The Dark Night (second version)

Aquella niebla escura

THIS cloud of darkness
Is light divine, strong, beautiful,
Pure, inaccessible,
Delightful, intimate,
Being the sight of God and Him alone.

Which to enjoy
Reaches the soul, with love all set afire ;
Becoming blind,
Beholding naught,
The essence is transcended and attained.
When victory is won
Over the kingdom that was held by self,
She setteth forth unseen
By all, by all unnoticed,
Searching to find her God, by Him inflamed

In this departure
The soul goes out from self and takes her flight.
Seeking her life,
She rises to th'empyreal heaven,
Casting the veil from off her secret depths.
Though. sallying forth
Incited by the mastery of her love,
Yet in herself she holds Him —
Being engaged
In joying o'er her Good, to Him united.

She rests in peace.
All images have disappeared
The intellect grown blind
The passions quelled,
The powers perforce suspended.

Her glory and her bliss
Were duly reached by stairs
In safety scaled ;
Divine the way,
Formed by Christ's Mysteries.

Now having reached
The longed-for end,
Resting in her Beloved, she holds
A ceaseless motion,
Being at peace and fully satisfied.

That night serene
In which her life and depths enjoy her God,
Freed from all pain,
She searches long and ardently within herself
And with desire goes forth to meet Him.
Love leads the way
Throughout the dense, dark cloud
And with no other teacher
She safely journeys
To where God doth reveal to her His beauty.

On her trackless path,
Bereft of intellect and memory,
The King divine
Doth manifest His might and glory,
As far as may be in this mortal life.

O crystal night !
Led by thy lovely glamour,
In union divine,
The Bridegroom and the bride
Are now but one.
While the soul
Rejoices over the eternal Word,
A gentle wind,
Stirred by God's Holy Spirit,
Delights her very centre.

Alone they joy together
In a fair meadow by a wall enclosed,
While fragrant odours scent
The air serene,
Making it like no other earthly spot.

The King in Whom she lives
In puissant power hath robbed her of herself.
Receiving her
As inmate of His palace,
Holds her bereft entirely of herself.

So great the strength
And force of Him to Whom she is united, —
So weak is she, —
That yielding up herself to Him, she loses
Her own existence, being one with Him I