In 6.2-3 the young woman responds with a beautiful poem, featuring parallelism, repetition, assonance, alliteration, rhythm, and rhyme.

We first note the repetitive sounds o, i, sh, and m, and the repetitive words and roots dodi “lover,” gan “garden,” raʿah “to shepherd, pasture,” and shoshannim “lilies.” There is grammatical parallelism: “to his garden”—“to beds of spices”; “to shepherd”—“to gather”; and a chiastic structure in the first part of the third line based on the word “my lover.” In the second line there is internal rhyme, with the repetitive li … ot … im. The final words in each line also have similar sounds.

It will certainly not be possible for every one of these features to be conveyed in the translation, but the translator should be aware of the poetic nature of the woman’s response. There is something triumphant about her declaration, and the poetic devices clearly play a role in creating this feeling. These two verses must be translated as a unit, and an attempt should be made to render them in an appropriate poetic form.

In verse 2 the young woman responds to the question of verse 1 in a rather puzzling way. Her lover is not lost after all but is with her, clearly enjoying the delights she offers. As noted above, there seems to be a note of triumph in this declaration; she is with him, and no one else can have him. The question in verse 1 sets up the young woman’s response. Whether the young man has suddenly appeared or he simply was not lost, this verse should be translated with the understanding that the young man is present.

My beloved has gone down to his garden: on My beloved see earlier comments in 1.13. When she says he has gone down or “come down” to his garden, the young woman is certainly using a metaphor or a euphemism to speak about their lovemaking. If stating the direction down seems unnatural, we can omit this detail and translate quite generally, as Good News Translation does with “has gone to his garden.” On his garden see 4.12; 5.1. Since the woman is using these phrases to refer to herself, we can clarify the meaning by adding the prepositional phrase “to me,” giving a rendering “My lover has come to me, his garden,” or “My love is with me, here in his garden.”

To the beds of spices: the same expression was used in 5.13. We note that in both places the word “lilies” also occurs nearby. In the earlier verse the young man’s cheeks (or beard) were compared to beds of spices, but here there is no reference to any particular body part. Furthermore, in this context beds of spices appears to be used by the young woman to refer to herself. It has the same sense as “garden”—itself a metaphor. More literal translations such as New International Version and New Jerusalem Bible translate these expressions in exactly the same way, thus preserving the literary link between the verses. Good News Translation on the other hand translates these expressions in two different ways: “full of herbs and spices” (5.13) and “where the balsam trees grow” (6.2). Even though these may be referring to different parts of the body, we should use the same expression in both places to preserve the literary style of the poem.

To pasture his flock in the gardens is literally “to pasture in the gardens.” Revised Standard Version supplies his flock as the object of the verb pasture, as do Good News Translation and Jerusalem Bible. New English Bible, however, understands the verb to mean “delight in.” Although in 1.7 the verb appears to have its basic and concrete meaning, “to shepherd,” here and in verse 3 it is metaphorical for enjoying the delights of “the garden,” the young woman’s body. Gardens is a plural form in Hebrew but can be rendered as singular, for it refers to the young woman herself. We can say “He is delighting in this garden” or “He enjoys this garden of mine.”

To gather lilies: gather or “pluck” is another metaphor for enjoying what the garden offers. References to lilies connects us back to 5.13 and numerous other places in the Song (2.1; 4.5; 7.2) where the young woman’s beauty is described. Like the previous reference to enjoying the garden, here too there is a sexual meaning present.

Although both these latter expressions are purpose clauses using infinitive forms, they can be translated either in that manner or as independent clauses describing what the young man is doing: “He is enjoying the garden. He is gathering lilies.” In many languages we can combine these two for a more poetic rendering, “He is enjoying the garden, as he picks the lilies [growing there].”

For translation we suggest the following:

• My lover has gone down to his garden,
To the place where spices grow.
He delights in the garden,
Picking lilies there.

• My beloved has come to me,
To his garden where spices grow.
He enjoys its delights,
Picking the lilies.

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Zogbo, Lynell. A Handbook on the Book of Song of Songs. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1998. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .