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EXPANSES, EXPANSES
(A Poem by Rabbi Abraham Kook)
Expanses, expanses,
Expanses divine my soul craves.
Confine me not in cages,
Of substance or of spirit.
My soul soars the expanses of the heavens,
Walls of heart and walls of deed
Will not contain it.
Morality, logic, custom --
My soul soars above these,
Above all that bears a name,
Above delight,
Above every delight and beauty,
Above all that is exalted and ethereal.
I am love-sick --
I thirst, I thirst for God,
As a deer for water brooks.
Alas, who can describe my pain,
Who will be a violin to express the songs of my grief,
Who will voice my bitterness,
The pain of seeking utterance?
I thirst for truth, not for a conception of truth,
For I ride on its heights,
I am wholly absorbed by truth,
I am wholly pained by the anguish of expression.
How can I utter the great truth,
That fills my whole heart?
Who will disclose to the multitude,
To the world, to all creatures,
To nations and individuals alike,
The sparks abounding in treasures
Of light and warmth
Stored within my soul?
I see the flames rise upward
Piercing the heavens,
But who feels, who can express their might?
I am bound to the world,
All creatures, all people are my friends,
Many parts of my soul
Are intertwined with them,
But how can I share with them my light?
Whatever I say
Only covers my vision,
Dulls my light.
Great is my pain and great my anguish,
O, my God, my God, be a help in my trouble,
Find for me the graces of expression,
Grant me language and the gift of utterance,
I shall declare before the multitudes
My fragments of Your truth, O my God.
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