Song of Solomon — The Coverdale Bible (1535)
The Song of Solomon is the love poem of the bride and the bridegroom, long read as an allegory of God and his people. In Coverdale’s Bible of 1535 it stands in the third part (Job to the Song of Solomon) under the heading “Salomons Balettes, called Cantica Canticorum”. The 1535 Bible has no verse numbers, so the text keeps its own paragraphs, in 8 chapters, with the marginal notes and references printed after each chapter.
Chapter 1
[A] O That thy mouth wolde geue me a kysse, for yᵉ brestes are more pleasaunt then wyne, & that because of the good and pleasaunt sauoure.⁽¹⁾ Thy name is a swete smellynge oyntment, therfore do the maydens loue the: yee that same moueth me also to renne after the.
The kynge hath brought me into his preuy chambre. We wil be glad & reioyce in the, we thynke more of thy brestes then of wyne: well is them that loue the.
[B] I am black (o ye doughters of Ierusalē) like as the tentes of the Cedarenes,⁽²⁾ and as the hanginges of Salomon: but yet am I faire & wel fauoured withal. Maruell not at me yᵗ I am so black, & why? yᵉ Sonne hath shyned vpō me. For whan my mothers childrē had euell wil at me, they made me yᵉ keper of the vynyarde. Thus was I fayne to kepe a vynyarde, which was not myne owne.
Tell me (o thou whom my soule loueth) where thou fedest, where thou restest at the noone daye: lest I go wronge, and come vnto the flockes of thy companyons,
Yf thou knowe not yⁱ self (o thou fayrest amōge women) thā go yᵉ waye forth after yᵉ fotesteppes of the shepe, as though thou woldest fede yᵉ goates besyde yᵉ shepherdes tentes. There wil I tary for the (my loue) wᵗ myne hoost & with my charettes, which shal be no fewer then Pharaos.
⁽³⁾ [C] Then shal thy chekes & thy neck be made fayre, & hanged wᵗ spāges & goodly iewels: a neck bande of golde wil we make yᵉ wᵗ syluer bottons. When the kynge sytteth at the table, he shal smell my Nardus: for a bōdell of Myrre (o my beloued) lyeth betwixte my brestes. A cluster of grapes of Cypers, or of the vynyardes of Engaddi, art thou vnto me, O my beloued.
⁽⁴⁾O how fayre art thou (my loue) how fayre art thou▪ thou hast doues eyes. O how fayre art thou (my beloued) how well fauored art thou? Oure bed is decte with floures, yᵉ sylinges of oure house are of Cedre tre, & oure balkes of Cypresse.
Notes to Chapter 1
⁽¹⁾ ⟨illegible⟩cl⟨illegible⟩. 7. a
⁽²⁾ ⟨illegible⟩. 25. b Par. 3. c
⁽³⁾ ⟨illegible⟩xo. ⟨illegible⟩. 14. b
⁽⁴⁾ ⟨illegible⟩ant. 4. a
Chapter 2
I Am the floure of the felde, and lylie [A] of the valleys: as the rose amonge the thornes, so is my loue amonge the daughters.
Like as the aple tre amonge the trees of the wodd, so is my beloued amonge the sonnes. My delite is to sitt vnder his shadowe, for his frute is swete vnto my throte. He bryngeth me in to his wyne seller, and loueth me specially well. Refresh me wᵗ grapes, cōforte me with apples, for I am sick of loue.⁽¹⁾ His left hāde lyeth vnder my heade, & his right hande enbraceth me.
I charge you (o ye doughters of Ierusalem [B] (by the Roes & hyndes of the felde, yᵗ ye wake not vp my loue ner touch her, till she be content herself.
Me thynke I heare the voyce of my beloued: lo, there commeth he hoppinge vpon yᵉ mountaynes, and leapinge ouer the litle hilles. My beloued is like a Roo or a yonge hart. Beholde, he stondeth behynde oʳ wall, he loketh in at the wyndowe, & pepeth thorow the grate.
My beloued answered & sayde vnto me: O stōde vp my loue, my doue, my beutyfull, & come: for lo, the wynter is now past, the rayne is awaie & gone. The floures are come vp in the felde, the twystinge tyme is come, the voyce of the turtle doue is herde in oure londe. The fyge tre bryngeth forth hir fyges, the vynes beare blossoms, and haue a good smell.
