OF SIX MEDLEVAL WOMEN 



the senses, as a man with sight leads one who 

 is blind. On this journey the soul is free and 

 without sorrow, since it desires naught but to 

 serve its Lord, who orders all things for the 

 best." 



Of Prayer, which to her was " naught else 

 but yearning of soul," she says, " It makes a 

 sour heart sweet, a sad heart merry, a poor 

 heart rich, a dull heart wise, a timid heart bold, 

 a weak heart strong, a blind heart seeing, a cold 

 heart burning. It draws the great God down 

 into the small heart, it drives the hungry soul 

 out to the full God, it brings together the two 

 lovers, God and the soul, into a blissful place, 

 where they speak much of love." 



Again, in a spirit of self- examination, she 

 writes : " What most of all hinders the 

 spiritually-minded from full perfection is, that 

 they pay so little heed to small sins. I tell 

 you, of a truth, that when I abstain from a 

 laugh that would hurt no one, or hide some 

 soreness of heart, or feel a little impatience at 

 my own pain, my soul becomes so dark, and my 

 mind so dull, and my heart so cold, that I am 

 constrained to pray heartily and long, and humbly 

 to make confession of all my faults. Then grace 

 comes again to wretched me, and I creep back 

 like a beaten dog into the kitchen." 



But all these and kindred thoughts pale 

 before her discourses on love. Love was the 

 keynote of her life. She was born a poetess ; 

 she became a saint. How sorely she strove 



74 



