CONTENTS
CHAP. PAGE [I. Ruysbroeck the Man] 1 [II. His Works] 36 [III. His Doctrine of God] 52 [IV. His Doctrine of Man] 66 [V. The Active Life] 94 [VI. The Interior Life: Illumination and Destitution] 115 [VII. The Interior Life: Union and Contemplation] 136 [VIII. The Superessential Life] 164
Luce divina sopra me s’ appunta,
penetrando per questa ond’ io m’ inventro;
La cui virtù, col mio veder conguinta,
mi leva sopra me tanto, ch’ io veggio
la somma essenza della quale è munta.
Quinci vien l’ allegrezza, ond’ io fiammeggio;
perchè alla vista mia, quant’ ella è chiara,
la chiarità della fiamma pareggio.
Par. xxi. 83.
[Divine Light doth focus itself upon me, piercing through that wherein I am enclosed; the power of which, united with my sight, so greatly lifts me up above myself that I see the Supreme Essence where from it is drawn. Thence comes the joy wherewith I flame; for to my vision, even as it is clear, I make the clearness of the flame respond.]