The Soul Is Here for Its Own Joy: Sacred Poems from Many Cultures

by BLY R

• ISBN13: 9780880014755
• ISBN10: 088001475X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-05-03
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publications

Summary

Robert Bly's ground-breaking anthology of spiritual poems, the result of over a decade of personal research, celebrates the ongoing role of the divine in literature. For as long as people have lived together in communities and built enduring cultures, they have sung and written about their relationship with the God or gods they believed in. In the words of the Irish writer Sean O'Faolain, "all good writing in the end is the writer's argument with God." The Soul Is Here For Its Own Joy gathers poems from a wide range of cultures and traditions and divides them into ten parts, each forming a resonant exploration of a specific and timeless spiritual question. Selections include the work of Dante, Dogen, Goethe, Hafez, Juan Ramon Jimenez, Kabir, Lalla, Li Po, Mirabai, Mary Oliver, Owl Woman, Rainer Maria Rilke, and Rumi, in addition to Blake, Dickinson, Donne, Hopkins, Stevens, Yeats, and other important English and American poets. Together these poems form both a celebration and a quest--a kind of pilgrim's progress that embraces all the rich wisdom of East and West, ancient and modern, male and female, spirit and flesh.

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION	xvii
PART I: STARTING ON THE PATH	5	(22)
The Footprint	5	(1)
GHALIB
Sunset	5	(1)
RAINER MARIA RILKE
The Name	6	(1)
TOMAS TRANSTROMER
We thirst at first	7	(1)
EMILY DICKINSON
from Like to the Arctic Needle	8	(1)
FRANCIS QUARLES
This Cloud	9	(1)
DOGEN
Lord, you called	9	(1)
ANONYMOUS
In this town	10	(1)
RAINER MARIA RILKE
A remembrance is moving	11	(1)
JUAN RAMON JIMENEZ
The Scattered Congregation	12	(1)
TOMAS TRANSTROMER
Friend, it's time	13	(1)
ANSARI
A Voice	14	(1)
WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS
Maybe	15	(1)
MARY OLIVER
As kingfishers catch fire	16	(1)
GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS
Written on a Monastery Wall	17	(1)
LI SHANG-YIN
Our journey had advanced	18	(1)
EMILY DICKINSON
The Starlight Night	19	(1)
GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS
Sometimes a man	20	(1)
RAINER MARIA RILKE
Rainbow at Night	21	(6)
ANTONIO MACHADO
PART II: LONGING FOR THE GARDEN	27	(28)
Heaven-Haven: A nun takes the veil	27	(1)
GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS
from The Garden	28	(1)
ANDREW MARVELL
Is my soul asleep?	29	(1)
ANTONIO MACHADO
The Dweller	30	(1)
ROBERT BLY
If you could turn your heart	31	(1)
ANGELIUS SILESIUS
O God Our Help in Ages Past	32	(2)
ISAAC WATTS
Remorse	34	(1)
JUAN RAMON JIMENEZ
Dawn Outside the City Walls	35	(1)
JUAN RAMON JIMENEZ
Whoever grasps	36	(1)
RAINER MARIA RILKE
I have many brothers in the South	36	(1)
RAINER MARIA RILKE
It is an honorable thought	37	(1)
EMILY DICKINSON
Introduction	38	(1)
WILLIAM BLAKE
Jerusalem	39	(1)
WILLIAM BLAKE
The Habit of Perfection	40	(2)
GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS
The wind, one brilliant day	42	(1)
ANTONIO MACHADO
Sorrow, it is not true that I know you	43	(1)
ANTONIO MACHADO
The Pulley	44	(1)
GEORGE HERBERT
from The Hymn of Jesus	45	(1)
FROM THE ACTS OF JOHN
Loss of Memory	46	(1)
KATHLEEN RAINE
God's Grandeur	47	(1)
GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS
Pied Beauty	48	(1)
GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS
I'm ceded--I've stopped being Their's--	49	(1)
EMILY DICKINSON
Come to the orchard in Spring	50	(5)
RUMI
PART III: THE QUESTION OF GREED AND CONSTANT HUNGER	55	(24)
Breaking the Dragon	55	(1)
RUMI
A Small Green Island	56	(1)
