Canticum Canticorum 6
1 Quo abiit dilectus tuus, o pulcherrima mulierum? quo declinavit dilectus tuus? et quæremus eum tecum.
Whither is thy friend gone, O fairest of women? whither hath thy friend turned himself? that we may seek him with thee?—
2 Dilectus meus descendit in hortum suum ad areolam aromatum, ut pascatur in hortis, et lilia colligat.
My beloved is gone down to his garden, to the beds of spices, to feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies.
3 Ego dilecto meo, et dilectus meus mihi, qui pascitur inter lilia.
I am my friend's, and my friend is mine: he that feedeth among the lilies.—
4 Pulchra es, amica mea; suavis, et decora sicut Jerusalem; terribilis ut castrorum acies ordinata.
Thou art beautiful, O my beloved, like Thirzah, comely like Jerusalem, terrible as armies encamped round their banners.
5 Averte oculos tuos a me, quia ipsi me avolare fecerunt. Capilli tui sicut grex caprarum quæ apparuerunt de Galaad.
Turn away thy eyes from me, for they have excited me: thy hair is like a flock of goats that come quietly down from mount Gil'ad.
6 Dentes tui sicut grex ovium quæ ascenderunt de lavacro: omnes gemellis fœtibus, et sterilis non est in eis.
Thy teeth are like a flock of ewes which are come up from the washing, all of which bear twins, and there is not one among them that is deprived of her young.
7 Sicut cortex mali punici, sic genæ tuæ, absque occultis tuis.
Like the half of the pomegranate is the upper part of thy cheek behind thy vail.
8 Sexaginta sunt reginæ, et octoginta concubinæ, et adolescentularum non est numerus.
Sixty are the queens, and eighty the concubines, and the young women without number;
9 Una est columba mea, perfecta mea, una est matris suæ, electa genetrici suæ. Viderunt eam filiæ, et beatissimam prædicaverunt; reginæ et concubinæ, et laudaverunt eam.
But one alone is my dove, my guiltless one; she is the only one of her mother, she is the chosen of her that bore her: maidens see her, and call her happy; yea, queens and concubines, and praise her.
10 Quæ est ista quæ progreditur quasi aurora consurgens, pulchra ut luna, electa ut sol, terribilis ut castrorum acies ordinata?
Who is this that shineth forth like the morning-dawn, beautiful as the moon, bright as the sun, terrible as armies encamped round their banners?
11 Descendi in hortum nucum, ut viderem poma convallium, et inspicerem si floruisset vinea, et germinassent mala punica.
Into the nut-garden was I gone down, to look about among the plants of the valley, to see whether the vine had blossomed, whether the pomegranates had budded.
12 Nescivi: anima mea conturbavit me, propter quadrigas Aminadab.
I knew not [how it was], my soul made me [like] the chariots of my noble people.
13 Revertere, revertere, Sulamitis! revertere, revertere ut intueamur te. Quid videbis in Sulamite, nisi choros castrorum?
Return, return, O Shulammith; return, return, that we may look upon thee. “What will ye see in the Shulammith?” As though it were the dance of a double company.
