There trees of sweet frankincense,

Various are found;

There aloes, and shrubs

Of rich odour abound.
And there is that fountain,
Whose stream ever flows,
As cool and as fresh

As from Lebanon's snows.
Breathe gently, O north wind,
And southern gale;

And let my fair garden,
Its perfumes exhale.

THE SHULAMITE.

Now to his own garden fair,
Let my dearly loved repair ;
And from the richly-laden bough,
Let its fruits refresh him now.

[They enter the garden.]

THE SHEPHERD.

I'm come to my garden, my fair one, my love,
And gather my spices and myrrh from the grove;
My food is of honey, extracted from flowers,
The fairest and sweetest that bloom in the bowers;
My drink is of milk, and of generous wines
Produced from the grapes of the choicest of vines ;
My much-loved companions, oh, hither repair,
My fruits and my wines now abundantly share.

V.

[A Room in the King's Palace. The Shulamite, brought back again, relates to the Daughters of Ferusalem a dream she had of her beloved.]

THE SHULAMITE.

AT night when wearied I was sleeping,'
My anxious heart awake was keeping,
And thus methought that I could hear
The voice of one to me most dear.
He gently knock'd, and said, "My love,
Open to me, my own sweet dove;
My head the evening dews have chill'd,
My hair the drops of night have fill'd."
My robe, I petulantly cried,

I have put off and laid aside,

And must I dress again?

Must I arise ? and is it meet
That I again should soil my feet

And have them wash'd in vain ?
.Then from the door my own beloved
His hand too speedily removed—
And soon my heart was torn in twain
At those sad words he spoke in vain.

2 Note II.

No more delay could I abide-
I rose, and ran to open wide
The door of my abode.

Then from my hands with perfumes' fill'd,
Richly the liquid myrrh distill'd,

And down the portal flow'd,

4

I open'd to my loved one wide +
But ah! my heart within me died,
My loved one was not there.
I sought him, but I sought in vain ;
I call'd! he answer'd not again
The cry of my despair.

The guards in their patrol at night
Then met me in my rapid flight-
And heartless, made me stay.

With cruel blows they struck me down,
While they who keep our walls and town.
Tore all my veil away.

Daughters of Zion, fair and kind!
If ye my loved one e'er should find,
I charge you tell him how I languish-
How pines my loving heart with anguish.

THE DAUGHTERS OF JERUSALEM..

Fairest of maidens, we beseech thee tell
In what thou deem'st thy loved one to excel,

3 Note 12.

+ Note 13.