Themes :
Fire

In ecstasy, there is often a sense of heat -- filled with immense love -- that permeates the body. This warmth seems to emerge from the seat, flares in the belly, and rises upward, fanning out at the heart. As this fire moves through the body, it also moves through the awareness, consuming all thoughts (or, more accurately, the tremors from which thoughts emerge). This fire burns away even the thought of "I" -- only the sense of this living flame remains.

This is such a wonderful fire that mystics often describe it as a flame of love, so enchanting that, like the moth, you want to dart in and be utterly consumed.

Poems with the theme of Fire

  For Presence
  In Praise of the Earth
  Abhishiktananda, Swami (Le Saux, Henri) Arunachala is a symbol
  Abil-Kheir, Abu-Said Nothing but burning sobs and tears tonight
  Abil-Kheir, Abu-Said Piousness and the path of love
  Abil-Kheir, Abu-Said The day Love was illumined
  Abil-Kheir, Abu-Said Though burning has become an old habit for this heart
  Abulafia, Rabbi Abraham Circles 1 (from Life of the Future World)
  Abulafia, Rabbi Abraham Circles 3 (from Life of the Future World)
  Adyashanti A Tendency to Shine
  AE (Russell, George William) Divine Visitation
  AE (Russell, George William) The Hermit
  AE (Russell, George William) The Place of Rest
  AE (Russell, George William) Unity
  Akha When one settles into a state of desirelessness
  Akhmatova, Anna I've learned to live simply, wisely
  Alighieri, Dante All Being within this order, by the laws (from The Paradiso, Canto I)
  Allama Prabhu If it rains fire
  Ammons, A. R. Rogue Elephant
  Angelou, Maya A Brave and Startling Truth
  Angelou, Maya Phenomenal Woman
  Ansari, Khwaja Abdullah The one You kill
  Arabi, Muhyiddin ibn If what she says is true
  Arabi, Muhyiddin ibn In Memory of Those Who Melt the Soul Forever
  Arabi, Muhyiddin ibn While the sun's eye rules my sight
  Attar, Farid ud-Din About True Seekers
  Attar, Farid ud-Din The Dullard Sage
  Attar, Farid ud-Din The moths and the flame
  Attar, Farid ud-Din The Valley of the Quest
  Attar, Farid ud-Din The Simurgh
  Attar, Farid ud-Din God Speaks to Moses
  Attar, Farid ud-Din God Speaks to David
  Attar, Farid ud-Din I shall grasp the soul's skirt with my hand
  Basava Where they feed the fire
  Basho, Matsuo Such utter silence!
  Battacharya, Mahendranath Screening its face amongst lotus stalks
  Bays, Hogen In this passing moment
  ben Kallir, Eleazar Epithalamium
  ben Yose, Yose In Praise of God (from Avoda)
  Berry, Wendell The Wish to Be Generous
  Blake, William Reader! of books! of heaven (from Jerusalem)
  Boethius Invocation
  Booth, Philip After the Rebuilding
  Brabazon, Francis Dawn is a Friend
  Brabazon, Francis We have waited all night for you, and now the dawn is come
  Bulleh Shah I have been pierced by the arrow of love, what shall I do?
