Shir Hashirim

One of the great series of poems of all centuries, The Song of Songs, as the translator writes in his Introduction, has continued to be recognized as the most profound and beautiful book of love poems in the world, "despite centuries of intentional miscopying and alterations."

In this translation, the noted Clasical and Biblical scholar and translator Willis Barnstone purposely remained close to the original and austere in tone. " I have resisted the trap of improving upon The Song of Songs," writes Barnstone, seeking instead to mirror the original and meaning of the great Hebrew poem, which, "with no need of ornamentation, through time's rags and tatered texts, sings itself, its love, passion, and beauty."