This week’s poem in the Catholic Poetry Room is the translation of a poem by St. Teresa of Ávila by Dana Delibovi from her recently published collection, Sweet Hunter: The Complete Poems of St. Teresa of Ávila.
At the Vows of Isabel de los Ángeles
Let weeping be my joy,
let shock be my repose,
let pain be my peace,
and losses, my gain.
Place my love within storms
and my gift inside the wound;
put my life within death,
and my favor, in contempt.
Let my treasures lie in poverty
and my triumph in the fight;
let my respite lie in labor
and my happiness in grief.
Darkness, be my light,
low station, my noblesse;
let my path be short
and my glory be the cross.
Let my honor be dishonor,
my palm-frond, suffering,
let my growth be dissolution,
my improvement, my decline.
Let me take my fill in hunger
and find my hope in fear;
let me feel delight in terror,
let me savor bitterness.
Make oblivion my memory,
humiliation my height;
make the gutter my high status,
and my failure, victory.
In disdain, bestow my laurels.
For my pleasures, give me shame;
Let my cell be my distinction,
and solitude, my esteem.
Let me trust in Christ,
my bond to him alone,
in his weariness, my breath,
in his imitation, my leisure.
Here lies my firmness,
here lies my shield,
the proof of my truth,
the mark of my grace.
A la profesión de Isabel de los Ángeles
Sea mi gozo en el llanto,
Sobresalto mi reposo,
Mi sosiego doloroso,
Y mi bonanza el quebranto.
Entre borrascas mi amor,
Y mi regalo en la herida,
Esté en la muerte mi vida,
Y en desprecios mi favor.
Mis tesoros en pobreza,
Y mi triunfo en pelear,
Mi descanso en trabajar,
Y mi contento en tristeza.
En la oscuridad mi luz,
Mi grandeza en puesto bajo.
De mi camino el atajo
Y mi gloria sea la cruz.
Mi honra el abatimiento,
Y mi palma padecer,
En las menguas mi crecer,
Y en menoscabo mi aumento.
En el hambre mi hartura,
Mi esperanza en el temor,
Mis regalos en pavor,
Mis gustos en amargura.
En olvido mi memoria,
Mi alteza en humillación,
En bajeza mi opinión,
En afrenta mi victoria.
Mi lauro esté en el desprecio,
En las penas mi afición,
Mi dignidad sea el rincón,
Y la soledad mi aprecio.
En Cristo mi confianza,
Y de él sólo mi asimiento,
En sus cansancios mi aliento,
Y en su imitación mi holganza.
Aquí estriba mi firmeza,
Aquí mi seguridad,
La prueba de mi verdad,
La muestra de mi fineza.
Dana Delibovi is a poet, essayist, and translator. Her book of translations and essays—Sweet Hunter: The Complete Poems of St. Teresa of Ávila—was published by Monkfish in October 2024. Her work has appeared in After the Art, Apple Valley Review, Bluestem, The Catholic Poetry Room, Confluence, Ezra Translations, Fishbarrel Review, Moria, Noon, Presence, Psaltery & Lyre, Salamander, U.S. Catholic, and many other journals. She is a Pushcart Prize nominee, a Best American Essays notable essayist, and a 2023 winner of the Hueston Woods haiku contest. Delibovi is consulting poetry editor at the e-zine Cable Street. Find her at https://danadelibovi.wordpress.com.