RUMI
The Snake-Catcher and the Frozen Snake	57	(2)
RUMI
Bread	59	(1)
RUMI
The Animal Soul	60	(2)
RUMI
Four Questions	62	(1)
LALLA
Men and women now	63	(1)
LALLA
Sometimes I forget completely	64	(1)
RUMI
from Divine Meditations: Sonnet I	65	(1)
JOHN DONNE
Raise me up, Lord	66	(1)
MIGUEL DE GUEVARA
I was a stricken deer	67	(2)
WILLIAM COWPER
Jesus on the lean donkey	69	(2)
RUMI
Who makes these changes?	71	(1)
RUMI
Difficulties	72	(1)
KABIR
What I said to the wanting-creature	73	(1)
KABIR
And where is he?	74	(5)
RAINER MARIA RILKE
PART IV: TWENTY POEMS OF KABIR	79	(24)
The Flute	79	(1)
KABIR
The Spinning Wheel	80	(1)
KABIR
The Time before Death	81	(1)
KABIR
The Hearse	82	(1)
KABIR
The Caller	83	(1)
KABIR
The Pitcher	84	(1)
KABIR
The Failure	85	(1)
KABIR
The Swan	86	(1)
KABIR
The Cloth	87	(1)
KABIR
Breath	88	(1)
KABIR
Music	89	(1)
KABIR
The Clay Jug	90	(1)
KABIR
The Swing	91	(1)
KABIR
The Unknown Flute	92	(1)
KABIR
The Sound	92	(1)
KABIR
Why Should We Part?	93	(1)
KABIR
A Place To Sit	93	(1)
KABIR
Rice	94	(1)
KABIR
Sound of Seashells	95	(1)
KABIR
The Boat	96	(7)
KABIR
PART V: GOD IN THE FEMININE	103	(34)
To Nature	103	(2)
ORPHIC HYMN
You are the future	105	(1)
RAINER MARIA RILKE
Prayer to the Mother	106	(1)
APULEIUS
White Buffalo Woman	107	(2)
JOHN G. NEIHARDT
I sing of a maiden	109	(1)
ANONYMOUS
For the flowers are great blessings	110	(1)
CHRISTOPHER SMART
To Aphrodite of the Flowers, at Knossos	111	(1)
SAPPHO
Lord, help me	112	(1)
FRENCH MEDIEVAL PRAYER
from Random Thoughts on the Love of God	112	(1)
SIMONE WEIL
The Red Goddess (Laksmi) FROM HYMN TO TIRUMAL	113	(1)
There is a lake	114	(1)
LALLA
Your way of knowing	114	(1)
LALLA
You were once a swan	115	(1)
LALLA
The Goddess	116	(1)
THEODORE DE BANVILLE
To Juan at the Winter Solstice	117	(2)
ROBERT GRAVES
Love's Maturity	119	(1)
HADEWIJCH OF ANTWERP
Knowing Love in Herself	119	(1)
HADEWIJCH OF ANTWERP
Briefly It Enters, and Briefly Speaks	120	(1)
JANE KENYON
Sonnet XII	121	(1)
EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY
The Mysteries Remain	122	(1)
H. D.
A Flower No More than Itself	123	(1)
LINDA GREGG
There is no one	124	(1)
EDITH SODERGRAN
Lay your head	125	(2)
LAKSHMINKARA
How shall I begin my song?	127	(1)
OWL WOMAN
In Praise of Sophia FROM PROVERBS 3:11 -- 20	128	(1)
A Herd of Does	129	(8)
HUGH MACDIARMID
PART VI: LOVING GOD THROUGH LOVING A WOMAN OR A MAN	137	(18)
The Visit of the Beloved	137	(1)
IBN HAZM
Separation by Death	137	(1)
IBN HAZM
Chastity	138	(1)
IBN FARAJ
Two Poems by Rumi	139	(1)
RUMI
In the great sweetness of the spring	140	(2)
GUILLAUME IX OF POITIERS
A Certain Knight THE COUNTESS OF DIE	142	(1)
When the Days Grow Long in May	143	(2)
JAUFRE RUDEL
The woman I adore	145	(1)
DANTE ALIGHIERI
Amor and the courteous heart	146	(1)
DANTE ALIGHIERI
The Meeting Missed	147	(1)
RABINDRANATH TAGORE
For the Goddess of Love	148	(1)
RABINDRANATH TAGORE
Dusk	149	(1)
RABINDRANATH TAGORE
The Message	150	(5)
RABINDRANATH TAGORE
PART VII: TWENTY POEMS OF RUMI	155	(30)
Love Dogs	155	(2)
RUMI
Say Yes Quickly	157	(1)
RUMI
The Instruments	158	(1)
RUMI
On Resurrection Day	159	(1)
RUMI
I Have Such a Teacher	160	(1)
RUMI
These spiritual windowshoppers	161	(1)
RUMI
Who Says Words with My Mouth?	162	(1)
RUMI
A chickpea leaps	163	(1)
RUMI
The Force of Friendship	164	(2)
RUMI
Someone Digging in the Ground	166	(1)
RUMI
Names	167	(1)
RUMI
The Edge of the Roof	168	(1)
RUMI
Praising Manners	169	(1)
RUMI
Eating Poetry	170	(1)
RUMI
Idle Questions	171	(1)
RUMI
The Mill, the Stone, and the Water	172	(1)
RUMI
The Drunkards	173	(1)
RUMI
That Journeys Are Good	174	(2)
RUMI
Longing for the Birds of Solomon	176	(1)
RUMI
The Hawk	177	(8)
RUMI
PART VIII: LEAVING THE BODY OR ENTERING IT?	185	(24)
His Hair	185	(1)
