I

En el principio morava
el Verbo y en Dios vivía
en quien su felicidad
infinita posseýa.
El mismo Verbo Dios era
que el principio se dezía
él morava en el principio
y principio no tenía.
Él era el mismo principio
por eso dél carecía
el Verbo se llama Hijo
que del principio nacía.
Ale siempre concevido
y siempre le concevía
dale siempre su sustancia
y siempre se la tenía.
Y assí la gloria del Hijo
es la que en el Padre avía
y toda su gloria el Padre
en el Hijo posseýa.
Como amado en el amante
uno en otro residía
y aquese amor que los une
en lo mismo convenía.
Con el uno y con el otro
en ygualdad y valía
tres personas y un Amado
entre todos tres avía,
Y un amor en todas ellas
un amante los hazía
y el amante es el amado
en que cada qual vivía.
Que el ser que los tres posseen
cada cual le posseýa
y cada qual de ellos ama
a la que este ser tenía.
Este ser es cada una
y éste solo las unía
en un inefable nudo
que dezirse no savía.
Por lo qual era infinito
el amor que los unía
porque un solo amor tres tienen
que su esencia se dezía
qu´el amor, quanto más une
tanto más amor hazía.

De la comunicación de las tres Personas.

            II

En aquel amor inmenso
que de los dos procedía
palabras de gran regalo
el Padre al Hijo dezía
de tan profundo deleite
que nadie las entendía
sólo el Hijo lo gozaba
que es a quien pertenecía.
Pero aquello que se entiende
desta manera dezía
—Nada me contenta, Hijo,
fuera de tu compañía.
Y si algo me contenta
en ti mismo lo quería
el que a ti más se parece
a mi más satisfazía.
Y el quen nada te semeja
en mí nada hallaría
en ti solo me e agradado
¡o vida de vida mía!.
Eres lumbre de mi lumbre
eres mi sabiduría
figura de mi substancia
en quien bien me complazía.
Al que a ti te amare Hijo
a mí mismo le daría
y el amor que yo te tengo
ésse mismo en él pondría
en razón de aver amado
a quien yo tanto quería.

De la creación

            III

—Una esposa que te ame
mi Hijo darte quería
que por tu valor merezca
tener nuestra compañía
y comer pan a una mesa
del mismo que yo comía
porque conozca los bienes
que en tal Hijo yo tenía
y se congracie conmigo
de tu gracia y loçanía.
—Mucho lo agradezco Padre,
—el Hijo le respondía—
a la esposa que me dieres
yo mi claridad daría
para que por ella vea
quánto mi Padre valía
y cómo el ser que posseo
de su ser lo recevía.
Reclinarla e yo en mi braço
y en tu amor se abrasaría
y con eterno deleite
tu bondad sublimaría.

Prosigue

            IV

—Hágase pues —dixo el Padre—,
que tu amor lo merecía.
Y en este dicho que dixo
el mundo criado avía.
Palacio para la esposa,
hecho en gran sabiduría
el qual en dos aposentos
alto y baxo dividía.
El baxo de differencias
infinitas componía
mas el alto hermoseava
de admirable pedrería.
Porque conozca la esposa
el Esposo que tenía
en el alto colocava
la angélica jerarchía
pero la natura humana
en el baxo la ponía
por ser en su compostura
algo de menor valía.
Y aunque el ser y los lugares
desta suerte los ponía
pero todos son un cuerpo
de la esposa que dezía:
Que el amor de un mismo Esposo
una esposa los hazía.
Los de arriva posseýan
al Esposo en alegría
los de abaxo en esperança
de fee que les infundía
diziéndoles que algún tiempo
él los engrandecería
y que aquella su baxeza
él se la levantaría
de manera que ninguno
ya la vituperaría
porque en todo semejante
él a ellos se haría
y se vendría con ellos
y con ellos moraría
y que Dios sería hombre
y que el hombre Dios sería
y trataría con ellos
comería y bebería
y que con ellos contino
él mismo se quedaría
hasta que se consumase
este siglo que corría
quando se gozaran juntos
en eterna melodía
porque él era la cabeça
de la esposa que tenía
a la qual todos los miembros
de los justos juntaría
que son cuerpo de la esposa,
a la qual él tomaría
en sus braços tiernamente
y allí su amor le daría
y que assí juntos en uno
al Padre la llevaría
donde del mismo deleite
que Dios goza gozaría
que como el Padre y el Hijo
y el que dellos procedía
el uno vive en el otro
assí la esposa sería
que dentro de Dios absorta
vida de Dios viviría.
 

