Flower, Lily, and Fruitful Tree

The woman describes herself with ordinary field-flower imagery; the man answers that she is like a lily among thorns. She then pictures him as a fruit tree among forest trees, a place of shade, delight, and sweetness. The metaphors work through contrast: among many others, each beloved is uniquely desirable.

The KJV’s “rose of Sharon” is famous, but the Hebrew flower is uncertain and is probably not the modern rose people picture. The most important point is not botany but the poetic exchange: she names herself as a flower of the plain, he intensifies the compliment, and she answers with fruitful shelter.