MIRABAI
Don't go, don't go	185	(1)
MIRABAI
Where did you go?	186	(1)
MIRABAI
O my friends	186	(1)
MIRABAI
I was going to the river for water	187	(1)
MIRABAI
Faithfulness	187	(1)
MIRABAI
All I Was Doing Was Breathing	188	(1)
MIRABAI
Ankle Bells	189	(1)
MIRABAI
Why Mira Can't Go Back to Her Old House	190	(1)
MIRABAI
The Clouds	191	(1)
MIRABAI
It's True I Went to the Market	191	(1)
MIRABAI
The Music	192	(1)
MIRABAI
The Coffer with the Poisonous Snake	193	(1)
MIRABAI
The Heat of Midnight Tears	193	(1)
MIRABAI
When Do I Join You?	194	(2)
MAHADEVIYAKKA
The sea moves around sea-creatures	196	(1)
VIDYAPATI
The girl and the woman	197	(1)
VIDYAPATI
The soul, like the moon	198	(1)
LALLA
Ghazal 96	199	(2)
BIBI HAYATI KERMANI
The Shulamite	201	(1)
ELSE LASKER-SCHULER
Wild Nights--Wild Nights!	202	(1)
EMILY DICKINSON
The Dark Night	203	(6)
ST. JOHN OF THE CROSS
PART IX: DYING TO THIS WORLD	209	(26)
The Holy Longing	209	(1)
JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE
The Second Poem the Night-Walker Wrote	210	(1)
JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE
Coming or Going	210	(1)
DOGEN
To the Tree-Brother with a Few Days Left	210	(1)
RENE CHAR
The Windhover	211	(1)
GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS
Bread and Wine, Part 7	212	(1)
FRIEDRICH HOLDERLIN
A Dialogue between God and the Soul	213	(1)
GEORGE HERBERT
I came to love you too late	214	(1)
ST. AUGUSTINE
The Hole in the Basket	215	(1)
BHARTRIHARI
Leave me, O Love	216	(1)
SIR PHILIP SIDNEY
A Dialogue between the Soul and Body	217	(2)
ANDREW MARVELL
Daybreak	219	(1)
GALWAY KINNELL
from Praise for Death	220	(3)
DONALD HALL
Glory to thee, my God, this night	223	(1)
THOMAS KEN
The Old Lutheran Bells at Home	224	(1)
WALLACE STEVENS
Roll Call	225	(1)
WILLIAM STAFFORD
Merlin's Riddling	226	(1)
ALFRED, LORD TENNYSON
I think the Hemlock	227	(1)
EMILY DICKINSON
Wind Will Blow It All Away	228	(7)
MARGARET OF NAVARRE
PART X: THE SPIRIT--WHO IS A GUEST OF THE SOUL--WILL NEVER BE AT HOME ON THIS EARTH	235	(20)
Night and Sleep	235	(1)
RUMI
The Jar with the Dry Rim	236	(1)
RUMI
The Newborn	237	(1)
ATTAR
When the one I Love	238	(1)
HAFEZ
The Lost Daughter	239	(1)
HAFEZ
The Garden	240	(1)
HAFEZ
The Grace of the Teacher	241	(1)
HAFEZ
The Pearl on the Ocean Floor	242	(2)
HAFEZ
Joseph the lost will return	244	(2)
HAFEZ
I am not I	246	(1)
JUAN RAMON JIMENEZ
Oceans	246	(1)
JUAN RAMON JIMENEZ
Conversation in the Mountains	247	(1)
LI PO
All the fruit	247	(1)
FRIEDRICH HOLDERLIN
from Proverbs and Tiny Songs	248	(2)
ANTONIO MACHADO
Sssh	250	(1)
ROLF JACOBSEN
I find you in all these things of the world	251	(1)
RAINER MARIA RILKE
Last Night, As I Was Sleeping	252	(2)
ANTONIO MACHADO
Voyages II	254	(1)
HART CRANE
COPYRIGHT ACKNOWLEDGMENTS	255	(8)
INDEX	263	(6)
ABOUT THE EDITOR	269
Unless otherwise noted
Robert Bly

Excerpts

Chapter One

Sunset

by Rainer Maria Rilke

Slowly the west reaches for clothes of new colors
which it passes to a row of ancient trees.
You look, and soon these two worlds both leave you,
one part climbs toward heaven, one sinks to earth,

leaving you, not really belonging to either,
not so hopelessly dark as that house that is silent,
not so unswervingly given to the eternal as that thing
that turns to a star each night and climbs

leaving you (it is impossible to untangle the threads)
your own life, timid and standing high and growing,
so that, sometimes blocked in, sometimes reaching out,
one moment your life is a stone in you, and the next, a star.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from Soul Is Here For It's Own Joy by Robert Bly Copyright © 2003 by Robert Bly
Excerpted by permission. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.