O stōde vp my loue, my beutyfull, and come [C] (my doue) out of the caues of the rockes, out of the holes of the wall: O let me se thy countenaunce and heare thy voyce, for swete is thy voyce and fayre is thy face. Gett vs the foxes, yee the litle foxes that hurte yᵉ vynes, for oure vynes beare blossoms.
My loue is myne, and I am his,⁽²⁾ (which fedeth amōge the lylies) vntill the daye breake, and till the shadowes be gone. Come agayne preuely (o my beloued) like as a Roo or a yonge harte vnto the mountaynes.
Notes to Chapter 2
⁽¹⁾ ⟨illegible⟩
⁽²⁾ ⟨illegible⟩
Chapter 3
BY night in my bedd, I sought him,[A] whom my soule loueth: yee diligently sought I him, but I founde him not. I wil get vp (thought I) and go aboute the cite: vpon the market and in all yᵉ stretes will I seke him whom my soule loueth, but whan I sought him, I founde him not. The watchmen that go aboute yᵉ cite, founde me. Sawe ye not him, whom my soule loueth?
So whan I was a litle past them, I foūde him whom my soule loueth. I haue got ten holde vpon him, and wyl not let him go, vntill I brynge him in to my mothers house, and in to hir chambre that bare me.
I charge you (o ye doughters of Ierusalē) by the Roes and hyndes of the felde, that ye wake not vp my loue ner touch her, till she be content herself.
Who is this, that commeth out of yᵉ wyldernesse like pilers of smoke, as it were a smell of Myrre, frankencense and all maner spyces of the Apotecary?
Beholde, aboute Salomōs bedsteade there stonde LX. valeaunt men of the mightie in Israel. They holde swerdes euery one, & are experte in warre. Euery man hath his swerde vpō his thee, because of feare in the night.
Kynge Salomon hath made himself a bedsteade of the wodd of Libanus, the pilers are of syluer, the coueringe of golde, yᵉ seate of purple, yᵉ grounde pleasauntly paued for the doughters of Ierusalem.
Go forth (o ye doughters of Sion) and beholde kynge Salomon in the crowne, wherwith his mother crowned him in the daye of his mariage, and in the daye of the gladnesse of his hert.
Chapter 4
O How fayre art thou (my loue) how fayre art thou?⁽¹⁾ thou hast doues eyes besyde that which lyeth hid within. Thy hayrie lockes are like a flocke of shepe that be clypped, which go first vp from the washinge place: where euery one beareth two twyns, and not one vnfrutefull amōge them. Thy lippes are like a rose coloured rybende, thy wordes are louely: thy chekes are like a pece of a pomgranate, besydes that which lyed hyd within. Thy neck is like the tower of Dauid buylded with bulworkes, wher vpon there hāge a thousande sheldes, yee all the weapēs of the giaūtes. Thy two brestes are like two twyns of yonge roes,⁽²⁾ which fede amōge the lilies. O that I might go to the mountayne of Myrre, and to the hyll of frankynsense: till the▪ daye breake, and till the shadowes be past awaye. Thou art all fayre (o my loue) & no spott is there in the.
[B] Come to me from Libanus (o my spouse) come to me from Libanus: come soone the next waye from the toppe of Amana, from the toppe of Sanir and Hermon, from the Lyons dennes and from the mountaynes of yᵉ leopardes. Thou hast woūded my hert (o my sister, my spouse) thou hast wounded my hert, with one of thine eyes, and with one cheyne of thy neck. O how fayre and louely are thy brestes, my sister, my spouse▪ Thy brestes are more pleasaunt then wyne, and the smell of thy oyntmentes passeth all spices. Thy lippes (o my spouse) droppe as the hony combe, yee mylck and hony is vnder thy tonge, and the smell of thy garmentes is like the smell of frankynsense.[C]
Thou art a well kepte garden (o my sister, my spouse) thou art a well kepte water sprynge, a sealed well. The frutes that sproute in the, are like a very paradyse of pōgranates wᵗ swete frutes: as Cypresse, Nardus, Saffron, Calmus, and all the trees of Libanus: Myrre, Aloes, and all the best spyces. Thou art a well of gardens, a well of lyuynge waters, which renne downe from Libanus. Vp thou northwynde, come thou southwynde, and blowe vpō my gardē, that the smell therof maye be caried on euery syde: Yee that my beloued maye come in to my garden, & eate of the frutes and apples that growe therin.[A]
Notes to Chapter 4
⁽¹⁾ ⟨illegible⟩
⁽²⁾ ⟨illegible⟩
Chapter 5
COme in to my garden o my sister, my spouse: I haue gathered my Myrre wᵗ my spyce. I wil eate my hony and my hony cōbe, I wil drynke my wyne & my mylk Eate o (ye frendes) drynke and be mery, o ye beloued.
