Canticum Canticorum 1
The Song of songs, which is Solomon's.
2 Osculetur me osculo oris sui. Quia meliora sunt ubera tua vino, fragrantia unguentis optimis.
Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy breasts are better than wine.
3 Oleum effusum nomen tuum: ideo adolescentulæ dilexerunt te. Trahe me.
And the smell of thine ointments is better than all spices: thy name is ointment poured forth; therefore do the young maidens love thee.
4 Post te curremus in odorem unguentorum tuorum. Introduxit me rex in cellaria sua. Exultabimus et lætabimur in te, memores uberum tuorum super vinum. Recti diligunt te.
They have drawn thee: we will run after thee, for the smell of thine ointments: the king has brought me into closet: let us rejoice and be glad in thee; we will love thy breasts more than wine: righteousness loves thee.
5 Nigra sum, sed formosa, filiæ Ierusalem, sicut tabernacula Cedar, sicut pelles Salomonis.
I am black, but beautiful, ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon.
6 Nolite me considerare quod fusca sim, quia decoloravit me sol. Filii matris meæ pugnaverunt contra me, posuerunt me custodem in vineis: vineam meam non custodivi.
Look not upon me, because I am dark, because the sun has looked unfavourably upon me: my mother's sons strove with me; they made me keeper in the vineyards; I have not kept my own vineyard.
7 Indica mihi, quem diligit anima mea, ubi pascas, ubi cubes in meridie, ne vagari incipiam post greges sodalium tuorum.
Tell me, [thou] whom my soul loves, where thou tendest thy flock, where thou causest [them] to rest at noon, lest I become as one that is veiled by the flocks of thy companions.
8 Si ignoras te o pulcherrima inter mulieres, egredere, et abi post vestigia gregum, et pasce hœdos tuos iuxta tabernacula pastorum.
If thou know not thyself, thou fair one among women, go thou forth by the footsteps of the flocks, and feed thy kids by the shepherd's tents.
9 Equitatui meo in curribus Pharaonis assimilavi te amica mea.
I have likened thee, my companion, to my horses in the chariots of Pharao.
10 Pulchræ sunt genæ tuæ sicut turturis: collum tuum sicut monilia.
How are thy cheeks beautiful as [those] of a dove, thy neck as chains!
11 Murenulas aureas faciemus tibi, vermiculatas argento.
We will make thee figures of gold with studs of silver.
12 Dum esset rex in accubitu suo, nardus mea dedit odorem suum.
So long as the king was at table, my spikenard gave forth its smell.
13 Fasciculus myrrhæ dilectus meus mihi, inter ubera mea commorabitur.
My kinsman is to me a bundle of myrrh; he shall lie between my breasts.
14 Botrus Cypri dilectus meus mihi, in vineis Engaddi.
My kinsman is to me a cluster of camphor in the vineyards of Engaddi.
15 Ecce tu pulchra es amica mea, ecce tu pulchra es, oculi tui columbarum.
Behold, thou art fair, my companion; behold, thou art fair; thine eyes are doves.
16 Ecce tu pulcher es dilecte mi, et decorus. Lectulus noster floridus.
Behold, thou art fair, my kinsman, yea, beautiful, overshadowing our bed.
17 Tigna domorum nostrarum cedrina, laquearia nostra cypressina.
The beams of our house are cedars, our ceilings are of cypress.
