Canticum Canticorum 1
The Song of songs, which is Solomon’s.
2 Osculetur me osculo oris sui; quia meliora sunt ubera tua vino,
Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth; for your love is better than wine.
3 fragrantia unguentis optimis. Oleum effusum nomen tuum; ideo adolescentulæ dilexerunt te.
Your oils have a pleasing fragrance. Your name is oil poured out, therefore the virgins love 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.
Take me away with you. Let’s hurry. The king has brought me into his rooms. Friends We will be glad and rejoice in you. We will praise your love more than wine! Beloved They are right to love you.
5 Nigra sum, sed formosa, filiæ Jerusalem, sicut tabernacula Cedar, sicut pelles Salomonis.
I am dark, but lovely, you daughters of Jerusalem, like Kedar’s tents, like Solomon’s curtains.
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.
Don’t stare at me because I am dark, because the sun has scorched me. My mother’s sons were angry with me. They made me keeper of the vineyards. I haven’t 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, you whom my soul loves, where you graze your flock, where you rest them at noon; for why should I be as one who is veiled beside 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.
If you don’t know, most beautiful amongst women, follow the tracks of the sheep. Graze your young goats beside the shepherds’ tents.
9 Equitatui meo in curribus Pharaonis assimilavi te, amica mea.
I have compared you, my love, to a steed in Pharaoh’s chariots.
10 Pulchræ sunt genæ tuæ sicut turturis; collum tuum sicut monilia.
Your cheeks are beautiful with earrings, your neck with strings of jewels.
11 Murenulas aureas faciemus tibi, vermiculatas argento.
We will make you earrings of gold, with studs of silver.
12 Dum esset rex in accubitu suo, nardus mea dedit odorem suum.
While the king sat at his table, my perfume spread its fragrance.
13 Fasciculus myrrhæ dilectus meus mihi; inter ubera mea commorabitur.
My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh, that lies between my breasts.
14 Botrus cypri dilectus meus mihi in vineis Engaddi.
My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms from the vineyards of En Gedi.
15 Ecce tu pulchra es, amica mea! ecce tu pulchra es! Oculi tui columbarum.
Behold, you are beautiful, my love. Behold, you are beautiful. Your eyes are like doves.
16 Ecce tu pulcher es, dilecte mi, et decorus! Lectulus noster floridus.
Behold, you are beautiful, my beloved, yes, pleasant; and our couch is verdant.
17 Tigna domorum nostrarum cedrina, laquearia nostra cypressina.
The beams of our house are cedars. Our rafters are firs.
