Canticum Canticorum 5
1 Veni in hortum meum soror mea sponsa: messui myrrham meam cum aromatibus meis: comedi favum cum melle meo, bibi vinum meum cum lacte meo: comedite amici, et bibite, et inebriamini charissimi.
Bride: May my beloved enter into his garden, and eat the fruit of his apple trees. Groom to Bride: I have arrived in my garden, O my sister, my spouse. I have harvested my myrrh, with my aromatic oils. I have eaten the honeycomb with my honey. I have drunk my wine with my milk. Eat, O friends, and drink, and be inebriated, O most beloved.
2 Ego dormio, et cor meum vigilat: vox dilecti mei pulsantis: Aperi mihi soror mea, amica mea, columba mea, immaculata mea: quia caput meum plenum est rore, et cincinni mei guttis noctium.
Bride: I sleep, yet my heart watches. The voice of my beloved knocking: Groom to Bride: Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my immaculate one. For my head is full of dew, and the locks of my hair are full of the drops of the night.
3 Expoliavi me tunica mea, quomodo induar illa? Lavi pedes meos, quomodo inquinabo illos?
Bride: I have taken off my tunic; how shall I be clothed in it? I have washed my feet; how shall I spoil them?
4 Dilectus meus misit manum suam per foramen, et venter meus intremuit ad tactum eius.
My beloved put his hand through the window, and my inner self was moved by his touch.
5 Surrexi, ut aperirem dilecto meo: manus meæ stillaverunt myrrham, et digiti mei pleni myrrha probatissima.
I rose up in order to open to my beloved. My hands dripped with myrrh, and my fingers were full of the finest myrrh.
6 Pessulum ostii mei aperui dilecto meo: at ille declinaverat, atque transierat. Anima mea liquefacta est, ut locutus est: quæsivi, et non inveni illum: vocavi, et non respondit mihi.
I opened the bolt of my door to my beloved. But he had turned aside and had gone away. My soul melted when he spoke. I sought him, and did not find him. I called, and he did not answer me.
7 Invenerunt me custodes qui circumeunt civitatem: percusserunt me, et vulneraverunt me: tulerunt pallium meum mihi custodes murorum.
The keepers who circulate through the city found me. They struck me, and wounded me. The keepers of the walls took my veil away from me.
8 Adiuro vos filiæ Ierusalem, si inveneritis dilectum meum, ut nuncietis ei quia amore langueo.
I bind you by oath, O daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my beloved, announce to him that I languish through love.
9 Qualis est dilectus tuus ex dilecto, o pulcherrima mulierum? Qualis est dilectus tuus ex dilecto, quia sic adiurasti nos?
Chorus to Bride: What kind of beloved is your beloved, O most beautiful among women? What kind of beloved is your beloved, so that you would bind us by oath?
10 Dilectus meus candidus et rubicundus, electus ex millibus.
Bride: My beloved is white and ruddy, elect among thousands.
11 Caput eius aurum optimum: Comæ eius sicut elatæ palmarum, nigræ quasi corvus.
His head is like the finest gold. His locks are like the heights of palm trees, and as black as a raven.
12 Oculi eius sicut columbæ super rivulos aquarum, quæ lacte sunt lotæ, et resident iuxta fluenta plenissima.
His eyes are like doves, which have been washed with milk over rivulets of waters, and which reside near plentiful streams.
13 Genæ illius sicut areolæ aromatum consitæ a pigmentariis. Labia eius lilia distillantia myrrham primam.
His cheeks are like a courtyard of aromatic plants, sown by perfumers. His lips are like lilies, dripping with the best myrrh.
14 Manus illius tornatiles aureæ, plenæ hyacinthis. Venter eius eburneus, distinctus sapphiris.
His hands are smoothed gold, full of hyacinths. His abdomen is ivory, accented with sapphires.
15 Crura illius columnæ marmoreæ, quæ fundatæ sunt super bases aureas. Species eius ut Libani, electus ut cedri.
His legs are columns of marble, which have been established over bases of gold. His appearance is like that of Lebanon, elect like the cedars.
16 Guttur illius suavissimum, et totus desiderabilis: talis est dilectus meus, et ipse est amicus meus, filiæ Ierusalem.
His throat is most sweet, and he is entirely desirable. Such is my beloved, and he is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.
