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?

Oh that some one would make thee as my brother that hath sucked my mother's breasts! should I then find thee without, I would kiss thee; and yet, people would not despise me.

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, I would bring thee into my mother's house, thou shouldst teach me: I would cause thee to drink of spiced wine, of the sweet juice of my pomegranate.

3 Læva ejus sub capite meo, et dextera illius amplexabitur me.

Oh that his left hand might be under my head, and that his right hand might embrace me.

4 Sponsus Adjuro vos, filiæ Jerusalem, ne suscitetis, neque evigilare faciatis dilectam, donec ipsa velit.

I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, why will ye awaken, and why will ye excite my love, until it please [to come of itself]?—

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 friend?—Under the apple-tree have I waked thee up; there thy mother brought thee forth; there brought thee forth she that bore 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 thy heart, as a seal upon thy arm; for strong as death is love; violent like the nether world is jealousy; its heat is the heat of fire, a flame of God. (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 are not able to quench love, nor can the rivers flood it away: if a man were to give all the wealth of his house for love, men would utterly despise him.—

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 yet no breasts: what shall we do for our sister on 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 enclose 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 are like towers: then was I in his eyes as one that found favor.

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 Ba'al-hamon; he had given up the vineyard unto the keepers; every one was to bring for its fruit 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 was mine, was before me: thine, O Solomon, be the thousand, and let two hundred be for those that keep its fruit.—

13 Sponsus Quæ habitas in hortis, amici auscultant; fac me audire vocem tuam.

“Thou that dwellest in the gardens, the companions listen for thy voice: oh let me hear it.”

14 Sponsa Fuge, dilecte mi, et assimilare capreæ, hinnuloque cervorum super montes aromatum.]

Flee away, my friend, and be thou like the roebuck, or the fawn of the hinds, upon the mountain of spices.