1 I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse: I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk: eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved.

1 Veniat dilectus meus in hortum suum,
et comedat fructum pomorum suorum.
Sponsus. Veni in hortum meum, soror mea, sponsa;
messui myrrham meam cum aromatibus meis;
comedi favum cum melle meo;
bibi vinum meum cum lacte meo;
comedite, amici, et bibite,
et inebriamini, carissimi.

2 ¶ I sleep, but my heart waketh: it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night.

2 Sponsa. Ego dormio, et cor meum vigilat.
Vox dilecti mei pulsantis:
Sponsus. Aperi mihi, soror mea, amica mea,
columba mea, immaculata mea,
quia caput meum plenum est rore,
et cincinni mei guttis noctium.

3 I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them?

3 Sponsa. Expoliavi me tunica mea: quomodo induar illa?
lavi pedes meos: quomodo inquinabo illos?

4 My beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door, and my bowels were moved for him.

4 Dilectus meus misit manum suam per foramen,
et venter meus intremuit ad tactum ejus.

5 I rose up to open to my beloved; and my hands dropped with myrrh, and my fingers with sweet smelling myrrh, upon the handles of the lock.

5 Surrexi ut aperirem dilecto meo;
manus meæ stillaverunt myrrham,
et digiti mei pleni myrrha probatissima.

6 I opened to my beloved; but my beloved had withdrawn himself, and was gone: my soul failed when he spake: I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer.

6 Pessulum ostii mei aperui dilecto meo,
at ille declinaverat, atque transierat.
Anima mea liquefacta est, ut locutus est;
quæsivi, et non inveni illum;
vocavi, et non respondit mihi.

7 The watchmen that went about the city found me, they smote me, they wounded me; the keepers of the walls took away my veil from me.

7 Invenerunt me custodes qui circumeunt civitatem;
percusserunt me, et vulneraverunt me.
Tulerunt pallium meum mihi custodes murorum.

8 I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, that ye tell him, that I am sick of love.

8 Adjuro vos, filiæ Jerusalem,
si inveneritis dilectum meum,
ut nuntietis ei quia amore langueo.

9 ¶ What is thy beloved more than another beloved, O thou fairest among women? what is thy beloved more than another beloved, that thou dost so charge us?

9 Chorus. Qualis est dilectus tuus ex dilecto, o pulcherrima mulierum?
qualis est dilectus tuus ex dilecto, quia sic adjurasti nos?

10 My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand.

10 Sponsa. Dilectus meus candidus et rubicundus;
electus ex millibus.

11 His head is as the most fine gold, his locks are bushy, and black as a raven.

11 Caput ejus aurum optimum;
comæ ejus sicut elatæ palmarum, nigræ quasi corvus.

12 His eyes are as the eyes of doves by the rivers of waters, washed with milk, and fitly set.

12 Oculi ejus sicut columbæ super rivulos aquarum,
quæ lacte sunt lotæ, et resident juxta fluenta plenissima.

13 His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as sweet flowers: his lips like lilies, dropping sweet smelling myrrh.

13 Genæ illius sicut areolæ aromatum,
consitæ a pigmentariis.
Labia ejus lilia,
distillantia myrrham primam.

14 His hands are as gold rings set with the beryl: his belly is as bright ivory overlaid with sapphires.

14 Manus illius tornatiles, aureæ,
plenæ hyacinthis.
Venter ejus eburneus,
distinctus sapphiris.

15 His legs are as pillars of marble, set upon sockets of fine gold: his countenance is as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars.

15 Crura illius columnæ marmoreæ
quæ fundatæ sunt super bases aureas.
Species ejus ut Libani,
electus ut cedri.

16 His mouth is most sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.

16 Guttur illius suavissimum,
et totus desiderabilis.
Talis est dilectus meus,
et ipse est amicus meus, filiæ Jerusalem.

17 Chorus. Quo abiit dilectus tuus, o pulcherrima mulierum?
quo declinavit dilectus tuus?
et quæremus eum tecum.