As at 3:1-5, the woman wants to take her lover to her mother’s home, and not only to her home but into her mother’s bedroom — to her “chamber” (8:2). And, once again, not clear when it comes to fantasy or reality, she says what will happen when they are there:
2 I would give you spiced wine to drink,
the juice of my pomegranates.
3 O that his left hand were under my head,
and that his right hand embraced me!
Clearly — no that’s the wrong word — suggestively, she speaks of what will happen when they are in the bedchamber. Her “spiced wine” is her love as is the “juice of her pomegranates.” It is far better to enjoy the suggestiveness and the provocation — pondering what she means — than to land hard on some firm interpretation — that is, pomegranates are breasts.
This leads her once again to speak to the daughters of Jerusalem.
4 I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
do not stir up or awaken love
until it is ready!
Is she saying that they should hold off love until they are ready? Or, which seems more likely in this context, is she suggesting that the love she knows with her lover is so powerful, so overwhelming, that you better know what you are getting into because is powerful, intoxicating, and ravishing. When it is ready, when love awakens, it can’t be stopped.
Then the daughters ask: “Who is that coming up from the wilderness,
leaning upon her beloved?” (8:5)
The couple is together now. They are being watched. Are they walking together or are they seeing them in a royal carriage?