← Content: PreviousContent: Next →

Hierusalem Amoris [4]


ad1629004pict

Back to top ↑
Hierusalem Amoris.translation
IV.
August. {?}13. {?} ad Cor. Ps.117.
DVas ciuitates, duo faciunt Amores; Hierusa-
lem facit Amor Dei, Babylonem facit Amor
sæculi. Interroget igitur se vnusquisque quid a-
met & inueniet vbi sit ciuis. O Anima quæ fama-
re desideras, in Amoris biuio constituta, attende
bene quam viam velis ingredi; exitum vtriusque
perpende, non initium. ne te angusta porta, labo-
riosum iter, spinosi gradus deterreant; hâc itur ad
Hierusalem, ad æternum gaudium, ad sempiter-
nas delicias: ne te inuitet blanda Venus, hilaris
Bacchus, spatiosus introitus, florida via, illâc itur
ad Babylonem, ad supplicium æternum, ad æru-
mnas perptuas. Contende igitur intrare per an-
gustam portam, sectare charitatem, æmulare spi-
ritualia, dic cum Dauide, Aperite mihi portas iu-
stitiæ, ingressus in eas confitebor Domino, hæc
porta Domini, iusti intrabunt in eam.1 translation


Angusta porta et arcta via quæ ducit ad vitam,
et pauci inueniunt eam. Matt. 7.
translation

Si cet heureux seiour te doit seruir de fin,
Hazarde toy mondain d'en prendre le chemin.

Hierusalem Amoris.
IV.
Ie sçay qu' il est estroit, le chemin que ie montre,
Mais ie peux asseurer, celuy qui le rencontre,
Qu' il en sera mené, à vn heureux sejour.
Ne te degoustes pas, de ce sentier d'espines,
Qui se changeans bien tost, en fleur de Lys diuines,
Tu les pourra cuellir au paradis d'Amour.

E se, si que es buen camino
No te espanten sus espinas:
Pues crian rosas diuinas.

Te leuen hier naer liefdes stem/
Is recht gaen naer Hierusalem.

Back to top ↑

Facsimile Images


Back to top ↑

Translations

The Jerusalem of love.
Two kinds of love constitute two kinds of city. The love of God produces Jerusalem, the love the world produces Babylon. Let therefore everyone ask himself what he loves and he will find where he is a citizen. Oh soul that, standing at the crossroad of love, desires to love, take good notice which way you want to take. Take into account in what either type of love ends, not of how it starts. Let not the narrow gate, the labourious journey, the thorny steps deter you. This is the road to Jerusalem, to eternal joy, to everlasting delights. Let not Venus call you in, nor cheerful Bacchus, the roomy entrance, the flowers along the way: the is the way to Babylon, to eternal punishment, to sorrows without end. You have to strive therefore to go through the narrow gate, pursue charity, emulate what is spiritual, say with David [Ps. 118(117):19-20] Open to me the gates of righteousness: I will go into them, and I will praise the Lord. This gate of the Lord, into which the righteous shall enter2.
Strait is the gate3, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
The gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it.

The Jerusalem of love.

Back to top ↑

Literature


    Back to top ↑

    Sources and parallels


      Back to top ↑

      References, across this site, to this page:

      No references to this emblem or page found.

      Back to top ↑

      Iconclass

      Human love and sacred love

      Back to top ↑

      Comments

      commentary

      Back to top ↑

      Notes

      1
      Ps. 118(117):19
      2
      Translation from KJV. See also: Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord. This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it. (RSV)
      3
      Angusta porta... Matt. 7:14