I am the flower of the field, and the lily of the valleys.

Ego flos campi, et lilium convallium.

Count me no more than wild rose on the lowland plain, wild lily on the moun-tain slopes.

As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.

Sponsus Sicut lilium inter spinas, sic amica mea inter filias.

A lily, matched with these other maidens, a lily among the brambles, she whom I love!

As the apple tree among the trees of the woods, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow, whom I desired: and his fruit was sweet to my palate.

Sponsa Sicut malus inter ligna silvarum, sic dilectus meus inter filios. Sub umbra illius quem desideraveram sedi, et fructus ejus dulcis gutturi meo.

An apple-tree in the wild woodland, shade cool to rest under, fruit sweet to the taste, such is he my heart longs for, matched with his fellows.

He brought me into the cellar of wine, he set in order charity in me.

Introduxit me in cellam vinariam; ordinavit in me caritatem.

Into his own banqueting-hall the king has brought me, shewn me the blazon of his love.

Stay me up with flowers, compass me about with apples: because I languish with love.

Fulcite me floribus, stipate me malis, quia amore langueo.

Cushioned on flowers, apples heaped high about me, and love-sick all the while!

His left hand is under my head, and his right hand shall embrace me.

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

His left hand pillows my head; his right hand, even now, ready to embrace me.

I adjure you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and the harts of the field, that you stir not up, nor make the beloved to awake, till she please.

Sponsus Adjuro vos, filiæ Jerusalem, per capreas cervosque camporum, ne suscitetis, neque evigilare faciatis dilectam, quoadusque ipsa velit.

An oath, maidens of Jerusalem! By the gazelles and the wild fawns I charge you, wake never from her sleep my heart’s love, till wake she will!

The voice of my beloved, behold he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping over the hills.

Sponsa Vox dilecti mei; ecce iste venit, saliens in montibus, transiliens colles.

The voice I love! See where he comes, how he speeds over the mountains, how he spurns the hills!

My beloved is like a roe, or a young hart. Behold he standeth behind our wall, looking through the windows, looking through the lattices.

Similis est dilectus meus capreæ, hinnuloque cervorum. En ipse stat post parietem nostrum, respiciens per fenestras, prospiciens per cancellos.

Gazelle nor fawn was ever so fleet of foot as my heart’s love. And now he is standing on the other side of this very wall; now he is looking in through each window in turn, peering through every chink.

Behold my beloved speaketh to me: Arise, make haste, my love, my dove, my beautiful one, and come.

En dilectus meus loquitur mihi. Sponsus Surge, propera, amica mea, columba mea, formosa mea, et veni:

I can hear my true love calling to me: Rise up, rise up quickly, dear heart, so gentle, so beautiful, rise up and come with me.

For winter is now past, the rain is over and gone.

jam enim hiems transiit; imber abiit, et recessit.

Winter is over now, the rain has passed by.

The flowers have appeared in our land, the time of pruning is come: the voice of the turtle is heard in our land:

Flores apparuerunt in terra nostra; tempus putationis advenit: vox turturis audita est in terra nostra;

At home, the flowers have begun to blossom; pruning-time has come; we can hear the turtle-dove cooing already, there at home.

The fig tree hath put forth her green figs: the vines in flower yield their sweet smell. Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come:

ficus protulit grossos suos; vineæ florentes dederunt odorem suum. Surge, amica mea, speciosa mea, et veni:

There is green fruit on the fig-trees; the vines in flower are all fragrance. Rouse thee, and come, so beautiful, so well beloved,

My dove in the clefts of the rock, in the hollow places of the wall, shew me thy face, let thy voice sound in my ears: for thy voice is sweet, and thy face comely.

columba mea, in foraminibus petræ, in caverna maceriæ, ostende mihi faciem tuam, sonet vox tua in auribus meis: vox enim tua dulcis, et facies tua decora.

still hiding thyself as a dove hides in cleft rock or crannied wall. Shew me but thy face, let me but hear thy voice, that voice sweet as thy face is fair.

Catch us the little foxes that destroy the vines: for our vineyard hath flourished.

Sponsa Capite nobis vulpes parvulas quæ demoliuntur vineas: nam vinea nostra floruit.

How was it they sang? Catch me the fox, the little fox there, thieving among the vineyards; vineyards of ours, all a-blossoming!

My beloved to me, and I to him who feedeth among the lilies,

Dilectus meus mihi, et ego illi, qui pascitur inter lilia,

All mine, my true love, and I all his; see where he goes out to pasture among the lilies,

Till the day break, and the shadows retire. Return: be like, my beloved, to a roe, or to a young hart upon the mountains of Bether.

donec aspiret dies, et inclinentur umbræ. Revertere; similis esto, dilecte mi, capreæ, hinnuloque cervorum super montes Bether.

till the day grows cool, and the shadows long. Come back, my heart’s love, swift as gazelle or fawn out on the hills of Bether.