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Kindled in love with yearnings.
Now that we have expounded the first line of this
stanza, which treats of the night of sense,
explaining what this night of sense is, and why it is
called night; and now that we have likewise described
the order and manner which are to be followed for a
soul to enter therein actively, the next thing to be
treated in due sequence is its properties and
effects, which are wonderful, and are described in
the next lines of the stanza aforementioned, upon
which I will briefly touch for the sake of expounding
the said lines, as I promised in the Prologue;[203]
and I will then pass on at once to the second book,
treating of the other part of this night, which is
the spiritual.
2. The soul, then, says that, 'kindled in love
with yearnings,' it passed through this dark night of
sense and came out thence to the union of the
Beloved. For, in order to conquer all the desires and
to deny itself the pleasures which it has in
everything, and for which its love and affection are
wont to enkindle the will that it may enjoy them, it
would need to experience another and a greater
enkindling by an other and a better love, which is
that of its Spouse; to the end that, having its
pleasure set upon Him and deriving from Him its
strength, it should have courage and constancy to
deny itself all other things with ease.
And, in order to conquer the strength of the
desires of sense, it would need, not only to have
love for its Spouse, but also to be enkindled by love
and to have yearnings. For it comes to pass, and so
it is, that with such yearnings of desire the sensual
nature is moved and attracted toward sensual things,
so that, if the spiritual part be not enkindled with
other and greater yearnings for that which is
spiritual, it will be unable to throw off the yoke of
nature[204] or to enter this night of sense, neither
will it have courage to remain in darkness as to all
things, depriving itself of desire for them all.
3. And the nature and all the varieties of these
yearnings of love which souls experience in the early
stages of this road to union; and the diligent means
and contrivances which they employ in order to leave
their house, which is self-will, during the night of
the mortification of their senses; and how easy, and
even sweet and delectable, these yearnings for the
Spouse make all the trials and perils of this night
to appear to them, this is not the place to describe,
neither is such description possible; for it is
better to know and meditate upon these things than to
write of them. And so we shall pass on to expound the
remaining lines in the next chapter. |