Canticum Canticorum 6
1 quo abiit dilectus tuus o pulcherrima mulierum quo declinavit dilectus tuus et quaeremus eum tecum
Where has your beloved gone, you fairest amongst women? Where has your beloved turned, that we may seek him with you?
2 dilectus meus descendit in hortum suum ad areolam aromatis ut pascatur in hortis et lilia colligat
My beloved has gone down to his garden, to the beds of spices, to pasture his flock in the gardens, and to gather lilies.
3 ego dilecto meo et dilectus meus mihi qui pascitur inter lilia
I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine. He browses amongst the lilies.
4 pulchra es amica mea suavis et decora sicut Hierusalem terribilis ut castrorum acies ordinata
You are beautiful, my love, as Tirzah, lovely as Jerusalem, awesome as an army with banners.
5 averte oculos tuos a me quia ipsi me avolare fecerunt capilli tui sicut grex caprarum quae apparuerunt de Galaad
Turn away your eyes from me, for they have overcome me. Your hair is like a flock of goats, that lie along the side of Gilead.
6 dentes tui sicut grex ovium quae ascenderunt de lavacro omnes gemellis fetibus et sterilis non est in eis
Your teeth are like a flock of ewes, which have come up from the washing, of which every one has twins; not one is bereaved amongst them.
7 sicut cortex mali punici genae tuae absque occultis tuis
Your temples are like a piece of a pomegranate behind your veil.
8 sexaginta sunt reginae et octoginta concubinae et adulescentularum non est numerus
There are sixty queens, eighty concubines, and virgins without number.
9 una est columba mea perfecta mea una est matris suae electa genetrici suae viderunt illam filiae et beatissimam praedicaverunt reginae et concubinae et laudaverunt eam
My dove, my perfect one, is unique. She is her mother’s only daughter. She is the favourite one of her who bore her. The daughters saw her, and called her blessed. The queens and the concubines saw her, and they praised her.
10 quae est ista quae progreditur quasi aurora consurgens pulchra ut luna electa ut sol terribilis ut acies ordinata
Who is she who looks out as the morning, beautiful as the moon, clear as the sun, and awesome as an army with banners?
11 descendi ad hortum nucum ut viderem poma convallis ut inspicerem si floruisset vinea et germinassent mala punica
I went down into the nut tree grove, to see the green plants of the valley, to see whether the vine budded, and the pomegranates were in flower.
12 nescivi anima mea conturbavit me propter quadrigas Aminadab
Without realising it, my desire set me with my royal people’s chariots.
13 revertere revertere Sulamitis revertere revertere ut intueamur te quid videbis in Sulamiten nisi choros castrorum
Return, return, Shulammite! Return, return, that we may gaze at you. Lover Why do you desire to gaze at the Shulammite, as at the dance of Mahanaim?
