Translation by Bible or other Sacred Texts
O that thou wert as my brother
Language: English  after the Latin
1 O that thou wert as my brother, that sucked the breasts of my mother! when I should find thee without, I would kiss thee; yea, I should not be despised. 2 I would lead thee, and bring thee into my mother's house, who would instruct me: I would cause thee to drink of spiced wine of the juice of my pomegranate. 3 His left hand should be under my head, and his right hand should embrace me. 4 I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, until he please. 5 Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved? I raised thee up under the apple tree: there thy mother brought thee forth: there she brought thee forth that bare thee. 6 Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame. 7 Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it: if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned. 8 We have a little sister, and she hath no breasts: what shall we do for our sister in the day when she shall be spoken for? 9 If she be a wall, we will build upon her a palace of silver: and if she be a door, we will inclose her with boards of cedar. 10 I am a wall, and my breasts like towers: then was I in his eyes as one that found favour. 11 Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon; he let out the vineyard unto keepers; every one for the fruit thereof was to bring a thousand pieces of silver. 12 My vineyard, which is mine, is before me: thou, O Solomon, must have a thousand, and those that keep the fruit thereof two hundred. 13 Thou that dwellest in the gardens, the companions hearken to thy voice: cause me to hear it. 14 Make haste, my beloved, and be thou like to a roe or to a young hart upon the mountains of spices.
W. Walton sets lines 6-7
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View text with all available footnotesText Authorship:
- by Bible or other Sacred Texts , no title, appears in Song of Songs of Solomon / Canticle of Canticles (KJV), no. 8 [an adaptation] [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in Latin by Bible or other Sacred Texts , appears in Canticum Canticorum Salomonis (Song of Songs of Solomon), no. 8
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by William Walton (1902 - 1983), "Set me as a seal upon thine heart", lines 6-7 [sung text checked 1 time]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in English, a translation by Bible or other Sacred Texts [an adaptation] ; composed by Gary Bachlund.
- Also set in French (Français), a translation by Bible or other Sacred Texts [an adaptation] ; composed by Jean-Yves Daniel-Lesur.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2021-04-15
Line count: 46
Word count: 374