The following stanzas are a summary of the doctrine contained in this book of the Ascent of Mount Carmel. They also describe how we are to ascend to the summit of it, that is, to the high estate of perfection, called here union of the soul with God. I place all the stanzas together, because what I have to say is founded upon them. Thus the whole substance of my book may be comprehended at once. I shall also transcribe each stanza again, and each
line separately, as the nature of my work requires.
STANZAS I In an obscure night, With anxious love inflamed, O, happy lot! Forth unobserved I went, My house being now at rest.
I In darkness and obscurity, By the secret ladder, disguised, O, happy lot! In darkness and concealment, My house being now at rest. VOL. I. B
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2In that happy Hehe
In secret, en oe > i —_ Seeing nought myself,. “ ia
Without other light or guide Save that which in my heart was burning,
That light guided me a GS Ait te a More surely than the noonday sun
To the place where He was waiting: for ne a
Whom I knew well,. Ae
And where none but He appeared. a
: "Fae v | Be O, guiding night; aa O, night more lovely than the dawn; ite a es. O, night that hast united a | The Lover with His beloved, his And changed her into her Love.; r; = * vi a On my flowery bosom, 3 Kept whole for Him alone, = He reposed and slept; ~s nn I kept Him, and the waving ae Of the cedars fanned Him. ge $ é ue ee: vit 7 ee Then His hair floated in the breeze | a That blew from the turret; ae He struck me on the eck ee With His gentle hand,
And all sensation left me.
’ Vir
I continued in oblivion lost,
My head was resting on my Love;
I fainted away, abandoned, ken And, amid the lilies forgotten, Threw all my cares away.