Title: Adjuro vos filiae Jerusalem a 8 Composer:Jacob Handl Text: Song of Songs 2:10, 13-14; 5:8-10, 16; 6:1-10 (Vulgate) Number of voices: 8vv Voicing:SSAT.ATBB Genre:Sacred, Motet
Adjuro vos, filiae Jerusalem,
si inveneritis dilectum meum,
ut nuntietis ei quia amore langueo.
Qualis est dilectus tuus ex dilecto,
o pulcherrima mulierum?
Qualis est dilectus tuus ex dilecto,
quia sic adjurasti nos?
Dilectus meus candidus et rubicundus,
electus ex millibus,
et totus desiderabilis.
Talis est dilectus meus,
et ipse est amicus meus, filiae Jerusalem.
Quo abiit dilectus tuus,
o pulcherrima mulierum?
Quo declinavit dilectus tuus,
et quaeremus eum tecum?
Dilectus meus descendit in hortum suum,
ad areolam aromatum,
ut ibi pascatur in hortis
et lilia colligat.
Ego dilecto meo,
et dilectus meus mihi,
qui pascitur inter lilia.
Pulchra es, amica mea,
suavis et decora sicut Jerusalem,
terribilis ut castrorum acies ordinata.
Averte oculos tuos a me,
quia ipsi me avolare fecerunt.
Una est columba mea,
electa genitrici suae:
viderunt eam filiae et beatissimam praedicaverunt,
reginae et laudaverunt eam.
Quae est ista quae progreditur quasi aurora consurgens,
pulchra ut luna,
electa ut sol,
terribilis ut castrorum acies ordinata?
English translation
I charge you, daughters of Jerusalem:
If you find my beloved,
tell him that I am faint with love.
What is your beloved more than another beloved,
O fairest among women?
What is your beloved more than another beloved,
that you so adjure us?
My beloved is white and ruddy,
distinguished among ten thousand.
He is altogether desirable.
Such is my beloved,
and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.
Where has your beloved gone,
O fairest among women?
Where has your beloved turned aside,
that we may seek him with you?
My beloved has gone down to his garden,
to the beds of spices,
to feed in the gardens
and to gather lilies.
I am my beloved’s,
and my beloved is mine:
he grazes among the lilies.
You are beautiful, my love,
sweet and lovely as Jerusalem,
awe-inspiring as an army in formation.
Turn your eyes away from me,
for they overwhelm me.
My dove is unique,
perfect to her mother.
The daughters saw her and called her blessed,
queens and concubines praised her.
Who is this who rises like the dawn,
beautiful as the moon,
radiant as the sun,
awe-inspiring as an army in formation?
Latin text
English translation