The dark night of the Soul - Loreena MacKennit

These are the lyrics of a song by Loreena Mac Kennit. She is one very especial anglosaxon singer and composer. Their songs are very special and she always looks for some mystery and mysticism on them. In this case, Loreena sing a song, The dark night of the soul,which comes from the XVIth century!!! The lyrics belong to a poem which was writen by a very famous Castillan poet. He was a very representative monk of a literature period called mysticism. All poets which wrote their poems on the mistic style, follo some sort of rules. On of the most important rules about the topic they talk about is, not surprisingly, Love. Anyway, what makes mystic love different from romantic love, for example?

The key to understand it is GOD. Although the mystic poetry cam show some "erotism" we must always keep in mind it is describing a love towards God. That is because the objective of the mystic poets was to have a union with God in order to clean all their sin.

A good way to play with this poem is trying to find out which is the spiritual way the girl is using to connect with god and where is the lord in these lines. Can you guess who is the original author?

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

[Chorus:]

Oh night that was my guide

Of 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 t'was 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

[Chorus]

Within my pounding heart

Which kept itself entirely for him

He fell into his sleep

Beneath the cedars all my love I gave

From o'er the fortress walls

The wind would his hair against his brow

And with its smoothest hand

Caressed my every sense it would allow

[Chorus]

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