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Meryl:
Dee Dee or Daniel, do you know where to find the lyrics to that? It's hard to pick them up from listening. Very nice song. 8)
Daniel:
The Dark Night of the Soul
Upon a darkened night
The flame of love was burning in my breast.
And by a lantern bright,
I fled my house while all in quiet rest.
Shrouded by the night
And by the secret stair I quickly fled.
The veil concealed my eyes
While all within lay quiet as the dead.
Oh night, thou was my guide.
Oh night more loving than the rising sun.
Oh night that joined the lover
to the beloved one,
Transforming each of them into the other.
Upon that misty night
In secrecy, beyond such mortal sight,
Without a guide or light
Than that which burned so deeply in my heart.
That fire 'twas led me on
And shone more bright than of the midday sun
To where he waited still
It was a place where no one else could come.
Oh night, thou was my guide.
Oh night more loving than the rising sun.
Oh night that joined the lover
to the beloved one,
Transforming each of them into the other.
Within my pounding heart
Which kept itself entirely for him.
He fell into his sleep
Beneath the cedars all my love I gave.
And by the fortress walls
The wind would brush his hair against his brow
And with its smoothest hand
Caressed my every sense it would allow.
Oh night, thou was my guide.
Oh night more loving than the rising sun.
Oh night that joined the lover
to the beloved one,
Transforming each of them into the other.
I lost myself to him
And laid my face upon my lover's breast,
And care and grief grew dim,
As in the morning's mist became the light.
There they dimmed amongst the lilies fair.
There they dimmed amongst the lilies fair.
There they dimmed amongst the lilies fair.
Lyrics by St. John of the Cross (15th Century)
Arranged and Adapted by Loreena McKennitt.
Meryl:
Thanks so much, Daniel! Beautiful words, and very evocative of Ennis's journey. Here are two excerpts I found from Wikipedia that give some background:
The term and metaphysicality of the phrase "dark night of the soul" are taken from the writings of the Spanish poet and Roman Catholic mystic Saint John of the Cross, a Carmelite priest in the 16th century. Dark Night of the Soul is the name of both a poem, and a commentary on that poem, and are among the Carmelite priest's most famous writings. They tell of his mystic development and the stages he went through on his quest for holiness.
The "dark night" could generally be described as a letting go of our ego's hold on the psyche, making room for change that can bring about a complete transformation of a person's way of defining his/her self and their relationship to God. The interim period can be frightening, hence the perceived "darkness". In the Christian tradition, during the "dark night" one who has developed a strong prayer life and consistent devotion to God suddenly finds traditional prayer extremely difficult and unrewarding for an extended period of time. The individual may feel as though God has suddenly abandoned them, or that their prayer life has collapsed.
Rather than being a negative event, the dark night is believed by mystics and others to be a blessing in disguise where the individual is trained to grow from vocal and mental prayer, to a deeper contemplative prayer of the soul. Particularly in Christianity, it is seen as a severe test of one's faith. The Dark Night comes in two phases: a first "Night of the Senses," and a second "Night of the Spirit."
***********
Dark Night of the Soul (from which the spiritual term Dark Night of the Soul takes its name) narrates the journey of the soul from her bodily home to her union with God. It happens during the night, which represents the hardships and difficulties she meets in detachment from the world and reaching the light of the union with the Creator. There are several steps in this night, which are related in successive stanzas.
Daniel:
Yes, I have the book also... Dark Night of the Soul, its been very helpful at times in identifying spiritual weaknesses, but what is particular about this rendition is that she transforms it almost completely into a love song which is evocative of the entire second tent scene in my opinion... through the magic of contextual metaphor.
That's the beautiful thing about metaphors, they can be interpeted in more than one way... This is from the CD booklet included with the CD that this comes from:
"May 1993 - Stratford.... have been reading through the poetry of 15th Century Spain, and I find myself drawn to one by the mystic writer and visionary St. John of the Cross: the untitled work is an exquisite, richly metaphoric love poem between himself and his god. It could pass as a love peom between any two at any time. His approach seems more akin to early Islamic or Judaic works in its more direct route of communication to his god... I have gone over three different translations of the poem, and am struck by how much a translation can alter our interpretation. Am reminded that most holy scriptures come to us in translation, resulting in a diversity of views."
Who can pay attention to all that stuff when you're in the beauty of the moment, huh? :)
But since we're talking about this, I would love to point out how much of a spiritual connection is created in the two tent scenes.
a first "Night of the Senses," and a second "Night of the Spirit." -----> TS1, TS2
I feel like I should be posting this in my Spiritual Nonsense thread.
Meryl:
--- Quote ---But since we're talking about this, I would love to point out how much of a spiritual connection is created in the two tent scenes.
a first "Night of the Senses," and a second "Night of the Spirit." -----> TS1, TS2
--- End quote ---
Yes, I love that. It makes the song even more appropriate. 8)
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