1 O that thou wert as my brother, that sucked the breasts of my mother! when I should find thee without, I would kiss thee; yea, I should not be despised.

1 Quis mihi det te fratrem meum,
sugentem ubera matris meæ,
ut inveniam te foris, et deosculer te,
et jam me nemo despiciat?

2 I would lead thee, and bring thee into my mother's house, who would instruct me: I would cause thee to drink of spiced wine of the juice of my pomegranate.

2 Apprehendam te, et ducam in domum matris meæ:
ibi me docebis,
et dabo tibi poculum ex vino condito,
et mustum malorum granatorum meorum.

3 His left hand should be under my head, and his right hand should embrace me.

3 Læva ejus sub capite meo,
et dextera illius amplexabitur me.

4 I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, until he please.

4 Sponsus. Adjuro vos, filiæ Jerusalem,
ne suscitetis, neque evigilare faciatis dilectam,
donec ipsa velit.

5 Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved? I raised thee up under the apple tree: there thy mother brought thee forth: there she brought thee forth that bare thee.

5 Chorus. Quæ est ista quæ ascendit de deserto, deliciis affluens,
innixa super dilectum suum?
Sponsus. Sub arbore malo suscitavi te;
ibi corrupta est mater tua,
ibi violata est genitrix tua.

6 ¶ Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame.

6 Sponsa. 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.

7 Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it: if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned.

7 Aquæ multæ non potuerunt extinguere caritatem,
nec flumina obruent illam.
Si dederit homo omnem substantiam domus suæ pro dilectione,
quasi nihil despiciet eam.

8 ¶ We have a little sister, and she hath no breasts: what shall we do for our sister in the day when she shall be spoken for?

8 Chorus Fratrum. Soror nostra parva,
et ubera non habet;
quid faciemus sorori nostræ
in die quando alloquenda est?

9 If she be a wall, we will build upon her a palace of silver: and if she be a door, we will inclose her with boards of cedar.

9 Si murus est,
ædificemus super eum propugnacula argentea;
si ostium est, compingamus illud tabulis cedrinis.

10 I am a wall, and my breasts like towers: then was I in his eyes as one that found favour.

10 Sponsa. Ego murus, et ubera mea sicut turris,
ex quo facta sum coram eo, quasi pacem reperiens.

11 Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon; he let out the vineyard unto keepers; every one for the fruit thereof was to bring a thousand pieces of silver.

11 Chorus Fratrum. Vinea fuit pacifico in ea quæ habet populos:
tradidit eam custodibus;
vir affert pro fructu ejus mille argenteos.

12 My vineyard, which is mine, is before me: thou, O Solomon, must have a thousand, and those that keep the fruit thereof two hundred.

12 Sponsa. Vinea mea coram me est.
Mille tui pacifici,
et ducenti his qui custodiunt fructus ejus.

13 Thou that dwellest in the gardens, the companions hearken to thy voice: cause me to hear it.

13 Sponsus. Quæ habitas in hortis, amici auscultant;
fac me audire vocem tuam.

14 ¶ Make haste, my beloved, and be thou like to a roe or to a young hart upon the mountains of spices.

14 Sponsa. Fuge, dilecte mi, et assimilare capreæ,
hinnuloque cervorum super montes aromatum.