Canticum Canticorum 6
1 Quo abiit dilectus tuus o pulcherrima mulierum? quo declinavit dilectus tuus, et quæremus eum tecum?
Where has your beloved gone, most beautiful among women? In what direction has your beloved gone, so that we may seek him with you?
2 Dilectus meus descendit in hortum suum ad areolam aromatum, ut pascatur in hortis, et lilia colligat.
My beloved has gone down to his garden, to the beds of spices, to graze in the garden and to gather lilies.
3 Ego dilecto meo, et dilectus meus mihi, qui pascitur inter lilia.
I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine; he grazes among the lilies with pleasure.
4 Pulchra es amica mea, suavis, et decora sicut Ierusalem: terribilis ut castrorum acies ordinata.
You are as beautiful as Tirzah, my love, as lovely as Jerusalem, as awe-inspiring as an army with its banners.
5 Averte oculos tuos a me, quia ipsi me avolare fecerunt. Capilli tui sicut grex caprarum, quæ apparuerunt de Galaad.
Turn your eyes away from me, for they overwhelm me. Your hair is like a flock of goats going down from the slopes of Gilead.
6 Dentes tui sicut grex ovium, quæ ascenderunt de lavacro, omnes gemellis fœtibus, et sterilis non est in eis.
Your teeth are like a flock of ewes coming up from the washing place. Each one has a twin, and none among them is bereaved.
7 Sicut cortex mali punici, sic genæ tuæ absque occultis tuis.
Your cheeks are like pomegranate halves behind your veil.
8 Sexaginta sunt reginæ, et octoginta concubinæ, et adolescentularum non est numerus.
There are sixty queens, eighty concubines, and young women without number.
9 Una est columba mea, perfecta mea, una est matris suæ, electa genitrici suæ. Viderunt eam filiæ, et beatissimam prædicaverunt: reginæ et concubinæ, et laudaverunt eam.
My dove, my undefiled, is the only one; she is the only daughter of her mother; she is the favorite one of the woman who bore her. The young women saw her and called her blessed; the queens and the concubines saw her also, and they praised her:
10 Quæ est ista, quæ progreditur quasi aurora consurgens, pulchra ut luna, electa ut sol, terribilis ut castrorum acies ordinata?
“Who is this who appears like the dawn, as beautiful as the moon, as bright as the sun, as awe-inspiring as an army with its banners?”
11 Descendi in hortum nucum, ut viderem poma convallium, et inspicerem si floruisset vinea, et germinassent mala punica.
I went down into the grove of nut trees to see the young growth in the valley, to see whether the vines had budded, and whether the pomegranates were in bloom.
12 Nescivi: anima mea conturbavit me propter quadrigas Aminadab.
I was so happy that I felt I was riding in the chariot of a prince.
13 Revertere, revertere Sulamitis: revertere revertere, ut intueamur te. Quid videbis in Sulamite, nisi choros castrorum?
Turn back, turn back, you perfect woman; turn back, turn back so that we may gaze on you. The woman speaking to the friends Why do you gaze on the perfect woman, as if on the dance between two armies?
