Amado

Re-reading ‘En una noche oscura’ for next Wednesday’s zoom session. The seven translations in front of me lay different emphases and meanings on the words of St. John of the Cross. For example, “oh noche que juntaste/ Amado con amada/ Amada en el [Amado] transformada!” Campbell has “Oh night that joined the lover/ to the beloved bride/ transfiguring them each into the other.” Though spouse language only shows in John’s commentary and gender is grammatical but not fixed. Or Nims: “O night, drawing side to side/ the loved and the lover,/ the loved one wholly ensouling in the lover.” &c.