As I was a slepe, & my hert wakynge, I herde the voyce of my beloued, whā he knocked. Open to me (sayde he) o my sister, my loue, my doue, my derlinge: for my heade is full of dew, and yᵉ lockes of my hayre are full of the night droppes.
I haue put off my cote, how cā I do it on [B] agayne? I haue washed my fete, how shal I fyle them agayne? But whan my loue put in his hande at the hole, my hert was moued towarde him: so that I stode vp to open vnto my beloued. My hādes dropped wᵗ Myrre, & the Myrre ranne downe my fyngers vpon yᵉ lock. Neuerthelesse whā I had opened vnto my beloued, he was departed, and gone his waye.
Now like as afore tyme whan he spake, my hert coude no longer refrayne: Euen so now I sought hī, but I coude not fynde him: I cried vpon him, neuerthelesse he gaue me [C] no answere. So the watchmen that wente aboute the cite, foūde me, smote me, and wounded me: Yee they that kepte the walles, toke awaye my garmēt fro me. I charge you therfore (o ye doughters of Ierusalem) yf ye fynde my beloued, that ye tell him, how that I am sick for loue.
Who is thy loue aboue other louers, O thou fayrest amonge wemen? Or, what can thy loue do, more then other louers, that thou chargest vs so straitly?
As for my loue, he is whyte and reade coloured, a synguler personne amonge many thousandes: his heade is the most fyne golde, the lockes of his hayre are buszshed, browne as the euenynge: His eyes are as the eyes of doues by the water brokes, washen with [D] mylek, and remaynynge in a plenteous place: His chekes are like a garden bedd, where in the Apotecaryes plāte all maner of swete thinges: His lippes droppe as the floures of the most pryncipall Myrre, his hādes are full of golde rynges and precious stones. His body is as the pure yuery, decre ouer with Saphyres:⁽¹⁾ His legges are as the pilers of Marbell, sett vpon sokettes of golde: His face is as Libanus, and as the bewty of the Cedre trees: His throte is swete, yee he is alltogether louely. Soch one is my loue (o ye doughters of Ierusalem) soch one is my loue.
Whither is thy loue gone thē (o thou fayrest amonge wemē) whither is thy loue departed, that we maye seke him with the?
Notes to Chapter 5
⁽¹⁾ Eccl. 26. c
Chapter 6
[A] MY loue is gone downe in to his garden, vnto yᵉ swete smellinge beddes, that he maye refresh himself in the garden, and gather floures. My loue is myne, and I am his, which fedeth amonge the lilies.
Thou art pleasaunt (o my loue) euen as louelynesse itself, thou art fayre as Ierusalem, glorious as an armye of men with their bāners (Turne awaye thine eyes fro me, for they make me to proude) Thy hayrie lockes are like a flocke of goates vpon yᵉ mount of Galaad.⁽¹⁾ Thy teth are like a flock of shepe yᵗ be clypped, which go out of the washinge place: where euery one beareth two twyns, & not one vnfrutefull amōge them. Thy chekes are like a pece of a pomgranate, besydes yᵗ which lyeth hid within. There are thre score quenes,⁽²⁾ foure score concubynes, and yonge wemē without nombre. But one is my doue, [B] my derlynge. She is the onely beloued of hir mother, & deare vnto her that bare her. Whā the daughters sawe her, they sayde she was blessed: Yee the quenes and concubines praysed her. What is she this, that pepeth out as the mornynge? fayre as the Moone, excellent as the Sonne, glorious as an armye of men with their banners?
I wente downe in to the nutt garden, to se what grew by the brokes, to loke yf the vynyarde florished, and yf the pomgranates were shot forth. Then the charettes of the prynce of my people made me sodenly afrayed. Turne againe, turne againe (O thou S⟨illegible⟩lamite) turne agayne, turne agayne, that we maye loke vpon the.