Prosigue

            V

Con esta buena esperança
que de arriva les venía
el tedio de sus trabajos
más leve se les hazía
pero la esperança larga
y el deseo que crecía
de gozarse con su Esposo
contino les affligía.
Por lo qual con oraciones
con suspiros y agonía
con lágrimas y gemidos
le rogavan noche y día
que ya se determinase
a les dar su compañía.
Unos dezían: ¡O, si fuesse
en mi tiempo el alegría!
Otros: Acava Señor
al que as de embiar embía.
Otros: ¡O si ya rompieses
essos cielos y vería
con mis ojos que baxases
y mi llanto cessaría!
Regad nuves de lo alto
que la tierra lo pedía
y ábrase ya la tierra
que espinas nos produzía
y produzga aquella flor
con que ella florecería.
Otros dezían: ¡O dichoso
el que en tal tiempo sería
que merezca ber a Dios
con los ojos que tenía
y tratarle con sus manos
y andar en su compañía
y gozar de los misterios
que entonces ordenaría!
 

Prosigue

            VI

En aquestos y otros ruegos
gran tiempo pasado avía
pero en los postreros años
el fervor mucho crecía,
quando el viejo Simeón
en deseo se encendía
rogando a Dios que quisiese
dexalle ver este día.
Y assí el Espíritu Sancto
al buen viejo respondía
que le dava su palabra
que la muerte no vería
hasta que la vida viesse
que de arriva descendía
y que él en sus mismas manos
al mismo Dios tomaría
y le tendría en sus braços
y consigo abraçaría.
 

Prosigue la Encarnación.

            VII

Ya que el tiempo era llegado
en que hazerse convenía
el rescate de la esposa
que en duro yugo servía
debaxo de aquella ley
que Moysés dado le avía
el Padre con amor tierno
desta manera dezía:
—Ya ves Hijo que a tu esposa
a tu ymagen hecho avía
y en lo que a ti se parece
contigo bien convenía
pero diffiere en la carne
que en tu simple ser no avía.
En los amores perfectos
esta ley se requería
que se haga semejante
el amante a quien quería
que la mayor semejança
más deleite contenía;
el qual sin duda en tu esposa
grandemente crecería
si te viere semejante
en la carne que tenía.
—Mi voluntad es la tuya
—el Hijo le respondía—
y la gloria que yo tengo
es tu voluntad ser mía
y a mí me conviene Padre
lo que tu Alteza dezía
porque por esta manera
tu vondad más se vería
veráse tu gran potencia
justicia y sabiduría
yrélo a dezir al mundo
y noticia le daría
de tu belleza y dulçura
y de tu soberanía
yré a buscar a mi esposa
y sobre mí tomaría
sus fatigas y trabajos
en que tanto padecía
y porque ella vida tenga
yo por ella moriría
y sacándola del lago
a ti te la bolvería.

Prosigue

            VIII

Entonçes llamó a un archángel
que Sant Gabriel se dezía
y embiólo a una donzella
que se llamava María
de cuyo consentimiento
el misterio se hazía
en el qual la Trinidad
de carne el Verbo vestía.
Y aunque tres hazen la obra
en el uno se hazía
y quedó el Verbo encarnado
en el bientre de María.
Y el que tiene sólo Padre
ya también madre tenía
aunque no como qualquiera
que de varón concevía
que de las entrañas de ella
él su carne recevía
por lo qual Hijo de Dios
y del hombre se dezía.

Del Nacimiento

            IX

Ya que era llegado el tiempo
en que de nacer avía
assí como desposado
de su tálamo salía,
abraçado con su esposa
que en sus braços la traýa
al qual la graciosa madre
en un pesebre ponía
entre unos animales
que a la sazón allí avía
los hombres dezían cantares
los ángeles melodía
festejando el desposorio
que entre tales dos avía
pero Dios en el pesebre
allí llorava y gimía
que eran joyas que la esposa
al desposorio traýa
y la madre estava en pasmo
de que tal trueque veýa
el llanto del hombre en Dios
y en el hombre el alegría
lo qual del uno y del otro
tan ajeno ser solía.

