Christ caresses his spouse: he invites her to him.
1 I am the flower of the field, and the lily of the valleys.
Ego flos campi, et lilium convallium.
2 As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.
SPONSUS. Sicut lilium inter spinas, sic amica mea inter filias.
3 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.
4 He brought me into the cellar of wine, he set in order charity in me.
Introduxit me in cellam vinariam; ordinavit in me caritatem.
5 Stay me up with flowers, compass me about with apples: because I languish with love.
Fulcite in me floribus, stipate me malis, quia amore langueo.
6 His left hand is under my head, and his right hand shall embrace me.
Laeva ejus sub capite meo, et dextera illius amplexabitur me.
7 I adjure you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and the harts of the, fields, that you stir not up, nor make the beloved to awake, till she please.
SPONSUS. Adjuro vos, filiae Jerusalem, per capreas cervosque camporum, ne suscitetis, neque evigilare faciatis dilectam, quoadusque ipsa velit.
8 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.
9 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 capreae, hinnuloque cervorum. En ipse stat post parietem nostrum, respiciens per fenestras, prospiciens per cancellos.
10 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 :
11 For winter is now past, the rain is over and gone.
jam enim hiems transiit; imber abiit, et recessit.
12 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;
13 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; vineae florentes dederunt odorem suum. Surge, amica mea, speciosa mea, et veni :
14 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 petrae, in caverna maceriae, ostende mihi faciem tuam, sonet vox tua in auribus meis : vox enim tua dulcis, et facies tua decora.
15 Catch us the little foxes that destroy the vines: for our vineyard hath flourished.
SPONSA. Capite nobis vulpes parvulas quae demoliuntur vineas : nam vinea nostra floruit.
16 My beloved to me, and I to him who feedeth among the lilies,
Dilectus meus mihi, et ego illi, qui pascitur inter lilia,
17 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 umbrae. Revertere; similis esto, dilecte mi, capreae, hinnuloque cervorum super montes Bether.
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