,
relentless as the nether world is devotion;
its flames are a blazing fire.
Deep waters cannot quench love, nor floods sweep it away.
Were one to offer all he owns to purchase love,
he would be roundly mocked.
from Song of Songs (of the Hebrew Scriptures)
