Sponsus Quam pulchra es, amica mea! quam pulchra es! Oculi tui columbarum, absque eo quod intrinsecus latet. Capilli tui sicut greges caprarum quæ ascenderunt de monte Galaad.

How beautiful art thou, my love, how beautiful art thou! thy eyes are doves’ eyes, besides what is hid within. Thy hair is as flocks of goats, which come up from mount Galaad.

How fair thou art, my true love, how fair! Eyes soft as dove’s eyes, half-seen behind thy veil; hair that clusters thick as the flocks of goats, when they come home from the Galaad hills;

Dentes tui sicut greges tonsarum quæ ascenderunt de lavacro; omnes gemellis fœtibus, et sterilis non est inter eas.

Thy teeth as flocks of sheep, that are shorn, which come up from the washing, all with twins, and there is none barren among them.

teeth white as ewes fresh from the washing, well matched as the twin lambs that follow them; barren is none.

Sicut vitta coccinea labia tua, et eloquium tuum dulce. Sicut fragmen mali punici, ita genæ tuæ, absque eo quod intrinsecus latet.

Thy lips are as a scarlet lace: and thy speech sweet. Thy cheeks are as a piece of a pomegranate, besides that which lieth hid within.

Thy lips a line of scarlet, guardians of that sweet utterance; thy cheeks shew through their veil rosy as a halved pomegranate.

Sicut turris David collum tuum, quæ ædificata est cum propugnaculis; mille clypei pendent ex ea, omnis armatura fortium.

Thy neck is as the tower of David, which is built with bulwarks: a thousand bucklers hang upon it, all the armour of valiant men.

Thy neck rising proudly, nobly adorned, like David’s embattled tower, hung about with a thousand shields, panoply of the brave;

Duo ubera tua sicut duo hinnuli, capreæ gemelli, qui pascuntur in liliis.

Thy two breasts like two young roes that are twins, which feed among the lilies.

graceful thy breasts as two fawns that feed among the lilies.

Donec aspiret dies, et inclinentur umbræ, vadam ad montem myrrhæ, et ad collem thuris.

Till the day break, and the shadows retire, I will go to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense.

Till the day grows cool, and the shadows long, myrrh-scented mountain and incense-breathing hill shall be my home.

Tota pulchra es, amica mea, et macula non est in te.

Thou art all fair, O my love, and there is not a spot in thee.

Fair in every part, my true love, no fault in all thy fashioning!

Veni de Libano, sponsa mea: veni de Libano, veni, coronaberis: de capite Amana, de vertice Sanir et Hermon, de cubilibus leonum, de montibus pardorum.

Come from Libanus, my spouse, come from Libanus, come: thou shalt be crowned from the top of Amana, from the top of Sanir and Hermon, from the dens of the lions, from the mountains of the leopards.

Venture forth from Lebanon, and come to me, my bride, my queen that shall be! Leave Amana behind thee, Sanir and Hermon heights, where the lairs of lions are, where the leopards roam the hills.

Vulnerasti cor meum, soror mea, sponsa; vulnerasti cor meum in uno oculorum tuorum, et in uno crine colli tui.

Thou hast wounded my heart, my sister, my spouse, thou hast wounded my heart with one of thy eyes, and with one hair of thy neck.

What a wound thou hast made, my bride, my true love, what a wound thou hast made in this heart of mine! And all with one glance of an eye, all with one ringlet straying on thy neck!

Quam pulchræ sunt mammæ tuæ, soror mea sponsa! pulchriora sunt ubera tua vino, et odor unguentorum tuorum super omnia aromata.

How beautiful are thy breasts, my sister, my spouse! thy breasts are more beautiful than wine, and the sweet smell of thy ointments above all aromatical spices.

Sweet, sweet are thy caresses, my bride, my true love; wine cannot ravish the senses like that embrace, nor any spices match the perfume that breathes from thee.

Favus distillans labia tua, sponsa; mel et lac sub lingua tua: et odor vestimentorum tuorum sicut odor thuris.

Thy lips, my spouse, are as a dropping honeycomb, honey and milk are under thy tongue; and the smell of thy garments, as the smell of frankincense.

Sweet are thy lips, my bride, as honey dripping from its comb; honey-sweet thy tongue, and soft as milk; the perfume of thy garments is very incense.

Hortus conclusus soror mea, sponsa, hortus conclusus, fons signatus.

My sister, my spouse, is a garden enclosed, a garden enclosed, a fountain sealed up.

My bride, my true love, a close garden; hedged all about, a spring shut in and sealed! What wealth of grace is here!

Emissiones tuæ paradisus malorum punicorum, cum pomorum fructibus, cypri cum nardo.

Thy plants are a paradise of pomegranates with the fruits of the orchard. Cypress with spikenard.

Well-ordered rows of pomegranates, tree of cypress and tuft of nard;

Nardus et crocus, fistula et cinnamomum, cum universis lignis Libani; myrrha et aloë, cum omnibus primis unguentis.

Spikenard and saffron, sweet cane and cinnamon, with all the trees of Libanus, myrrh and aloes with all the chief perfumes.

no lack there whether of spikenard or saffron, of calamus, cinnamon, or incense-tree, of myrrh, aloes or any rarest perfume.

Fons hortorum, puteus aquarum viventium, quæ fluunt impetu de Libano.

The fountain of gardens: the well of living waters, which run with a strong stream from Libanus.

A stream bordered with garden; water so fresh never came tumbling down from Lebanon.

Sponsa Surge, aquilo, et veni, auster: perfla hortum meum, et fluant aromata illius.

Arise, O north wind, and come, O south wind, blow through my garden, and let the aromatical spices thereof flow.

North wind, awake; wind of the south, awake and come; blow through this garden of mine, and set its fragrance all astir.