The reason, Lord, why I love you,
is not your heaven, which you promise me,
nor the fear of hell, which breeds defiance and lie,
they rather distance me from you.
You are the very motive of my love, Lord.
When I see how you give up everything on the cross,
how in unspeakable anguish you finish,
how your love for us endures all,
therefore I love you, for your love,
which awakens the same divine feeling in me.
No, there need not be hell or heaven,
my love desires nothing, nor fears anything,
it survives without hope, you can take everything from it,
it will never cease to love you.
(sonnet previously attributed to St. Teresa of Jesus /* March 28, 1515/,
translated by Josef Hrdlička, 2020)
