Canticum Canticorum 1
2 Osculetur me osculo oris sui; quia meliora sunt ubera tua vino,
Bride: May he kiss me with the kiss of his mouth. Groom to Bride: So much better than wine are your breasts,
3 fragrantia unguentis optimis. Oleum effusum nomen tuum; ideo adolescentulæ dilexerunt te.
fragranced with the finest perfumes. Bride to Groom: Your name is oil that has been poured out; therefore, the maidens have loved you.
4 Trahe me, post te curremus in odorem unguentorum tuorum. Introduxit me rex in cellaria sua; exsultabimus et lætabimur in te, memores uberum tuorum super vinum. Recti diligunt te.
Draw me forward. Chorus to Bride: We will run after you in the odor of your perfumes. Bride to Chorus: The king has led me into his storerooms. Chorus to Bride: We will exult and rejoice in you, remembering your breasts above wine. Groom to Bride: The righteous love you.
5 Nigra sum, sed formosa, filiæ Jerusalem, sicut tabernacula Cedar, sicut pelles Salomonis.
Bride to Chorus: O daughters of Jerusalem: I am black, but shapely, like the tabernacles of Kedar, like the tents 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.
Do not be concerned that I am dark, for the sun has changed my color. The sons of my mother have fought against me. They have made me the keeper of the vineyards. My own vineyard I have not kept.
7 Indica mihi, quem diligit anima mea, ubi pascas, ubi cubes in meridie, ne vagari incipiam post greges sodalium tuorum.
Bride to Groom: Reveal to me, you whom my soul loves, where you pasture, where you recline at midday, lest I begin to wander after the flocks of your companions.
8 Si ignoras te, o pulcherrima inter mulieres, egredere, et abi post vestigia gregum, et pasce hædos tuos juxta tabernacula pastorum.
Groom to Bride: If you yourself do not know, O most beautiful among women, then go out and follow after the steps of the flocks, and pasture your young goats beside the tabernacles of the shepherds.
9 Equitatui meo in curribus Pharaonis assimilavi te, amica mea.
O my love, I have compared you to my company of horsemen against the chariots of Pharaoh.
10 Pulchræ sunt genæ tuæ sicut turturis; collum tuum sicut monilia.
Your cheeks are beautiful, like those of a turtledove. Your neck is like a bejeweled collar.
11 Murenulas aureas faciemus tibi, vermiculatas argento.
Chorus to Bride: We will fashion for you chains of gold, accented with reddened silver.
12 Dum esset rex in accubitu suo, nardus mea dedit odorem suum.
Bride to Chorus: While the king was taking his rest, my aromatic ointment sent forth its odor.
13 Fasciculus myrrhæ dilectus meus mihi; inter ubera mea commorabitur.
My beloved is a bundle of myrrh to me. He shall abide between my breasts.
14 Botrus cypri dilectus meus mihi in vineis Engaddi.
My beloved is a cluster of Cyprus grapes to me, in the vineyards of Engaddi.
15 Ecce tu pulchra es, amica mea! ecce tu pulchra es! Oculi tui columbarum.
Groom to Bride: Behold, you are beautiful, O my love. Behold, you are beautiful. Your eyes are those of a dove.
16 Ecce tu pulcher es, dilecte mi, et decorus! Lectulus noster floridus.
Bride to Groom: Behold, you are handsome, O my beloved, and graceful. Our bed is flourishing.
17 Tigna domorum nostrarum cedrina, laquearia nostra cypressina.
Groom to Bride: The timbers of our houses are of cedar; our ceilings are of cypress.
