How she first made me beautiful promises (from Defense of Love)

by Hadewijch

English version by Mother Columba Hart
Original Language Dutch

How she first made me beautiful promises
And then grew cruel, I now know.
That Love did not deceive or mock me
In that woe, would I might understand it!
     But she meant to make clear
     And reveal to me
How reason illuminates the entire abyss of Love.

-- from Hadewijch: The Complete Works (Classics of Western Spirituality) , by Mother Columba Hart

<<Previous Poem | More Poems by Hadewijch | Next Poem >>


View All Poems by Hadewijch



Recommended Books: Hadewijch

Women in Praise of the Sacred: 43 Centuries of Spiritual Poetry by Women The Shambhala Anthology of Women's Spiritual Poetry Hadewijch: The Complete Works (Classics of Western Spirituality) Christian Mystics: Their Lives and Legacies throughout the Ages Meister Eckhart and the Beguine Mystics: Hadewijch of Brabant, Mechthild of Magdeburg, and Marguerite Porete
More Books >>



How she first made