About Meekness [from Part I]
![About Meekness [from Part I]](/woodcuts/1704Luik1/00033340.jpg)
Author: Luiken, Jan, 1649-1712
Image Title: About Meekness [from Part I]
Scripture Reference:
- Psalms 25 (further images / scripture text)
Description: The Soul climbs the hill and reaches out to to pick the flower that grows at the foot of the cross. The Dutch artist and poet, Jan Luiken (1649-1712) was responsible for drawing and etching this emblem and composing the poem that accompanies it.
Poem: The Soul is much enamored with the noble virtue of meekness.
Meekness, to be so highly praised,
O gorgeous Flower! Princess of all flowers,
Thee I love; though thou dost grow beneath the cross,
On a mountain, so remote and far from home,
Still I long to find and obtain thee;
We comfort ourselves about the steep and difficult paths;
Thou art the Flower that Jesus loves to smell.
When I have picked thee with this hand,
And carry thee, as an ornament, on my bosom,
Only then shall I please my Bridegroom:
My God, my Love, My Jesus, all my good;
Then I hear him so friendly in my Soul;
For should he ever speak to me his words,
Then all storms must have departed from me;
When silence lives in my deepest ground,
Then God’s word flows from his mouth into me,
And my Soul learns how she must behave,
If she wishes to please her Bridegroom.
Meekness which has pierced my heart,
How my Soul is so enamored with thee.
God’s Answer:
"Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth" (Matthew 5:5). "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls" (Matthew 11:29).
(Translation by Josephine V. Brown, with editorial assistance from William G. Stryker)
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