Cosmic Love Song

I'm still enjoying the book For Lovers of God Everywhere (published by Hay House, 2009), which I mentioned in my last post. Two things that move me greatly about the mystic poets: their passion, and the exquisite symbolism of "union with the Beloved" for the ecstatic state.

A lovely example of this cosmic romance is an excerpt from "The Dark Night" by St. John of the Cross (originally translated by Robert Bly; found on page 160 of For Lovers. . .):

"In the delicious night,
In privacy, where no one saw me,
Nor did I see one thing, I had no light or guide
But the fire that burned inside my chest.

That fire showed me
The way more clearly than the blaze of noon
To where, waiting for me,
Was the One I knew so well,
In that place where no one ever is.

I stood still; I forgot who I was,
My face leaning against Him,
Everything stopped, abandoned me,
My being was gone, forgotten
Among the white lilies."