The Bride’s Dream
The bride says that on her bed at night she sought the one she loved but did not find him. She rises and searches through the city streets and squares, then asks the watchmen whether they have seen the one she loves, turning inward longing into active pursuit.
O1n my bed at night 2I will arise now and go about the city, 3I encountered the watchmen on their rounds of the city:
The bride says that soon after passing the watchmen she finds the one she loves and refuses to let him go until she has brought him into her mother's house. She then again adjures the daughters of Jerusalem not to awaken love until it pleases, binding reunion to the continuing wisdom of restraint.
4I had just passed them when I found the one I love. 5O daughters of Jerusalem, I adjure you