Classic Poem

CHAP. VI.

PART I.

The Daughters of Jerusalem .

O Thou, who hast more charms ingrost,
Than all our sex beside can boast!
Whither is thy beloved gone?
Tell, whither is thy love withdrawn?
Which way he turn'd let us but know,
We'll all to seek him with thee go.

The B RIDE .

To's garden he's gone to retire,
Where beds of spice their sweets expire.
To's gardens, where he feeds, and where
He gathers lillies sweet and fair.
My love is mine, and I am his;
His pasture 'mong the lillies is.

The B RIDEGROOM .

As Tirzah fair, my love, you seem,
And comely as Jerusalem .
Among thy milder graces now
An awful dread reigns on thy brow;
Like armies that for war prepare,
And to the field their ensigns bear.
O turn from me those conquering eyes,
Whose powerful charms my heart surprize!
Thy hair, all curl'd in curious locks,
Seem like those goats in numerous flocks,
That on mount Gilead's brow appear,
Climbing to find sweet pasture there.
Within thy lovely mouth there grows
A set of teeth in even rows;
Like flocks of sheep of equal size,
Just as they from the waters rise,
And to be shorn from washing come,
Bearing their snowy fleeces home;
Or like the pretty twins they bear,
When none of them abortive are.
Thy temples shaded with thy hair,
And cheeks, like cut pomegranates are:
As those abound with purple-veins,
In these a blushing tincture reigns.