Canticle of Canticles 1
The spouse aspires to an union with Christ, their mutual love for one another.
Osculetur me osculo oris sui; quia meliora sunt ubera tua vino,
Let him kiss me with the kiss of his mouth: for thy breasts are better than wine,
fragrantia unguentis optimis. Oleum effusum nomen tuum; ideo adolescentulæ dilexerunt te.
Smelling sweet of the best ointments. Thy name is as oil poured out: therefore young maidens have loved thee.
Trahe me, post te curremus in odorem unguentorum tuorum. Introduxit me rex in cellaria sua; exsultabimus et lætabimur in te, memores uberum tuorum super vinum. Recti diligunt te.
Draw me: we will run after thee to the odour of thy ointments. The king hath brought me into his storerooms: we will be glad and rejoice in thee, remembering thy breasts more than wine: the rightous love thee.
Nigra sum, sed formosa, filiæ Jerusalem, sicut tabernacula Cedar, sicut pelles Salomonis.
I am black but beautiful, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Cedar, as the curtains of Solomon.
Nolite me considerare quod fusca sim, quia decoloravit me sol. Filii matris meæ pugnaverunt contra me; posuerunt me custodem in vineis: vineam meam non custodivi.
Do not consider me that I am brown, because the sun hath altered my colour: the sons of my mother have fought against me, they have made me the keeper in the vineyards: my vineyard I have not kept.
Indica mihi, quem diligit anima mea, ubi pascas, ubi cubes in meridie, ne vagari incipiam post greges sodalium tuorum.
Shew me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou liest in the midday, lest I begin to wander after the flocks of thy companions.
Si ignoras te, o pulcherrima inter mulieres, egredere, et abi post vestigia gregum, et pasce hædos tuos juxta tabernacula pastorum.
If thou know not thyself, O fairest among women, go forth, and follow after the steps of the flocks, and feed thy kids beside the tents of the shepherds.
Equitatui meo in curribus Pharaonis assimilavi te, amica mea.
To my company of horsemen, in Pharao's chariots, have I likened thee, O my love.
Pulchræ sunt genæ tuæ sicut turturis; collum tuum sicut monilia.
Thy cheeks are beautiful as the turtledove's, thy neck as jewels.
Murenulas aureas faciemus tibi, vermiculatas argento.
We will make thee chains of gold, inlaid with silver.
Dum esset rex in accubitu suo, nardus mea dedit odorem suum.
While the king was at his repose, my spikenard sent forth the odour thereof.
Fasciculus myrrhæ dilectus meus mihi; inter ubera mea commorabitur.
A bundle of myrrh is my beloved to me, he shall abide between my breasts.
Botrus cypri dilectus meus mihi in vineis Engaddi.
A cluster of cypress my love is to me, in the vineyards of Engaddi.
Ecce tu pulchra es, amica mea! ecce tu pulchra es! Oculi tui columbarum.
Behold thou are fair, O my love, behold thou are fair, thy eyes are as those of doves.
Ecce tu pulcher es, dilecte mi, et decorus! Lectulus noster floridus.
Behold thou art fair, my beloved, and comely. Our bed is flourishing.
Tigna domorum nostrarum cedrina, laquearia nostra cypressina.
The beams of our houses are of cedar, our rafters of cypress trees.