Another wonderful poem by the great mystic . I always love St.John of Cross writings. This is one of his best.
SONG OF THE SOUL AND
THE BRIDEGROOM
I
THE BRIDE
Where have You hidden
Yourself,
And abandoned me in my
groaning, O my Beloved?
You have fled like the
hart,
Having wounded me.
I ran after You,
crying; but You were gone.
II
O shepherds, you who go
Through the sheepcots
up the hill,
If you shall see Him
Whom I love the most,
Tell Him I languish,
suffer, and die.
III
In search of my Love
I will go over
mountains and strands;
I will gather no
flowers,
I will fear no wild
beasts;
And pass by the mighty
and the frontiers.
IV
O groves and thickets
Planted by the hand of
the Beloved;
O verdant meads
Enameled with flowers,
Tell me, has He passed
by you?
V
ANSWER OF THE CREATURES
A thousand graces
diffusing
He passed through the
groves in haste,
And merely regarding
them
As He passed
Clothed them with His
beauty.
VI
THE BRIDE
Oh! who can heal me?
Give me at once
Yourself,
Send me no more
A messenger
Who cannot tell me what
I wish.
VII
All they who serve are
telling me
Of Your unnumbered
graces;
And all wound me more
and more,
And something leaves me
dying,
I know not what, of
which they are darkly speaking.
VIII
But how you persevere,
O life,
Not living where you
live;
The arrows bring death
Which you receive
From your conceptions
of the Beloved.
IX
Why, after wounding
This heart, have You
not healed it?
And why, after stealing
it,
Have You thus abandoned
it,
And not carried away
the stolen prey?
X
Quench my troubles,
For no one else can
soothe them;
And let my eyes behold
You,
For You are their
light,
And I will keep them
for You alone.
XI
Reveal Your presence,
And let the vision and
Your beauty kill me,
Behold the malady
Of love is incurable
Except in Your presence
and before Your face.
XII
O crystal well!
Oh that on Your
silvered surface
You would mirror forth
at once
Those eyes desired
Which are outlined in
my heart!
XIII
Turn them away, O my
Beloved!
I am on the wing:
THE BRIDEGROOM
Return, My Dove!
The wounded hart
Looms on the hill
In the air of your
flight and is refreshed.
XIV
My Beloved is the
mountains,
The solitary wooded
valleys,
The strange islands,
The roaring torrents,
The whisper of the
amorous gales;
XV
The tranquil night
At the approaches of
the dawn,
The silent music,
The murmuring solitude,
The supper which
revives, and enkindles love.
XVI
Catch us the foxes,
For our vineyard has
flourished;
While of roses
We make a nosegay,
And let no one appear
on the hill.
XVII
O killing north wind,
cease!
Come, south wind, that
awakens love!
Blow through my garden,
And let its odors flow,
And the Beloved shall
feed among the flowers.
XVIII
O nymphs of Judea!
While amid the flowers
and the rose-trees
The amber sends forth
its perfume,
Tarry in the suburbs,
And touch not our
thresholds.
XIX
Hide yourself, O my
Beloved!
Turn Your face to the
mountains,
Do not speak,
But regard the
companions
Of her who is traveling
amidst strange islands.
XX
THE BRIDEGROOM
Light-winged birds,
Lions, fawns, bounding
does,
Mountains, valleys,
strands,
Waters, winds, heat,
And the terrors that
keep watch by night;
XXI
By the soft lyres
And the siren strains,
I adjure you,
Let your fury cease,
And touch not the wall,
That the bride may
sleep in greater security.
XXII
The bride has entered
The pleasant and
desirable garden,
And there reposes to
her heart’s content;
Her neck reclining
On the sweet arms of
the Beloved.
XXIII
Beneath the apple-tree
There were you
betrothed;
There I gave you My
hand,
And you were redeemed
Where your mother was
corrupted.
XXIV
THE BRIDE
Our bed is of flowers
By dens of lions
encompassed,
Hung with purple,
Made in peace,
And crowned with a
thousand shields of gold.
XXV
In Your footsteps
The young ones run Your
way;
At the touch of the
fire
And by the spiced wine,
The divine balsam
flows.
XXVI
In the inner cellar
Of my Beloved have I
drunk; and when I went forth
Over all the plain
I knew nothing,
And lost the flock I
followed before.
XXVII
There He gave me His
breasts,
There He taught me the
science full of sweetness.
And there I gave to Him
Myself without reserve;
There I promised to be
His bride.
XXVIII
My soul is occupied,
And all my substance in
His service;
Now I guard no flock,
Nor have I any other
employment:
My sole occupation is
love.
XXIX
If, then, on the common
land
I am no longer seen or
found,
You will say that I am
lost;
That, being enamored,
I lost myself; and yet
was found.
XXX
Of emeralds, and of
flowers
In the early morning
gathered,
We will make the
garlands,
Flowering in Your love,
And bound together with
one hair of my head.
XXXI
By that one hair
You have observed
fluttering on my neck,
And on my neck
regarded,
You were captivated;
And wounded by one of
my eyes.
XXXII
When You regarded me,
Your eyes imprinted in
me Your grace:
For this You loved me
again,
And thereby my eyes
merited
To adore what in You
they saw
XXXIII
Despise me not,
For if I was swarthy
once
You can regard me now;
Since You have regarded
me,
Grace and beauty have
You given me.
XXXIV
THE BRIDEGROOM
The little white dove
Has returned to the ark
with the bough;
And now the turtle-dove
Its desired mate
On the green banks has
found.
XXXV
In solitude she lived,
And in solitude built
her nest;
And in solitude, alone
Has the Beloved guided
her,
In solitude also
wounded with love.
XXXVI
THE BRIDE
Let us rejoice, O my
Beloved!
Let us go forth to see
ourselves in Your beauty,
To the mountain and the
hill,
Where the pure water
flows:
Let us enter into the
heart of the thicket.
XXXVII
We shall go at once
To the deep caverns of
the rock
Which are all secret,
There we shall enter in
And taste of the new
wine of the pomegranate.
XXXVIII
There you will show me
That which my soul
desired;
And there You will give
at once,
O You, my life!
That which You gave me
the other day.
XXXIX
The breathing of the
air,
The song of the sweet
nightingale,
The grove and its
beauty
In the serene night,
With the flame that
consumes, and gives no pains.
XL
None saw it;
Neither did Aminadab
appear
The siege was
intermitted,
And the cavalry
dismounted
At the sight of the
waters.
