Canticum Canticorum 8
1 Quis mihi det te fratrem meum, sugentem ubera matris meæ, ut inveniam te foris, et deosculer te, et jam me nemo despiciat?
O that you were to me like a brother who nursed at my mother’s breasts! If I found you outdoors, I would kiss you, and no one would 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 would lead you and bring you to the house of my mother who taught me. I would give you spiced wine to drink, the nectar of my pomegranates.
3 Læva ejus sub capite meo, et dextera illius amplexabitur me.
His left hand is under my head, and his right arm embraces me.
4 Adjuro vos, filiæ Jerusalem, ne suscitetis, neque evigilare faciatis dilectam, donec ipsa velit.
O daughters of Jerusalem, I adjure you: Do not arouse or awaken love until the time is right.
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 up from the wilderness, leaning on her beloved? I roused you under the apple tree; there your mother conceived you; there she travailed and brought you forth.
6 Pone me ut signaculum super cor tuum, ut signaculum super brachium tuum, quia fortis est ut mors dilectio, dura sicut infernus æmulatio: lampades ejus lampades ignis atque flammarum. (Sheol h7585)
Set me as a seal over your heart, as a seal upon your arm. For love is as strong as death, its jealousy as unrelenting as Sheol. Its sparks are fiery flames, the fiercest blaze of all. (Sheol h7585)
7 Aquæ multæ non potuerunt extinguere caritatem, nec flumina obruent illam. Si dederit homo omnem substantiam domus suæ pro dilectione, quasi nihil despiciet eam.
Mighty waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot sweep it away. If a man were to give all the wealth of his house for love, his offer would be utterly scorned.
8 Soror nostra parva, et ubera non habet; quid faciemus sorori nostræ in die quando alloquenda est?
We have a little sister, and her breasts are not yet grown. What shall we do for our sister on the day she is spoken for?
9 Si murus est, ædificemus super eum propugnacula argentea; si ostium est, compingamus illud tabulis cedrinis.
If she is a wall, we will build a tower of silver upon her. If she is a door, we will enclose her with panels 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 are like towers. So I have become in his eyes like one who brings peace.
11 Vinea fuit pacifico in ea quæ habet populos: tradidit eam custodibus; vir affert pro fructu ejus mille argenteos.
Solomon had a vineyard in Baal-hamon. He leased it to the tenants. For its fruit, each was to bring a thousand shekels of silver.
12 Vinea mea coram me est. Mille tui pacifici, et ducenti his qui custodiunt fructus ejus.
But my own vineyard is mine to give; the thousand shekels are for you, O Solomon, and two hundred are for those who tend its fruit.
13 Quæ habitas in hortis, amici auscultant; fac me audire vocem tuam.
You who dwell in the gardens, my companions are listening for your voice. Let me hear it!
14 Fuge, dilecte mi, et assimilare capreæ, hinnuloque cervorum super montes aromatum.
Come away, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of spices.
