Michelangelo: No mortal object did these eyes behold

Saturday, April 6, 2024
    Commemoration of Albrecht Dürer, artist, 1528, and Michelangelo Buonarrotti, artist, spiritual writer, 1564
Meditation:
    Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
    —1 Corinthians 13:12-13 (NIV)
Quotation:
No mortal object did these eyes behold
When first they met the placid light of thine
And my Soul felt her destiny divine,
And hope of endless peace in me grew bold:
Heaven-born, the Soul a heavenward course must hold;
Beyond the visible world She soars to seek
(For what delights the sense is false and weak)
Ideal Form, the universal mould.
The wise man, I affirm, can find no rest
In that which perishes; nor will he lend
His heart to aught which doth on time depend.
’Tis sense, unbridled will, and not true love,
That kills the soul: love betters what is best,
Even here below, but more in heaven above.
    ... Michelangelo Buonarrotti (1475-1564), translated by William Wordsworth in The Complete Poetical Works of William Wordsworth, William Wordsworth, Philadelphia: Troutman & Hayes, 1851, p. 219 (see the book)
    See also 1 Cor. 13:12-13; Ps. 82:6-7; Mark 12:29-31; John 6:27; 10:34-36; 14:2-3; Gal. 5:14; Col. 3:14; 1 John 4:7-9
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, let my thirsty soul drink of Your love. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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