  Bulleh Shah Love Springs Eternal
  Buson This cold winter night
  Carpenter, Edward The Lake of Beauty
  Carpenter, Edward The sun shines, as of old
  Cherokee (Anonymous) Formula for Obtaining Life
  Clare of Assisi Happy, indeed, is she whom it is given to share this sacred banquet
  Colliver, Andrew Come
  Crashaw, Richard The Flaming Heart or the Life of the Glorious S. Teresa
  Crashaw, Richard To the Name above every Name, the Name of Jesus
  Daniel, Arnaut Every day I improve and grow better
  Dasimayya, Devara Suppose you cut a tall bamboo
  Efendi, Seyh Ibrahim The Sufi Way
  Eliot, T. S. Burnt Norton - excerpt 2 (from The Four Quartets)
  Eliot, T. S. Not the intense moment (from The Four Quartets)
  Farid, Baba Sheikh Raga Asa
  Francis of Assisi Prayer from 'A Letter to the Entire Order'
  Galib, Seyh Were I your treasure, you would squander me
  Ghalib, Mirza The Candle Flame
  Gibran, Kahlil Pain
  Gibran, Kahlil Reason and Passion
  Gikatilla, Joseph The Nut Garden
  Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von Ha! What is this dance of bliss (from Faust)
  Gorakhnath Gorakh Bani
  Govindasvami Holy sixth day
  Granger, Ivan M. Trinket
  Griffiths, Ann His left hand, in heat of noonday
  Guilhem IX of Poitou Joyous in love, I make my aim
  Gyatso, Chone Lama Lodro A Dance of Unwavering Devotion
  Gyatso, Kelsang Little Tiger
  Hadewijch Dew (from Love's Seven Names)
  Hadewijch Love Has Seven Names
  Hafiz A New World
  Hafiz Beauty Radiated in Eternity
  Hafiz The Pearl on the Ocean Floor
  Hafiz (Ladinsky, Daniel) Love is the Funeral Pyre
  Hafiz (Ladinsky, Daniel) That Lamp That Needs No Oil
  Halevi, Judah O My Lord, Your dwelling places are lovely
  Han-shan (Cold Mountain) Children I implore you
  Hanh, Thich Nhat Looking for Each Other
  Hanh, Thich Nhat Please Call Me by My True Names
  Hawaiian (Anonymous) He kanaenae no Laka / A Prayer of Adulation to Laka
  Hayati, Bibi Is it the night of power
  Herbert, George The Pearl. Matthew 13
  Hildegard von Bingen Columba aspexit / Sequence for Saint Maximin
  Hildegard von Bingen Holy Spirit of Fire
  Hildegard von Bingen O ignee Spiritus / Hymn to the Holy Spirit
  Hildegard von Bingen O nobilissima viriditas
  Hildegard von Bingen O spectabiles viri / Antiphon for Patriarchs and Prophets
  Hirshfield, Jane The Lives of the Heart
  Hirshfield, Jane The Task
  Hopkins, Gerard Manley God's Grandeur
  Hsuan Chueh of Yung Chia / Yoka Genkaku Let others slander me (from The Song of Enlightenment)
  Hsuan Chueh of Yung Chia / Yoka Genkaku [15] Some may slander, some may abuse (from The Shodoka)
  Hsuan Chueh of Yung Chia / Yoka Genkaku [63] However the burning iron ring revolves around my head (from The Shodoka)
  Iqbal, Allama Muhammad Selfhood can demolish the magic of this world (from Baal-i-Jibreel)
  Iqbal, Allama Muhammad The secret divine my ecstasy has taught (from Baal-i-Jibreel)
  Iqbal, Allama Muhammad To the Saqi (from Baal-i-Jibreel)
  Iraqi, Fakhruddin We Yield Our Hearts
  Isaac of Stella Love
  Islam, Nazrul Syama wakes on the cremation grounds
  Jacobsen, Rolf The Silence Afterwards
  Jacopone da Todi (Benedetti, Jacopone) In losing all, the soul has risen (from Self-Annihilation and Charity Lead the Soul...)
  Jayadeva My heart values his vulgar ways (from The Gitagovinda)
  Jayadeva When spring came, tender-limbed Radha wandered (from The Gitagovinda)
  Jimenez, Juan Ramon Full Consciousness
  John of the Cross Dark Night
  John of the Cross Love's Living Flame
  John of the Cross On the Communion of the Three Persons (from Romance on the Gospel)
  John of the Cross The Fountain
  John of the Cross Without a Place and With a Place
  Kabir I've burned my own house down
  Kabir My body is flooded
  Kabir The Lord is in Me
  Kerouac, Jack The Scripture of the Golden Eternity
  Khayyam, Omar [7] Come, fill the Cup, and in the Fire of Spring
  Kuhi of Shiraz, Baba In the market, in the cloister--only God I saw
  Kuzminsky, Irina A Sequence of Embraces
  Lalla Forgetful one, get up!
