Hope's fairest sunshine, Balm's well serene! I claim a dance with thee, All the world's Queen! Gate of beatitude! --All sins forgiven,-- Lead us to paradise, Sweet breeze of heaven! Thou pointest us upward Where angels adore, White lily of gentleness Thy grace I implore. Mirror of Cherubim! Seraphim laud thy grace, All things in heaven and earth Ring with thy praise! The spiritual love of Mary especially appealed to the German temper. Among the adoring monks Suso deserves particular mention. He laid great stress on the difference between _high_ love and _low_ love. "Low love begins with rapture and ends with pain, but high love begins with grief, and is transformed into ecstasy, until finally the lovers are united in eternity." He was keenly conscious of the older motive of the cult of Mary, namely, the need of a gentle mediator between man and the inaccessible Deity. "Oh, thou! God's chosen delight, thou dulcet, golden song of the Eternal Wisdom, suffer me, a poor sinner, to tell thee a little of my sufferings. My soul prostrates itself before thee with timorous eyes, shamefaced. Oh! thou Mother of all mercies, I ween that neither my soul nor the soul of any other poor sinner needs a mediator, or permission to come to thy throne, for thou, thyself, art the intercessor for all sinners." Compared to his forerunner, St. Bernard, Suso exhibits a marked degree of intimacy in his relationship with Mary. He describes heaven as a kind of flowered meadow, and Mary keeping court, like any earthly princess. "Now go and behold the sweet Queen of Heaven, whom you love so profoundly, leading the procession of the celestial throng in great gladness and stateliness, inclining to her lover with roses and lilies! Behold her wonderful beauty shedding light and joy on the heavenly hosts! Eya! Look up to her who giveth gladness to heart and mind; behold the Mother of Mercy resting her eyes, her tender, pitiful eyes, on you and all sinners, powerfully protecting her beloved child." The whole sixteenth chapter of the _Booklet of Eternal Wisdom_ is an ardent hymn to the Madonna, almost comparable to St. Bernard's prayer to Mary in Dante's _Divine Comedy_. It was written about the time of Dante's death, not very long, therefore, after the composition of the last chapters of the _Paradise_.