San Juan de la Cruz

          I

In the beginning the Word
was; he lived in God
and possessed in him
his infinite happiness.
That same Word was God,
who is the Beginning;
he was in the beginning
and had no beginning.
He was himself the Beginning
and therefore had no beginning.
The Word is called Son;
he was born of the Beginning
who had always conceived him,
giving of his substance always,
yet always possessing it.
And thus the glory of the Son
was the Father´s glory,
and the Father possessed
all his glory in the Son.
As the lover in the beloved
each lived in the other,
and the Love that unites them
is one with them,
their equal, excellent as
the One and the Other:
Three Persons, and one Beloved
among all three.
One love in them all
makes of them one Lover,
and the Lover is the Beloved
in whom each one lives.
For the being that the three possess
each of them possesses,
and each of them loves
him who bears this being.
Each one is this being,
which alone unites them,
binding them deeply,
one beyond words.
Thus it is a boundless Love that unites them,
for the three have one love
which is their essence;
and the more love is one
the more it is love.

On the communication among the Three Persons.

           II

In that immense love
proceeding from the two
the Father spoke words
of great affection to the Son,
words of such profound delight
that no one understood them;
they were meant for the Son,
and he alone rejoiced in them.
What he heard
was this:
«My Son, only your
company contents me,
and when something pleases me
I love that thing in you;
whoever resembles you most
satisfies me most,
and whoever is like you in nothing
will find nothing in me.
I am pleased with you alone,
O life of my life!
You are the light of my light,
you are my wisdom,
the image of my substance
in whom I am well pleased.
My Son, I will give myself
to him who loves you
and I will love him
with the same love I have for you,
because he has loved
you whom I love so».

On creation

           III

«My Son, I wish to give you
a bride who will love you.
Because of you she will deserve
to share our company,
and eat at our table,
the same bread I eat,
that she may know the good
I have in such a Son;
and rejoice with me
in your grace and fullness.»
«I am very grateful,»
the Son answered;
«I will show my brightness
to the bride you give me,
so that by it she may see
how great my Father is,
and how I have received
my being from your being.
I will hold her in my arms
and she will burn with your love,
and with eternal delight
she will exalt your goodness».

Continues

           IV

«Let it be done, then,» said the Father,
for your love has deserved it.
And by these words
the world was created,
a palace for the bride
made with great wisdom
and divided into rooms,
one above, the other below.
The lower was furnished
with infinite variety,
while the higher was made
beautiful
with marvelous jewels,
that the bride might know
the Bridegroom she had.
The orders of angels
were placed in the higher,
but humanity was given
the lower place,
for it was, in its being,
a lesser thing.
And though beings and places
were divided in this way,
yet all form one,
who is called the bride;
for love of the same Bridegroom
made one bride of them.
Those higher ones possessed
the Bridegroom in gladness;
the lower in hope, founded
on the faith that he infused in them,
telling them that one day
he would exalt them,
and that he would lift them
up from their lowness
so that no one
could mock it any more;
for he would make himself
wholly like them,
and he would come to them
and dwell with them;
and God would be man
and man would be God,
and he would walk with them
and eat and drink with them;
and he himself would be
with them continually
until the consummation
of this world,
when, joined, they would rejoice
in eternal song;
for he was the Head
of this bride of his
to whom all the members
of the just would be joined,
who form the body of the bride.
He would take her
tenderly in his arms
and there give her his love;
and when they were thus one,
he would lift her to the Father
where God´s very joy
would be her joy.
For as the Father and the Son
and he who proceeds from them
live in one another,
so it would be with the bride;
for, taken wholly into God,
she will live the life of God.

Continues

           V

By this bright hope
which came to them from above,
their wearying labors
were lightened;
but the drawn-out waiting
and their growing desire
to rejoice with their Bridegroom
wore on them continually.
So, with prayers
and sighs and suffering,
with tears and moanings
they asked night and day
that now he would determine
to grant them his company.
Some said: «If only
this joy would come in my time!»
Others: «Come, Lord,
send him whom you will send!»
And others: «Oh, if only these heavens
would break, and with my own eyes
I could see him descending;
then I would stop my crying out».
«Oh, clouds, rain down from your height,
earth needs you,
and let the earth open,
which has borne us thorns;
let it bring forth that flower
that would be its flowering.»
Others said: «What gladness
for him who is living then,
who will be able to see God
with his own eyes,
and touch him with his hand
and walk with him
and enjoy the mysteries
which he will then ordain».

