“Tell her,” the Song teaches men. “Tell her of how you delight in the one you love.” Tell her also you are captured. Notice this:
You have ravished my heart, my sister, my bride,
you have ravished my heart with a glance of your eyes,
with one jewel of your necklace (4:9).
Her eyes and the solitary jewel of her necklace evoke his love for her. So much so that his heart has been stolen or his heart has become inflamed in passion. Euphoric delight, sensuous overload, bodies yearning for one another.
10 How sweet is your love, my sister, my bride!
how much better is your love than wine,
and the fragrance of your oils than any spice!
11 Your lips distill nectar, my bride;
honey and milk are under your tongue;
the scent of your garments is like the scent of Lebanon.
He contemplates her kisses in their lovemaking, her soft, supple, and sensuous lips, and he brings that contemplation into words — your caresses, your love, he tells her, are better than wine and her fragrance better than any spice he has known. Her lips “distill nectar” and under her tongue are not only wine — he ups her previous language — but also honey and milk. Even her clothing evokes the scents of Lebanon.