Notes to Chapter 6
⁽¹⁾ Canti. 4. a
⁽²⁾ 3. Re. 11. a
Chapter 7
WHat pleasure haue ye more in yᵉ S⟨illegible⟩lamite, than when she daunseth amonge the men of warre? O how pleasaunt are thy treadinges with thy sh⟨illegible⟩es, thou prynces daughter? Thy thees are like a fayre iewell, which is wrought by a co⟨illegible⟩nynge workmaster: Thy nauell is like a rounde goblett, which is neuer without drynke▪ Thy wombe is like an heape of wheate, sett aboute with lilies: Thy two brestes are like two twyns of yonge roes: Thy neck is as it were a tower of yuery: Thyne eyes are like yᵉ water poles in Hesebon, besyde the porte of Bathrabbim: Thy nose is like the tower of Libanus, which loketh towarde Damascus ▪ That heade that stondeth vpon the is like Carmel: The hayre of thy heade is like the kynges purple folden vp in plates.
O how fayre and louely art thou (my derlynge) in pleasures? Thy stature is like a date tre, and thy brestes like the grapes. I sayde: I wil clymme vp in to the date tre, and take holde of his braunches. Thy brestes also shalbe as the vyne grapes, the smell of thy nostrels like the smell of apples, and thy th⟨illegible⟩te like the best wyne.
This shalbe pure & cleare for my loue, his lippes and teth shal haue their pleasure. There wil I turne me vnto my loue, and he shal turne him vnto me. O come on my loue, let vs go forth in to the felde, and take oure lodginge in the vyllages. In the mornynge wil we ryse by tymes, and go se the vynyarde: yf it be spronge forth, yf the grapes be growne, & yf the pomgranates be shott out. There wil I geue the my brestes: There shal the Mandragoras geue their smell besyde oure dores: There (o my loue) haue I kepte vnto the all maner of frutes, both new and olde.
Chapter 8
O That I might fynde the without & kysse yᵉ, whom I loue as my brother which suckte my mothers brestes: & that thou woldest not be offended, yf I toke the and brought the in to my mothers house: that thou mightest teach me, and that I might geue the drynke of spyced wyne and of the swete sappe of my pomgranates. His left hande lyeth vnder my heade, & his right hande embraceth me.
I charge you (o ye daughters of Ierusalē) that ye wake not vp my loue ner touch her, tyll she be content herself. What is she this, that cōmeth vp from the wildernes, and leaneth vpon hir loue? I am the same that waked the vp amonge the aple trees, where thy mother beare yᵉ, where yᵉ mother brought ⟨illegible⟩ in to the worlde.
O set me as a seale vpō thine hert, and as ⟨illegible⟩eale vpon thine arme: for loue is mightie the death, & gelousy as the hell. Hir coa⟨illegible⟩ are of fyre, and a very flamme of the LORDE: so yᵗ many waters are not able to quench loue, nether maye yᵉ streames drowne it. Yee ⟨illegible⟩ man wolde geue all the good of his house for loue, he shulde counte it nothinge.
When oure loue is tolde oure yonge sister, whose brestes are not yet growne, what shal we do vnto her? Yf she be a wall, we shal ⟨illegible⟩ylde a syluer bollworke there vpon: Yf she be a tower, we shal festen her with bordes of Cedre tre.
Yf I be a wall, & my brestes like towres, then am I as one that hath founde fauoure in his sight.
Salomon had a vynyarde at Baal Hamon, this vynyarde delyuered he vnto the kepers: yᵗ euery one for the frute therof shulde geue him a thousande peces of syluer. But my vynyarde (o Salomon) geueth the a thousande, and two hundreth to yᵉ kepers of the frute.
Thou that dwellest in the gardens, O let me heare thy voyce, that my companyons maye herken to the same. O get the awaye (my loue) as a roo or a yonge hert vnto the swete smellinge moūtaynes.
The ende of Salomons Balettes, called Cantica Canticorum.
Colophon
This page is an archival transcription of the printed text, not a Good Works Translation. Source: Biblia the Byble, that is, the holy Scrypture of the Olde and New Testament, faithfully translated in to Englyshe (M.D.XXXV; STC 2063.3), translated by Myles Coverdale, the copy in Cambridge University Library, keyed and encoded by the Text Creation Partnership (EEBO-TCP Phase I, text A10349, 2005) and released under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 public-domain dedication.
19 places illegible in the Cambridge copy were filled from Samuel Bagster’s 1838 page-for-page reprint of the edition (archive.org, holyscriptures00cove), only where the reprint’s reading is certain; each fill is listed on this room’s Supplied Readings page; 20 places are still marked ⟨illegible⟩ (10 in the text, 10 in the marginal notes).
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