1 P or las noches busqué en mi lecho al amado de mi alma; lo busqué, mas no lo hallé.

On my bed, in the nights, I sought him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not.

2 P ensé entonces: «Me levantaré, recorreré la ciudad, y por calles y plazas buscaré al amado de mi alma.» Lo busqué, mas no lo hallé.

I will rise now, and go about the city; In the streets and in the broadways Will I seek him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not.

3 M e hallaron los guardias que rondan la ciudad, y les pregunté: «¿Habéis visto al amado de mi alma?»

The watchmen that go about the city found me:—Have ye seen him whom my soul loveth?

4 A penas me aparté de ellos un poco, hallé al amado de mi alma; me así a él, y no lo dejé hasta llevarlo a casa de mi madre, a la habitación de quien me dio a luz. El esposo

—Scarcely had I passed from them, When I found him whom my soul loveth: I held him, and would not let him go, Until I had brought him into my mother's house, And into the chamber of her that conceived me.

5 ¡ Yo os conjuro, hijas de Jerusalén, por las gacelas y las ciervas del campo, que no despertéis a mi amor! ¡Dejadla dormir mientras quiera! El cortejo de bodas Coro

I charge you, daughters of Jerusalem, By the gazelles, or by the hinds of the field, That ye stir not up, nor awake love, till he please.

6 ¿ Qué es eso que sube del desierto cual columna de humo, perfumado de mirra e incienso, y de todo polvo aromático?

Who is this, that cometh up from the wilderness Like pillars of smoke, Perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, With all powders of the merchant? …

7 ¡ Ved, es la litera de Salomón! Sesenta valientes la rodean, de entre los fuertes de Israel.

Behold his couch, Solomon's own: Threescore mighty men are about it, Of the mighty of Israel.

8 T odos ciñen espada y son diestros en la guerra; cada uno lleva su espada al cinto, por los peligros de la noche.

They all hold the sword, Experts in war; Each hath his sword upon his thigh Because of alarm in the nights.

9 E l rey Salomón se hizo una carroza de madera del Líbano,

King Solomon made himself a palanquin Of the wood of Lebanon.

10 c on columnas de plata, respaldo de oro y asiento de grana; su interior, recamado de amor por las hijas de Jerusalén.

Its pillars he made of silver, Its support of gold, Its seat of purple; The midst thereof was paved love By the daughters of Jerusalem.

11 ¡ Hijas de Sión, salid! Ved al rey Salomón con la corona que le ciñó su madre el día de su boda, el día del gozo de su corazón.

Go forth, daughters of Zion, And behold king Solomon With the crown wherewith his mother crowned him In the day of his espousals, And in the day of the gladness of his heart.