1 I wish that you were my brother,
that my mother had nursed you at her breast.
Then, if I met you in the street,
I could kiss you and no one would mind.
2 I would take you to my mother's house,
where you could teach me love.
I would give you spiced wine,
my pomegranate wine to drink.
3 Your left hand is under my head,
and your right hand caresses me.
4 Promise me, women of Jerusalem,
that you will not interrupt our love.
The Sixth Song
The Women
5 Who is this coming from the desert,
arm in arm with her lover?
The Woman
Under the apple tree I woke you,
in the place where you were born.
6 Close your heart to every love but mine;
hold no one in your arms but me.
Love is as powerful as death;
passion is as strong as death itself.
It bursts into flame
and burns like a raging fire.
7 Water cannot put it out;
no flood can drown it.
But if any tried to buy love with their wealth,
contempt is all they would get.
The Woman's Brothers
8 We have a young sister,
and her breasts are still small.
What will we do for her
when a young man comes courting?
9 If she is a wall,
we will build her a silver tower.
But if she is a gate,
we will protect her with panels of cedar.
The Woman
10 I am a wall,
and my breasts are its towers.
My lover knows that with him
I find contentment and peace.
The Man
11 Solomon has a vineyard
in a place called Baal Hamon.
There are farmers who rent it from him;
each one pays a thousand silver coins.
12 Solomon is welcome to his thousand coins,
and the farmers to two hundred as their share;
I have a vineyard of my own!
13 Let me hear your voice from the garden, my love;
my companions are waiting to hear you speak.
The Woman
14 Come to me, my lover, like a gazelle,
like a young stag on the mountains where spices grow.
1 A ka munta m fee,
i ye ke n kotookewo ti,
meŋ suusuuta m baamaa sunjoo to.
I si a je,
niŋ n niŋ i benta mbeedoo kaŋ,
n si i sumbu, moo te n jalayi la.
2 N si i samba noo,
ŋa i dundi m baa la buŋo kono,
m faŋo wuluuta daameŋ.
N si i mindi wayini* betoo la,
m faŋo la roomaani* yiridiŋ jiyo.
3 A ka munta le ko,
a maraa buloo ye tara n kuŋo koto,
a bulubaa buloo ye tara minindiŋ n na.
4 Alitolu Yerusalaamu dimmusuriŋolu,
ŋa ali daani,
niŋ n niŋ n jusukuŋo be fereriŋ
ka ǹ na kanoo yita ñoo la,
moo kana futa m̀ ma, waraŋ ka m̀ batandi,
fo janniŋ m̀ be kaañaŋ na.
Suukuu wooronjaŋo
Musoolu ko:
5 Jumaa le ka naa teŋ,
ka bo naŋ keñewuloo* kono,
a be minindiŋ a jusukuŋo la?
Musoo ko:
Pomu suŋo koto, ŋa i kuniŋ jee le,
i tiŋo ye i baamaa maa wo le to,
i baamaa meŋ ye i wuluu,
be nuŋ tiŋo to jee le.
6 N ke i jusoo to ko tampoo,
i ye n ke tampoo ti i bulukaŋo to.
Kanoo le semboo warata,
a semboo be warariŋ ne ko saayaa,
a kiiliyaa be jawuyaariŋ ko kaburoo,
a beñoo be ko dimbaa feremetoo,
ko dimbaa hilihiloo.
7 Jiyo la siyaa, wo buka a faa noo,
sako waamoo si a kunuŋ noo.
Hani niŋ meŋ ye ì la suwo sotofeŋo bee le bondi,
ka kanoo saŋ,
wo feŋo si ke jutunna feŋo ti.
Musoo kotookewolu:
8 Ŋà doomusuriŋ ne soto,
dindiŋo le mu,
a sunjoo maŋ bo foloo.
M̀ be muŋ ne ke la ǹ doomusoo ye
luŋ meŋ na, ì ye a la kuwo maa?
9 Niŋ tata sansaŋo le mu,
m̀ be a ñarandi la kodiforo tata jaŋolu le la,
niŋ duŋ, bundaa le mu,
ŋà a ñarandi sedari* babaroo la.
Musoo ko:
10 M mu tata sansaŋo le ti,
n sunjoolu be ko tata jaŋo,
n keta n jusukuŋo ñaa koto
kayiroo naatilaa ti.
Kewo ko:
11 Wayini yiri kankaŋ ne be nuŋ Sulemani bulu,
a be nuŋ Baali-Hamoni maafaŋo le la.
A ye a dii kantarilaalu la,
i meŋ-wo-meŋ ñanta kodiforo kuntu wuli kiliŋ ne naati la,
a yiridiŋolu to, katiri waatoo.
12 Sulemani, kantarilaa keme fula ye tara i bulu,
i ye i la kodiforo kuntu wuli kiliŋo taa,
bari m fanaa la yiri kankaŋo,
n halaaloo, wo mu n taa le ti.
13 N kanuntewo, meŋ be sabatiriŋ naakoo kono,
diyaamu n ye,
n kafuñoolu be i lamoyi kaŋ ne.
Musoo ko:
14 N jusukuŋo, i tariyaa,
bori ko minaŋo,
waraŋ ko daakoyoo, konkoolu to
seerandi feŋolu ka faliŋ daameŋ.
