Longing for Her Beloved

1O that I might fynde the without & kysse ye, whom I loue as my brother which suckte my mothers brestes: & that thou woldest not be offended,

2yf I toke the and brought the in to my mothers house: that thou mightest teach me, and that I might geue the drynke of spyced wyne and of the swete sappe of my pomgranates.

3His left hande lyeth vnder my heade, & his right hande embraceth me.

4I charge you (o ye daughters of Ierusale) that ye wake not vp my loue ner touch her, tyll she be content herself.

5What is she this, that cometh vp from the wildernes, and leaneth vpon hir loue? I am the same that waked the vp amonge the aple trees, where thy mother beare ye, where yi mother brought the in to the worlde.

6O set me as a seale vpo thine hert, and as a seale vpon thine arme: for loue is mightie as the death, & gelousy as the hell. Hir coales are of fyre, and a very flamme of the LORDE:

7so yt many waters are not able to quench loue, nether maye ye streames drowne it. Yee yf a man wolde geue all the good of his house for loue, he shulde counte it nothinge.

8When oure loue is tolde oure yonge sister, whose brestes are not yet growne, what shal we do vnto her?

9Yf she be a wall, we shal buylde a syluer bollworke there vpon: Yf she be a tower, we shal festen her with bordes of Cedre tre.

10Yf I be a wall, & my brestes like towres, then am I as one that hath founde fauoure in his sight.

11Salomon had a vynyarde at Baal Hamon, this vynyarde delyuered he vnto the kepers: yt euery one for the frute therof shulde geue him a thousande peces of syluer.

12But my vynyarde (o Salomon) geueth the a thousande, and two hundreth to ye kepers of the frute.

13Thou that dwellest in the gardens, O let me heare thy voyce, that my companyons maye herken to the same.

14O get the awaye (my loue) as a roo or a yonge hert vnto the swete smellinge moutaynes.