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Read Shinzen's O Night That Unites: A Personal Appreciation of St. John of the Cross

 

La Noche Oscura
St. John of the Cross
The Dark Night
Translated by Shinzen Young

   En una noche oscura,
con ansias en amores inflamada,
ˇoh dichosa ventura!
salí, sin ser notada,
estando ya mi casa sosegada.

   On a dark night,
On fire with longing for love,
Oh happy venture!
I left, unseen,
My house being still…at last.

   A oscuras, y segura,
por la secreta escala disfrazada,
ˇoh dichosa ventura!
a oscuras y en celada,
estando ya mi casa sosegada.

   In darkness, and safe,
By the secret stairway, in disguise,
Oh happy venture!
In darkness and concealed,
My house being still…at last.

   En la noche dichosa,
en secreto, que nadie me veía
ni yo miraba cosa,
sin otra luz y guía
sino la que en el corazón ardía.

   Into the happy night,
In secret, for no one saw me
And neither did I see anything,
Without light or guide,
Other than that which burned in my heart.

   Aquesta me guiaba
más cierto que la luz del mediodía,
adonde me esperaba
quien yo bien me sabía,
en parte donde nadie parecía.

   And this guided me,
More surely than the light of noon,
To where He awaited
One well known to me
In a place where no one would appear.

   ˇOh noche, que guiaste,
oh noche amable más que la alborada:
oh noche, que juntaste
Amado con amada,
amada en el Amado transformada!

   O night that guides!
O night more lovely than the light of dawn!
O night that unites
The lover with the beloved,
And transforms the lover into the Beloved!

   En mi pecho florido,
que entero para él solo se guardaba,
allí quedó dormido
y yo le regalaba,
y el ventalle de cedros aire daba.

   On my flowering breast,
Which I reserved entirely for Him alone,
There He dwelt, and slept
And I caressed Him,
And the cedars fanned us with their breeze.

   El aire de la almena,
cuando yo sus cabellos esparcía,
con su mano serena
en mi cuello hería,
y todos mis sentidos suspendía.

   The breeze blew over the castle wall and
As I ran my fingers through His hair,
With His gentle hand
He pinched my neck,
And suspended all my senses.

   Quedéme y olvidéme,
el rostro recliné sobre el Amado;
cesó todo, y dejéme,
dejando mi cuidado
entre las azucenas olvidado.

   Thus I stayed, and forgot myself,
Resting my face upon the Beloved;
Everything stopped, and I was set free,
Leaving my care behind
Forgotten, among the lilies.