Now the young man speaks back:
1:15 Ah, you are beautiful, my love;
ah, you are beautiful;
your eyes are doves.
They are in a dialogue now of mutual admiration, an admiration time that evokes delight in their love for one another.
“Ah” could be translated “Look at you!” “You are beautiful” he says to her. He is amazed and delighted in the amazement. He doubles his lines.
“Your eyes are doves” — soft, cooing, gentle, beautiful. Her eyes speak to him of these things. They talk. The dove is the image of love; it is the love bird.
She speaks back to his charming words about her:
1:16 Ah, you are beautiful, my beloved,
truly lovely.
Our couch is green;
17 the beams of our house are cedar,
our rafters are pine.
She says the same of him, “You are beautiful, too.” Captured by his loving beauty and their delight, she looks to the bed …
The “couch is green” suggests earthiness and we are led to ask “Are they in the woods?” Is she looking up to see cedar and pine trees as the canopy under which their grassy bed sits? Or, does his presence with her convert space into Eden?