1Por las noches, sobre mi lecho,
busco al amor de mi vida;
lo busco y no lo hallo.
2Me levanto, y voy por la ciudad,
por sus calles y mercados,
buscando al amor de mi vida.
¡Lo busco y no lo hallo!
3Me encuentran los centinelas
mientras rondan la ciudad.
Les pregunto:
«¿Habéis visto al amor de mi vida?»
4Apenas los he dejado,
cuando encuentro al amor de mi vida.
Lo abrazo y, sin soltarlo,
lo llevo a la casa de mi madre,
a la alcoba donde ella me concibió.
El amado
5Yo os ruego, mujeres de Jerusalén,
por las gacelas y cervatillas del bosque,
que no desveléis ni molestéis a mi amada
hasta que ella quiera despertar.
Tercer Canto
El coro
6¿Qué es eso que sube por el desierto
semejante a una columna de humo,
entre aromas de mirra e incienso,
entre exóticos perfumes?3:6 exóticos perfumes. Lit. perfumes de mercaderes.
7¡Mirad!
¡Es el carruaje de Salomón!
Viene escoltado por sesenta guerreros,
escogidos entre los más valientes de Israel.
8Todos ellos portan espadas,
y han sido adiestrados para el combate;
cada uno lleva la espada al cinto
a causa de los peligros de la noche.
9Salomón mismo se hizo el carruaje
con finas maderas del Líbano.
10Hizo de plata las columnas,
y de oro los soportes.
El asiento lo tapizó de púrpura,
y su interior fue decorado con esmero
por las hijas de Jerusalén.
11¡Salid, mujeres de Sión!
¡Contemplad al rey Salomón!
¡Lleva puesta la corona que le ciñó su madre
el día en que contrajo matrimonio,
el día en que se alegró su corazón!
1All night long on my bed
I looked for the one my heart loves;
I looked for him but did not find him.
2I will get up now and go about the city,
through its streets and squares;
I will search for the one my heart loves.
So I looked for him but did not find him.
3The watchmen found me
as they made their rounds in the city.
“Have you seen the one my heart loves?”
4Scarcely had I passed them
when I found the one my heart loves.
I held him and would not let him go
till I had brought him to my mother’s house,
to the room of the one who conceived me.
5Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you
by the gazelles and by the does of the field:
Do not arouse or awaken love
until it so desires.
6Who is this coming up from the wilderness
like a column of smoke,
perfumed with myrrh and incense
made from all the spices of the merchant?
7Look! It is Solomon’s carriage,
escorted by sixty warriors,
the noblest of Israel,
8all of them wearing the sword,
all experienced in battle,
each with his sword at his side,
prepared for the terrors of the night.
9King Solomon made for himself the carriage;
he made it of wood from Lebanon.
10Its posts he made of silver,
its base of gold.
Its seat was upholstered with purple,
its interior inlaid with love.
Daughters of Jerusalem, 11come out,
and look, you daughters of Zion.
Look3:10,11 Or interior lovingly inlaid / by the daughters of Jerusalem. / 11 Come out, you daughters of Zion, / and look on King Solomon wearing a crown,
the crown with which his mother crowned him
on the day of his wedding,
the day his heart rejoiced.