  Lalla I hacked my way through six forests
  Lalla Intense cold makes water ice
  Lawrence, D. H. Deeper Than Love
  Lawrence, D. H. Glory
  Lawrence, D. H. Pax
  Leon, Luis de The Life Removed
  Levertov, Denise Only Once
  Levertov, Denise Scraps of moon
  Levertov, Denise Seeing for a Moment
  Levertov, Denise Stepping Westward
  Levertov, Denise The Depths
  Levine, Stephen Half life
  Lu Tung Pin The Hundred Character Tablet (Bai Zi Bei)
  Machado, Antonio Last night, as I was sleeping
  Machado, Antonio Last night, as I was sleeping [Bly]
  Machado, Antonio Proverbs and Songs
  Machado, Antonio Siesta
  Mahadevi, Akka Like a silkworm weaving
  Maharshi, Ramana The Marital Garland of Letters
  Maharshi, Ramana The Song of the Poppadum
  Masahide Barn's burnt down
  McCombs, Chris Is This Your Time?
  McCombs, Chris The Friend Is Always There
  Mechthild of Magdeburg A fish cannot drown in water
  Mechthild of Magdeburg Set Me on Fire
  Mechthild of Magdeburg Wouldst thou know my meaning?
  Meher Baba Purification
  Meher Baba The Beloved's Poem on His Dhuni
  Mei, Yuan Climbing the Mountain
  Merton, Thomas A Practical Program for Monks
  Merton, Thomas In Silence
  Merton, Thomas O Sweet Irrational Worship
  Merton, Thomas The Sowing of Meanings
  Mirabai O my friends
  Mirabai The Beloved Comes Home
  Mirabai The Five-Coloured Garment
  Mirabai The Heat of Midnight Tears
  Mistral, Gabriela The Rose
  Mueller, Lisel Monet Refuses the Operation
  Muktabai Though he has no form
  Nasimi, Imadeddin At love's most sumptuous feast was I with love made drunk
  Nasimi, Imadeddin Both worlds within my compass come, but this world cannot compass me
  Nasimi, Imadeddin I take the Merciful One's shape, the Merciful I am
  Nematollah Vali, Shah I beheld my essence
  Neruda, Pablo Gautama Christ
  Neruda, Pablo I do not love you as if you were salt-rose, or topaz
  Neruda, Pablo Poetry
  Niffari (an-Niffari, Muhammad ibn al-Hasan) Stand at the throne (from The Standing Of the Presence Chamber and the Letter)
  Niffari (an-Niffari, Muhammad ibn al-Hasan) The Standing "My Time Has Come"
  Novalis Over I journey
  Novalis Uplifted is the stone
  Oliver, Colin Ploughing at Nightfall
  Oliver, Mary Spring
  Oliver, Mary The Buddha's Last Instruction
  Oliver, Mary The Journey
  Oliver, Mary The Ponds
  Oliver, Mary This World
  P'ang Yun (Layman P'ang) No-greed surpasses charity
  Pampattic Cittar One must delve deep
  Plunkett, Joseph Mary The Splendour of God
  Rabia al-Basri (Adawiyya, Rabia al-) I carry a torch in one hand
  Rabia al-Basri (Adawiyya, Rabia al-) O my Lord, if I worship you
  Ramprasad (Sen, Ramprasad) O Death! Get away; what canst thou do?
  Ramprasad (Sen, Ramprasad) Of what use is my going to Kasi any more?
  Ramprasad (Sen, Ramprasad) Why disappear into formless trance?
  Ramsay, Jay At Fintry House
  Ramsay, Jay Blessed Unrest
  Ramsay, Jay In the Aber Valley
  Ramsay, Jay Infinity and Beyond
  Ramsay, Jay St. Ives
  Ravidas How to Escape?
  Reninger, Elizabeth Deluge
  Reninger, Elizabeth Late Autumn
  Rilke, Rainer Maria I am praying again, Awesome One
  Rilke, Rainer Maria The Second Elegy (from The Duino Elegies)
  Rilke, Rainer Maria Want the change
  Rilke, Rainer Maria We are the driving ones
  Roethke, Theodore The Minimal
  Rosenstock, Gabriel I carved a wind-harp
  Rumi, Mevlana Jelaluddin Ah, what was there in that light-giving candle that it set fire to the heart, and snatched the heart away?
