I Sleep

Ego Dormio stands as one of Richard Rolle's most accessible English treatises on the mystical life, written during the 1340s for a nun or recluse seeking guidance in contemplative prayer. The work takes its title from the opening words of the Song of Songs 5:2, "I sleep, but my heart waketh," which Rolle uses as a framework for exploring the soul's journey toward divine union. Like much of Rolle's vernacular writing, it emerged from his pastoral concern to make mystical theology available to those without Latin learning, particularly women religious who formed much of his spiritual directorship.

The treatise unfolds the spiritual significance of the bride's words in Canticles, interpreting the sleep of the body as the prerequisite for the heart's awakening to God. Rolle develops his characteristic emphasis on the experiential dimensions of mystical prayer—calor, dulcor, and canor (heat, sweetness, and song)—while offering practical counsel on preparing the soul for contemplative union. He addresses the necessary purification from worldly attachments, the cultivation of solitude and silence, and the recognition of divine visitations in prayer. The work moves between exegetical reflection on the biblical text and direct spiritual instruction, maintaining Rolle's conviction that mystical experience, while extraordinary, follows discernible patterns that can be taught and recognized.

Ego Dormio has endured as one of the clearest expressions of Rolle's mystical theology, demonstrating how biblical interpretation and experiential spirituality interweave in the English mystical tradition. Its influence extended through late medieval English spirituality and into early modern devotional literature, offering a model for how contemplative wisdom could be communicated in the vernacular without losing theological sophistication.

Who should read this: Those interested in the development of English mystical writing and the practical dimensions of contemplative prayer will find Rolle's direct, experiential approach valuable. This work is not suited for readers seeking systematic theology or those uncomfortable with the intensely affective language of medieval mysticism.