Canticum Canticorum 8
1 Quis mihi det te fratrem meum sugentem ubera matris meæ, ut inveniam te foris, et deosculer te, et iam me nemo despiciat?
Who doth make thee as a brother to me, Sucking the breasts of my mother? I find thee without, I kiss thee, Yea, they do 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 lead thee, I bring thee in unto my mother's house, She doth teach me, I cause thee to drink of the perfumed wine, Of the juice of my pomegranate,
3 Læva eius sub capite meo, et dextera illius amplexabitur me.
His left hand [is] under my head, And his right doth embrace me.
4 Adiuro vos filiæ Ierusalem, ne suscitetis, neque evigilare faciatis dilectam donec ipsa velit.
I have adjured you, daughters of Jerusalem, How ye stir up, And how ye wake the love till she please!
5 Quæ est ista, quæ ascendit de deserto, deliciis affluens, innixa super dilectum suum? Sub arbore malo suscitavi te: ibi corrupta est mater tua, ibi violata est genitrix tua.
Who [is] this coming from the wilderness, Hasting herself for her beloved? Under the citron-tree I have waked thee, There did thy mother pledge thee, There she gave a pledge [that] bare thee.
6 Pone me ut signaculum super cor tuum, ut signaculum super brachium tuum: quia fortis est ut mors dilectio. dura sicut infernus æmulatio, lampades eius lampades ignis atque flammarum. (Sheol h7585)
Set me as a seal on thy heart, as a seal on thine arm, For strong as death is love, Sharp as Sheol is jealousy, Its burnings [are] burnings of fire, a flame of Jah! (Sheol h7585)
7 Aquæ multæ non potuerunt extinguere charitatem, nec flumina obruent illam: si dederit homo omnem substantiam domus suæ pro dilectione, quasi nihil despiciet eam.
Many waters are not able to quench the love, And floods do not wash it away. If one give all the wealth of his house for love, Treading down — they tread upon it.
8 Soror nostra parva, et ubera non habet. quid faciemus sorori nostræ in die quando alloquenda est?
We have a little sister, and breasts she hath not, What do we do for our sister, In the day that it is told of her?
9 Si murus est, ædificemus super eum propugnacula argentea: si ostium est, compingamus illud tabulis cedrinis.
If she is a wall, we build by her a palace of silver. And if she is a door, We fashion by her board-work of cedar.
10 Ego murus: et ubera mea sicut turris, ex quo facta sum coram eo quasi pacem reperiens.
I [am] a wall, and my breasts as towers, Then I have been in his eyes as one finding peace.
11 Vinea fuit pacifico in ea, quæ habet populos: tradidit eam custodibus, vir affert pro fructu eius mille argenteos.
Solomon hath a vineyard in Baal-Hamon, He hath given the vineyard to keepers, Each bringeth for its fruit a thousand silverlings;
12 Vinea mea coram me est. Mille tui pacifici, et ducenti his, qui custodiunt fructus eius.
My vineyard — my own — is before me, The thousand [is] for thee, O Solomon. And the two hundred for those keeping its fruit. O dweller in gardens!
13 Quæ habitas in hortis, amici auscultant: fac me audire vocem tuam.
The companions are attending to thy voice, Cause me to hear. Flee, my beloved, and be like to a roe,
14 Fuge dilecte mi, et assimilare capreæ, hinnuloque cervorum super montes aromatum.
Or to a young one of the harts on mountains of spices!
