In escorting the shepherd to her mother’s home the maiden accomplishes two goals: she gains approval from her mother and the brothers of the shepherd, and she fulfills her dream of consummating their vows in the place where she was “schooled” by her mother in the art of romance and lovemaking. “Spiced wine” and mandrake apples were renowned aphrodisiacs in Egypt and Mesopotamia. The phrase “nectar of my pomegranates” (8:2) has distinctly erotic connotations, the woman’s breasts being identified with pomegranates in Egyptian love poetry (cf. Carr, 167; Hess, 230). The love repose the maiden imagined in 2:6 will soon be a reality, as the awakening of love fancied in 4:16 now comes to fruition. The refrain closing this major section of the poem carries the full force intended by the writer. …