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Chapter 1
O' that thy mouth would give me
a kiss, for thy breasts are more pleasant than wine, and that
because of the good and pleasant savoure. Thy name is sweet smelling
ointment, therefore do the maidens love thee: Yee that same moveth
me also to run after thee.
The king hath brought me in to his private chamber. We will be
glad and rejoice in thee, we think more of thy breasts then of wine:
well is them that love thee.
I am black ( O' ye daughters of Jerusalem ) like as the tents
of Cedarenes, and as the hangings of Solomon: but yet am I fair and
well favored withal. Marvel not at me I am so black: And why? the
sun hath shined upon me.
For when my mothers children had evil will at me, they made me
the keeper of the vineyard. Thus I *faine to keep a vineyard, which
was not mine own.
Tell me, (O' thou whom my soul loveth) where thou feedest,
where thou resteth at the noon day: least I go wrong, and come into
the flocks of thy companions.
If thou know not thyself ( O' thou fairest among women) go thy
way forth after the footsteps of the sheep, as though thou wouldest
feed thy goats beside the shepherds tents. There will I tarry for
thee ( my love ) with mine host and with my chariots, which shall be
no fewer than Pharaohs. Then thy cheeks and neck be made fair, and
hanged with spangles and goodly jewels: a neck band of gold will we
make thee with silver buttons.
When the king sitteth at his table, he shall smell my *Nard
spikenard: for a bundle of Myrre ( O' my beloved ) layeth betwixt my
breasts. A cluster of grapes of Cypers, or of the vineyards of
Engedi art thou unto me, O' my beloved.
O' how fair art thou ( my love ) how fair art thou? thou hast
doves eyes.
O' how fair art thou ( my beloved ) how well favored art thou?
Our bed is decked with flowers, the ceilings of our house are of
Cedar tree, and our *balks of Cypress.
*faine (obliged/willing,imagined) *Nard= spikenard: an aromatic herb
*balks = beams, supporting timbers
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Chapter 2
*I am the flower of the field, a
lily of the valleys: as the rose among the thorns, so is my love
among the daughters.
Like as the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my
beloved among the sons. My delight is to sit under his shadow, for
his fruit is sweet to my throat. He bringeth me in to *his wine
cellar, and **loveth me specially well. Refesheth me with grapes,
comfort me with apples, for I am sick of love. His left hand layeth
under my head, and his right hand embraceth me.
I charge you, (O' ye daughters of Jerusalem) by the Roes and
hinds of the field, that ye wake not up my love nor touche her, till
she be content herself.
Me think I hear the voice of my beloved: lo, there cometh he
hopping upon the mountains, and leaping over the little hills. My
beloved is like a Roe or a young hart. Behold, he standeth behind
our wall, he looketh in at the window, and peepeth through the
*grate. My beloved answered and said unto me,
Stand up my love, my dove, my beautiful, and come: For lo, the
winter is now past, and the rain is away and gone. The flowers are
come up in the field, the twisting time is come, and the voice of
the turtle dove is heard in our land. The fig tree bringeth forth
her figs, the vines bear blossoms, and have a good smell. Stand up
my love, my beautiful, and come (O' my dove) out of the caves of the
rocks, out of the holes in the wall: O' let me see thy countenance
and hear thy voice, for sweet is thy voice, and fair is thy face.
Get us the foxes, yee the little foxes, that hurt the vines,
for our vines bear blossoms.
My love is mine, and I am his, which feedeth among the lilies,
until the day break, and till the shadows be gone. Come again
privately ( O' my beloved ) like as a Roe or a young hart unto the
mountains.
*I am the flower of the field, (kjv = rose of Sharon)
*his wine cellar.*kjv = the banqueting house. **loveth me specially
well.**kjv = his banner over me was love. *grate (lattice).
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Chapter 3
By night in my bed I sought him,
whom my soul loveth: yee diligently sought I him, but I found him
not. I will get up ( thought I ) and go about the city, upon the
market and in all the streets will I seek him whom my soul loveth:
but when I sought him, I found him not. The watchmen that go about
the city found me.
Saw ye not him whom my soul loveth? So when I was a little
passed them, I found him whom my soul loveth. I have gotten hold
upon him, and will not let him go, until I bring him into my mothers
house, and in to her chamber that bare me.
I charge you, O' ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the Roes, and
the Hinds of the field, that ye wake not up my love nor touche her,
till she be content herself.
Who is this, that cometh out of the wilderness like pillars of
smoke, as it were a smell of Myrre, frankincense and all manner
*spices of the Apothecary?
Behold, about Solomons bedstead there stand sixty *vale and
fit men of the mighty in Israel. They hold swords every one, and are
expert in war. Every man hath his sword upon his thigh, because of
fear in the night. King Solomon hath made himself a *bedstead, the
pillars are of silver, the covering of gold, the seat of purple, the
ground pleasantly paved for the daughters of Jerusalem.
