1: I'm just a wildflower picked from the plains of Sharon, a lotus blossom from the valley pools.
2: A lotus blossoming in a swamp of weeds--that's my dear friend among the girls in the village.
3: As an apricot tree stands out in the forest, my lover stands above the young men in town. All I want is to sit in his shade, to taste and savor his delicious love.
4: He took me home with him for a festive meal, but his eyes feasted on me!
5: Oh! Give me something refreshing to eat--and quickly! Apricots, raisins--anything. I'm about to faint with love!
6: His left hand cradles my head, and his right arm encircles my waist!
7: Oh, let me warn you, sisters in Jerusalem, by the gazelles, yes, by all the wild deer: Don't excite love, don't stir it up, until the time is ripe--and you're ready.
8: Look! Listen! There's my lover! Do you see him coming? Vaulting the mountains, leaping the hills.
9: My lover is like a gazelle, graceful; like a young stag, virile. Look at him there, on tiptoe at the gate, all ears, all eyes--ready!
10: My lover has arrived and he's speaking to me! Get up, my dear friend, fair and beautiful lover--come to me!
11: Look around you: Winter is over; the winter rains are over, gone!
12: Spring flowers are in blossom all over. The whole world's a choir--and singing! Spring warblers are filling the forest with sweet arpeggios.
13: Lilacs are exuberantly purple and perfumed, and cherry trees fragrant with blossoms. Oh, get up, dear friend, my fair and beautiful lover--come to me!
14: Come, my shy and modest dove--leave your seclusion, come out in the open. Let me see your face, let me hear your voice. For your voice is soothing and your face is ravishing.
15: Then you must protect me from the foxes, foxes on the prowl, Foxes who would like nothing better than to get into our flowering garden.
16: My lover is mine, and I am his. Nightly he strolls in our garden, Delighting in the flowers
17: until dawn breathes its light and night slips away. Turn to me, dear lover. Come like a gazelle. Leap like a wild stag on delectable mountains!