Continues

           VI

In these and other prayers
a long time had passed;
but in the later years
their fervor swelled and grew
when the aged Simeon
burned with longing,
and begged God that he
might see this day.
And so the Holy Spirit
answering the good old man
gave him his word
that he would not see death
until he saw Life
descending from the heights,
until he took God himself
into his own hands
and holding him in his arms,
pressed him to himself.

The Incarnation

           VII

Now that the time had come
when it would be good
to ransom the bride
serving under the hard yoke
of that law
which Moses had given her,
the Father, with tender love,
spoke in this way:
«Now you see, Son, that your bride
was made in your image,
and so far as she is like you
she will suit you well;
yet she is different, in her flesh,
which your simple being does not have.
In perfect love
this law holds:
that the lover become
like the one he loves;
for the greater their likeness
the greater their delight.
Surely your bride´s delight
would greatly increase
were she to see you like her,
in her own flesh».
«My will is yours,»
the Son replied,
«and my glory is
that your will be mine.
This is fitting, Father,
what you, the Most High, say;
for in this way
your goodness will be more
evident,
your great power will be seen
and your justice and wisdom.
I will go and tell the world,
spreading the word
of your beauty and sweetness
and of your sovereignty.
I will go seek my bride
and take upon myself
her weariness and labors
in which she suffers so;
and that she may have life,
I will die for her,
and lifting her out of that deep,
I will restore her to you».

Continues

           VIII

Then he called
the archangel Gabriel
and sent him to
the virgin Mary,
at whose consent
the mystery was wrought,
in whom the Trinity
clothed the Word with flesh.
and though Three work this,
it is wrought in the One;
and the Word lived incarnate
in the womb of Mary.
And he who had only a Father
now had a Mother too,
but she was not like others
who conceive by man.
From her own flesh
he received his flesh,
so he is called
Son of God and of man.

The Birth

           IX

When the time had come
for him to be born,
he went forth like the
bridegroom
from his bridal chamber,
embracing his bride,
holding her in his arms,
whom the gracious Mother
laid in a manger
among some animals
that were there at that time.
Men sang songs
and angels melodies
celebrating the marriage
of Two such as these.
But God there in the manger
cried and moaned;
and these tears were jewels
the bride brought to the
wedding.
The Mother gazed in sheer wonder
on such an exchange:
in God, man´s weeping,
and in man, gladness,
to the one and the other
things usually so strange.

San Juan de la Cruz
Translators: Kieran Kavanaugh & Otilio Rodriguez

By the rivers
of Babylon
I sat down weeping,
there on the ground.
And remembering you,
O Zion, whom I loved,
in that sweet memory
I wept even more.
I took off my feastday clothes
and put on my working ones;
I hung on the green willows
all the joy I had in song,
putting it aside for that
which I hoped for in you.
There love wounded me
and took away my heart.
I begged love to kill me
since it had so wounded me;
I threw myself in its fire
knowing it burned,
excusing now the young bird
that would die in the fire.
I was dying in myself,
breathing in you alone.
I died within myself for you
and for you I revived,
because the memory of you
gave life and took it away.
The strangers among whom
I was captive rejoiced;
they asked me to sing
what I sang in Zion:
Sing us a song from Zion,
let´s hear how it sounds.
I said: How can I sing,
in a strange land where I weep
for Zion, sing of the happiness
that I had there?
I would be forgetting her
if I rejoiced in a strange land.
May the tongue I speak with
cling to my palate
if I forget you
in this land where I am.
Zion, by the green branches
Babylon holds out to me,
may my right hand be forgotten
(that I so loved when home in you)
if I do not remember you,
my greatest joy,
or celebrate one feastday,
or feast at all without you.
O Daughter of Babylon,
miserable and wretched!
Blessed is he
in whom I have trusted,
for he will punish you
as you have me;
and he will gather his little ones
and me, who wept because of you,
at the rock who is Christ
for whom I abandoned you.

Debetur soli gloria vera Deo

San Juan de la Cruz
Translators: Kieran Kavanaugh & Otilio Rodriguez