Canticum Canticorum 1
This is Solomon’s Song of Songs.
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 more delightful than wine.
3 fragrantia unguentis optimis. Oleum effusum nomen tuum: ideo adolescentulae dilexerunt te.
The fragrance of your perfume is pleasing; your name is like perfume poured out. No wonder the maidens adore you.
4 Trahe me: post te curremus in odorem unguentorum tuorum. Introduxit me rex in cellaria sua: exultabimus et laetabimur in te, memores uberum tuorum super vinum: recti diligunt te.
Take me away with you—let us hurry! May the king bring me to his chambers. We will rejoice and delight in you; we will praise your love more than wine. It is only right that they adore you.
5 Nigra sum, sed formosa, filiae Ierusalem, sicut tabernacula Cedar, sicut pelles Salomonis.
I am dark, yet lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon.
6 Nolite me considerare quod fusca sim, quia decoloravit me sol: filii matris meae pugnaverunt contra me, posuerunt me custodem in vineis: vineam meam non custodivi.
Do not stare because I am dark, for the sun has gazed upon me. My mother’s sons were angry with me; they made me a keeper of the vineyards, but my own vineyard I have neglected.
7 Indica mihi, quem diligit anima mea, ubi pascas, ubi cubes in meridie, ne vagari incipiam post greges sodalium tuorum.
Tell me, O one I love, where do you pasture your sheep? Where do you rest them at midday? Why should I be like a veiled woman beside the flocks of your companions?
8 Si ignoras te o pulcherrima inter mulieres, egredere, et abi post vestigia gregum tuorum, et pasce hoedos tuos iuxta tabernacula pastorum.
If you do not know, O fairest of women, follow the tracks of the flock, and graze your young goats near the tents of the shepherds.
9 Equitatui meo in curribus Pharaonis assimilavi te amica mea.
I compare you, my darling, to a mare among Pharaoh’s chariots.
10 Pulchrae sunt genae tuae sicut turturis: collum tuum sicut monilia.
Your cheeks are beautiful with ornaments, your neck with strings of jewels.
11 Murenulas aureas faciemus tibi, vermiculatas argento.
We will make you ornaments of gold, studded with beads of silver.
12 Dum esset rex in accubitu suo, nardus mea dedit odorem suum.
While the king was at his table, my perfume spread its fragrance.
13 Fasciculus myrrhae dilectus meus mihi, inter ubera mea commorabitur.
My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh resting between my breasts.
14 Botrus cypri dilectus meus mihi, in vineis Engaddi.
My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms in the vineyards of En-gedi.
15 Ecce tu pulchra es amica mea, ecce tu pulchra es, oculi tui columbarum.
How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh, how very beautiful! Your eyes are like doves.
16 Ecce tu pulcher es dilecte mi, et decorus. Lectulus noster floridus:
How handsome you are, my beloved! Oh, how delightful! The soft grass is our bed.
17 tigna domorum nostrarum cedrina, laquearia nostra cypressina.
The beams of our house are cedars; our rafters are fragrant firs.
