The Dark Night of the Soul

Hey, everyone. I decided to do something different this week. I finished a long translation project that got pretty grueling to do toward the end, and to partly celebrate and to partly remind myself what I like about translation (you know, so I keep doing it), I decided to translate a poem I've wanted to translate for a long time... Sólo por ganas.
It's a poem by San Juan de la Cruz, a mystic Catholic. Though I'm not really Catholic or Christian at all, I've alwayd found this poem touching. I translated it preserving some of the rhyming and keeping to a 5a,8b,5c,5d,8b scheme with a nice rhythm.

Actually, I made one error that I only noticed after I had recorded, so you better bet I'm going to just leave it to the intrepid reader to find rather than rerecord this shit.

No.

For how little time I had, I'm pretty happy with the results. I recorded an audio clip of me reading it if you'd like to hear the rhythm out loud.

La noche oscura del alma De San Juan de la Cruz   Canciones del alma que se goza de haber llegado al alto estado de la perfección, que es la unión con Dios, por el camino de la negación espiritual.	The Dark Night of the Soul By San Juan de la Cruz Translated by Adam Wier Songs of a soul joyful for having reached the highest level of perfection, union with God, through spiritual negation
En una noche escura con ansias en amores inflamada, ¡oh dichosa ventura!, salí sin ser notada estando ya mi casa sosegada. A escuras y segura por la secreta escala, disfrazada, ¡oh dichosa ventura!, a escuras y en celada, estando ya mi casa sosegada. En la noche dichosa, en secreto que nadie me veía ni yo miraba cosa sin otra luz y guía sino la que en el corazón ardía. Aquesta me guiaba más cierto que la luz de mediodía adonde me esperaba quien yo bien me sabía en parte donde nadie parecía. ¡Oh noche, que guiaste! ¡Oh noche amable más que el alborada! ¡Oh noche que juntaste Amado con amada, amada en el Amado transformada! En mi pecho florido, que entero para él solo se guardaba allí quedó dormido y yo le regalaba y el ventalle de cedros aire daba. El aire del almena cuando yo sus cabellos esparcía, con su mano serena en mi cuello hería y todos mis sentidos suspendía. Quedéme y olvidéme; el rostro recliné sobre el Amado; cesó todo, y dejéme dejando mi cuidado entre las azucenas olvidado.	On the darkest night With amorous longing inflamed, (O blessed fortune!) I left unnoticed, My house now having been tamed. Darkly yet safely, Slipped down the ladder unespied (oh blessed fortune!) Darkly, cunningly, My house now being pacified. In the blessed night, In secret, completely unseen, And seeing nothing With no light to guide But the one that in my heart gleamed. It's what guided me Yet truer than the midday light To where awaits me One I knew so well, To where no one appeared in sight. O night guiding me! O night kindlier than the morn! O night who joined both Lover, beloved, Beloved in Lover reborn! My bosom, whose flow'r That only for him is it kept, Is where I stroked him And the cedar boughs Blew cool air as he lay and slept. The wind through crenels As gently his hair I did comb, And his hand serene Wounding my collar, Shook all my senses to the bone. I stayed, I forgot, My face on the Lover reposed, All stopped, I let go Of cares and of woes That in the lilies laid disposed.