Canticum Canticorum 8
1 [Quis mihi det te fratrem meum, sugentem ubera matris meæ, ut inveniam te foris, et deosculer te, et jam me nemo despiciat?
O that thou wert as my brother, that sucked the breasts of my mother! when I should find thee without, I would kiss thee; yea, I should not be despised.
2 Apprehendam te, et ducam in domum matris meæ: ibi me docebis, et dabo tibi poculum ex vino condito, et mustum malorum granatorum meorum.
I would lead thee, and bring thee into my mother’s house, who would instruct me: I would cause thee to drink of spiced wine of the juice of my pomegranate.
3 Læva ejus sub capite meo, et dextera illius amplexabitur me.
His left hand should be under my head, and his right hand should embrace me.
4 Sponsus Adjuro vos, filiæ Jerusalem, ne suscitetis, neque evigilare faciatis dilectam, donec ipsa velit.
I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, until he please.
5 Chorus Quæ est ista quæ ascendit de deserto, deliciis affluens, innixa super dilectum suum? Sponsus Sub arbore malo suscitavi te; ibi corrupta est mater tua, ibi violata est genitrix tua.
Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved? I raised thee up under the apple tree: there thy mother brought thee forth: there she brought thee forth that bare thee.
6 Sponsa Pone me ut signaculum super cor tuum, ut signaculum super brachium tuum, quia fortis est ut mors dilectio, dura sicut infernus æmulatio: lampades ejus lampades ignis atque flammarum. (Sheol h7585)
Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame. (Sheol h7585)
7 Aquæ multæ non potuerunt extinguere caritatem, nec flumina obruent illam. Si dederit homo omnem substantiam domus suæ pro dilectione, quasi nihil despiciet eam.
Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it: if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned.
8 Chorus Fratrum Soror nostra parva, et ubera non habet; quid faciemus sorori nostræ in die quando alloquenda est?
We have a little sister, and she hath no breasts: what shall we do for our sister in the day when she shall be spoken for?
9 Si murus est, ædificemus super eum propugnacula argentea; si ostium est, compingamus illud tabulis cedrinis.
If she be a wall, we will build upon her a palace of silver: and if she be a door, we will inclose her with boards of cedar.
10 Sponsa Ego murus, et ubera mea sicut turris, ex quo facta sum coram eo, quasi pacem reperiens.
I am a wall, and my breasts like towers: then was I in his eyes as one that found favour.
11 Chorus Fratrum Vinea fuit pacifico in ea quæ habet populos: tradidit eam custodibus; vir affert pro fructu ejus mille argenteos.
Solomon had a vineyard at Baal–hamon; he let out the vineyard unto keepers; every one for the fruit thereof was to bring a thousand pieces of silver.
12 Sponsa Vinea mea coram me est. Mille tui pacifici, et ducenti his qui custodiunt fructus ejus.
My vineyard, which is mine, is before me: thou, O Solomon, must have a thousand, and those that keep the fruit thereof two hundred.
13 Sponsus Quæ habitas in hortis, amici auscultant; fac me audire vocem tuam.
Thou that dwellest in the gardens, the companions hearken to thy voice: cause me to hear it.
14 Sponsa Fuge, dilecte mi, et assimilare capreæ, hinnuloque cervorum super montes aromatum.]
Make haste, my beloved, and be thou like to a roe or to a young hart upon the mountains of spices.