Go forth ( O' ye daughters of Zion ) and behold King Solomon
in the crown wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his
marriage, and in the day of the gladness of his heart.
*spices of the Apothecary? OR kjv =powders of the merchant? *vale
(valiant)
*bedstead (kjv =chariot of the wood of Libanus)
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Chapter 4
O' how fair art thou, my love,
how art fair art thou? thou hast doves eyes, beside that which
layeth hid within. Thy hairy locks are like a flock of sheep that be
clipped, which go first up from the washing place: where every one
beareth two twins, and not one unfruitful among them. Thy lips are
like a rose colored ribbon, thy words are lovely: thy cheeks are
like a piece of a pomegranate, besides that which layeth hid within.
Thy neck is like the tower of David builded with bulwarks, where
upon there hang a thousand *shields, yee all weapons of the giants.
Thy two breasts are like two twins of young roes, which feed among
the lilies.
O' that I might go to the mountain of Myrre, and to the hill
of frankincense: till the day break, and till the shadows be past
away.
Thou art all fair, O' my love, and no *sport is there in thee.
Come to me from Libanus, O' my spouse, and come to me from Liban:
come soon the next way from the top of Amana, from the top of Sanir
and Hermon, from the lions dens, and from the mountains of the
leopards. Thou hast wounded my heart, O' my sister, my spouse, thou
hast wounded my heart, with one of thine eyes, and with one chain of
thy neck. O' how fair and lovely are thy breasts, my sister, my
spouse? Thy breasts are more pleasant than wine, and the smell of
thine ointments passeth all spices. Thy lips, O' my spouse, drop as
the honeycomb, yee milk and honey are under thy tongue, and the
smell of thy garments is like the smell of *frankincense. Thou art a
well kept garden, O' my sister, my spouse, thou are a well kept
watering spring, a sealed well. The fruits that sprout in thee, are
like a very *Paradise of pomegranates with sweet fruits: as Cypress,
Nardus, Saffron, Calmus, and all the trees of Libanus: Myrre, Aloes,
and all the best spices. Thou art a well of gardens, a well of
living waters, which run down from Libanus.
Up thou northwind, come thou southwind, and blow upon my
garden, that the smell thereof may be carried on every side: yee
that my beloved may come into my garden, and eat the fruits and
apples that grow therin.
*shields, (kjv = bucklers) exact opposite. * note sport is to mock,
play a fools game.
*frankincense (kjv = Lebanon).
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Chapter 5
Come into my garden O' my
sister, my *Spouse: I have gathered my Myrre with my spice. I will
eat my honey and my honeycomb, I will drink my wine and my milk.
Eat, O' ye friends, drink and be merry, O' yee beloved.
I was asleep, and my heart waking, I heard the voice of my
beloved, when he that knocked.
Open to me ( said he ) O' my sister, my love, my dove, my *dearling:
for my head is full of dew, and my locks of my hair are full of the
night drops.
I have put off my coat: how can I do it on again? I have
washed my feet, how shall I *file them again?
**But when my love put in his hand at the hole, my heart was
moved toward him: so that I stood up to open unto my beloved. My
hands dropped with Myrre, and the Myrre ran down my fingers upon the
lock. Nevertheless when I had opened unto my beloved, he was
departed and gone his way. Now like as afore time when he spake,
my heart could not longer refrain: Even so now I sought him, but I
could not find him: I cried upon him, nevertheless he gave me no
answer.
So the watchmen that went about the city found me, smote me,
and wounded me: Yee they that kept the walls, took away my garment
from me.
I charge you therefore, O' daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find
my beloved, that ye tell him how that I am *sick for love.
Who is thy love above other lovers, O' thou fairest among
women? Or what can thy love do, more than other lovers, that thou
charge us so straightly?
As for my loved, he is white and red colored, a singular
person among many thousands: His head is as the most fine gold, the
locks of his hair are bushy, *brown as the evening: His eyes are the
eyes of doves by the water brooks, washened with milk, and remaining
in a plenteous place: His cheeks are like a garden bed, wherein the
Apothecaries plant all manner of sweet things: His lips drop as the
flowers of the most principal Myrre, his hands are full of gold
rings and precious stones. His body is as pure ivory, decked over
with Sapphires: His legs are as pillars of Marble, set upon sockets
of gold: His face is as Libanus, and as the beauty of the Cedar
trees: His throat is sweet, yee he is altogether lovely. Such one is
my love, O' daughters of Jerusalem, such one is my love.
Whither is thy love gone then ( Oh thou fairest among women )
Whither is thy love departed, that we may seek him with thee ?
