Page:The Mediaeval Mind Vol 1.djvu/491

CHAP XIX "Wisdom I have myself—to choose the best."

"Lady, bright are the angels, and lovely in love's hue; to cool yourself, be lifted up with them."

"The bliss of angels brings me love's woe, unless I see their lord, my Bridegroom."

"Then cool you in the hard, holy life that John the Baptist showed."

"I have tried that painful toil; my love passes beyond that"

"Lady, would you with love cool yourself, approach the Child in the Virgin's lap."

"That is a childish love, to quiet children with. I am a full-grown bride and will have my Bridegroom."

"Lady, there we should be smitten blind. The God-head is so fiery hot. Heaven's glow and all the holy lights flow from His divine breath and human mouth by the counsel of the Holy Spirit."

But the Soul feeling its nature and its affinity with God, through love, makes answer boldly: "The fish cannot drown in the water, nor the bird sink in the air, nor gold perish in the flame, where it gains its bright clarity and colour. God has granted to all creatures to follow their natures; how can I withstand mine? To God will I go, who is my Father by nature, my Brother through His humility, my Bridegroom through love, and I am His forever." Not long after this the Soul's rapture bursts forth in song: Ich sturbe gern von minnen, moehte es mir geschehen, Denn jenen den ich minnen, den ban ich gesehen Mit minen liehten ougen in miner sele stehen."

Mechthild's book is heavy with passion—with God's passionate love for the Soul, and the Soul's passionate response. No speech between lovers could outdo the converse between them. God calls the Soul, sweet dove, dear heart, my queen; and with like phrase the quivering Soul responds upward, as it were, to the great countenance glowing above it. Throughout, there is passion and impatient yearning—or satisfaction. The pain of the Soul severed, not yet a