  Rumi, Mevlana Jelaluddin By the God who was in pre-eternity living and moving and omnipotent, everlasting
  Rumi, Mevlana Jelaluddin Fasting
  Rumi, Mevlana Jelaluddin I regard not the outside and the words
  Rumi, Mevlana Jelaluddin I smile like a flower not only with my lips
  Rumi, Mevlana Jelaluddin If continually you keep your hope
  Rumi, Mevlana Jelaluddin look at love
  Rumi, Mevlana Jelaluddin Love is Here
  Rumi, Mevlana Jelaluddin Suddenly, in the sky at dawn, a moon appeared
  Rumi, Mevlana Jelaluddin That moon which the sky never saw
  Rumi, Mevlana Jelaluddin This love sacrifices all souls, however wise, however "awakened"
  Rumi, Mevlana Jelaluddin You only need smell the wine
  Sanai, Hakim Bloom Like a Rose
  Sanai, Hakim Naked in the Bee-House
  Sanai, Hakim Streaming
  Sanai, Hakim Then through that dim murkiness
  Saraha The Royal Song of Saraha (Dohakosa)
  Shabistari, Mahmud One Light
  Shabistari, Mahmud Sun-Reflections (from The Secret Rose Garden)
  Shabistari, Mahmud The Mirror (from The Secret Rose Garden)
  Shabistari, Mahmud The Wine of Rapture (from The Secret Rose Garden)
  Shankara Endless is my Wealth
  Shih Shu mountain sounds carry a chill wisdom
  Shore, Laura Jan Don't Say It
  Snyder, Gary Riprap
  Solovyov, Vladimir All in azure today
  Solovyov, Vladimir Three Meetings
  Sri Chinmoy (Kumar Ghose, Chinmoy) Flames
  Stagnaro, Janaka Going Home
  Symeon the New Theologian By what boundless mercy, my Savior
  Symeon the New Theologian How are You at once the source of fire
  Symeon the New Theologian In the midst of that night, in my darkness
  Symeon the New Theologian The fire rises in me
  Symeon the New Theologian What is this awesome mystery
  Szymborska, Wislawa Among the Multitudes
  Szymborska, Wislawa The Ball
  Szymborska, Wislawa The Camel
  Tagore, Rabindranath Accept me, my lord, accept me for this while
  Tagore, Rabindranath Your flute plays the exact notes of my pain. (from The Lover of God)
  Takahashi, Shinkichi A Wood in Sound
  Takahashi, Shinkichi Camel
  Taliesin A Poem for the Wind
  Tennyson, Alfred And Galahad fled along them bridge by bridge (from The Holy Grail)
  Therese of Lisieux The Atom of Jesus-Host
  Therese of Lisieux My Song for Today
  Thomas, R. S. Lore
  Thompson, Francis The Hound of Heaven
  Tilopa Song of the Mahamudra (Tilopa's Song to Naropa)
  Tiruvalluvar Truthfulness
  Tolkien, J. R. R. All That is Gold Does Not Glitter (Gandalf's Song of Aragorn)
  Tolkien, J. R. R. Eärendil the Mariner
  Tolkien, J. R. R. Frodo's Lament for Gandalf
  Tolkien, J. R. R. I sit beside the fire and think
  Tolkien, J. R. R. Upon the hearth the fire is red
  Traherne, Thomas The Rapture
  Trungpa, Chogyam Purifying and Invoking the Four Directions
  Tukaram To arrange words
  Twichell, Chase Saint Animal
  Underhill, Evelyn Corpus Christi
  Valad, Sultan The Soul That Does not Live in God is not Alive
  Vaughan, Henry Vain wits and eyes
  Vidyapati All my inhibition left me in a flash
  Walters, Dorothy A Cloth of Fine Gold
  Walters, Dorothy Hymn to the Nameless One
  Walters, Dorothy Scars of Rapture
  Walters, Dorothy Teresa's Enigma
  Walters, Dorothy The Abundance of Brightness
  Whitman, Walt [4] Trippers and askers surround me (from Song of Myself)
  Whitman, Walt [10] Alone far in the wilds and mountains I hunt (from Song of Myself)
  Whitman, Walt [20] Who goes there? hankering, gross, mystical, nude (from Song of Myself)
  Yannai The Celestial Fire
  Yeats, William Butler Sailing to Byzantium
  Yeats, William Butler The Everlasting Voices
  Yogananda, Paramahansa OM
  Yogananda, Paramahansa Samadhi
  Yogananda, Paramahansa Thy light transfigures all creation
Wine