* this is capitol S. RN *dearling: (kjv =undefiled) how shall I
*file them again? * see the word defiled to understand this. RN
** But ...compare all to kjv or other bibles of man.
*sick for love. *kjv = sick of love RN *brown as the evening * (kjv)
and black as a raven.
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Chapter 6
My love is gone down into his
garden, unto the sweet smelling beds, that he may refresh himself in
the garden, and gather flowers. My love is mine, and I am his, which
feedeth among the lilies.
Thou art pleasant ( O' my love ) * even as loveliness it self,
thou art as fair as Jerusalem, gorgeous as an army of men, with
their banners. (Turn away thine eyes from me, for they make me
proud) **: Thy hairy locks are like a flock of goats upon the mount
of Galead. Thy teeth are like a flock of sheep that be clipped,
which go out of the washing place: where every one beareth two
twins, and not one unfruitful among them. Thy cheeks are like a
piece of a pomegranate, besides that which layeth hidden within.
There are threescore Queens, and fourscore concubines, and young
women without number. But one is my dove, my dearling. She is the
only beloved of her mother, and dear unto her that bare her. When
the daughters saw her, they said, she was blessed: Yee the Queens
and the concubines praised her.
What is she that peepeth out as the morning? fair as the moon,
excellent as the sun, glorious as an army of men with their banners.
I went down into the nut garden, to see what grew by the
brooks, to look if the vineyard flourished, and if the pomegranates
were shot forth.
Then the chariots of my people made me suddenly afraid.
Turn again, turn again, O' thou Sulamite, turn again, turn
again, that we may look upon thee.
*kjv and other bibles of man = as Tirzah and **have overcome me
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Chapter 7
**What pleasure have yee more in
the Sulamite, than when she danced among the men of war?
O' how pleasant are thy treadings, with thy shoes, thou
princes daughter? Thy thighs are like a fair jewel, which is wrought
by a cunning work master: Thy navel is like a round goblet, which is
never without drink: thy womb is like an heap of wheat, set about
with lilies: Thy two breasts are like two twins of young roes: Thy
neck is as it were a tower of ivory: thine eyes like the water pools
in Hesebon, by the port of Bathrabbim: thy nose is as the tower of
Libanus, which looketh toward Damascus: That head that standeth upon
thee is like Carmel: the hair of thy head is like the Kings purple
folden up in plates.
O' how fair and lovely art thou, my dearling, in pleasures?
Thy stature is like a date tree, and thy breasts like the grapes.
I said: I will climb up the date tree, and take hold of his
branches.
Thy breasts shall be as the vine grapes, the smell of thy
nostrils like the smell of apples, and thy throat like the best
wine. This shall be pure and clear for my love, his lips and teeth
shall have their pleasure. There will I turn me unto my love, and he
shall turn him unto me.
O' come my love, let us go forth into the field, and take our
lodging in the villages. In the morning shall we rise up by times,
and go see the vineyard: if it be sprung forth, if the grapes be
grown, and if the pomegranates be shot out. There will I give thee
my breasts: there shall the mandragoras give their smell beside our
doors: there O' my love, have I kept unto thee all manner of fruits,
both new and old.
**This entire line is left out of the kjv. RN
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Chapter 8
O' that I might
find thee without, and kiss thee, whom I love as my brother which
suck my mothers breasts: and that thou wouldest not be offended, if
I took thee, and brought thee in to my mothers house: that thou
mightest teach me, and that I might give thee drink of spiced wine
and of the sweet sap of my pomegranates. His left hand layeth under
my head and his right hand embraceth me.
I charge you, O' daughters of Jerusalem, that ye wake not up
my love, nor touch her, till she be content herself.
What is she this, that cometh up from the wilderness, and
leaneth upon her loved?
I am the same that waketh thee up among the apple trees, where
thy mother bare thee, where thy mother brought thee in to the world.
O' set me as a seal upon thine heart, and as a seal upon thine
arm: for love is mighty as the death, and jealousy as the hell. Her
coals are of fire, and a very flame of the Lord: so that many waters
are not able to quench love, neither may the streams drown it. Yee
if a man would give all the good of his house for love, he should
count it nothing.
When our love is told our young sister, whos breasts are not
yet grown, what shall we do unto her?
If she be a wall, we
shall build a silver bulwark there upon: if she be a tower, we shall
fasten her with borders of Cedar tree.
If I be a wall, and my breasts like towers, then am I as one
that hath found favor in his sight.
Solomon had a vineyard at Baal Hamon, this vineyard delivered
he unto the keepers: that every one for the fruit thereof should
give him a thousand pieces of silver.
But my vineyard, O' Solomon, giveth thee a thousand, and two
hundred to the keepers of the fruit. Thou that dwellest in the
gardens, O' let me hear thy voice, that my companions may harken to
the same.
O' get thee away, my love, as a roe or
a young hart unto sweet smelling mountains. |
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