A fivefold Song of the Soul to God, and how God is a Robe of the Soul, and the Soul a robe of God.
Project Gutenberg EPUB edition
Mechthild, of Magdeburg and Bevan, Frances
Thou hast shone within this soul of mine,
As the sun on a shrine of gold;
When I rest my heart, O Lord, on Thine,
My bliss is manifold.
My soul is the gem on Thy diadem,
And my marriage robe Thou art;
If aught could sever my heart from Thine,
The sorrow beyond all sorrows were mine,
Alone and apart.
Could I not find Thy love below,
Then would my soul as a pilgrim go
To Thy holy land above;
There would I love Thee as I were fain,
With everlasting love.
Now have I sung my tuneless song,
But I hearken, Lord, for Thine;
Then shall a music, sweet and strong,
Pass into mine.
[84]
“I am the Light, and the lamp thou art;
The River, and thou the thirsty land;
To thee thy sighs have drawn My heart,
And ever beneath Thee is My hand.
And when thou weepest, it needs must be
Within Mine arms that encompass thee;
Thy heart from Mine can none divide,
For one are, the Bridegroom and the Bride:
It is sweet, belovèd, for Me and thee,
To wait for the day that is to be.”
O Lord, with hunger and thirst I wait,
With longing before Thy golden gate,
Till the day shall dawn,
When from Thy lips divine have passed
The sacred words that none may hear
But the soul who, loosed from the earth at last,
Hath laid her ear
To the Mouth that speaks in the still sweet morn
Apart and alone;
Then shall the secret of love be told,
The mystery known.