The Nature of Love in the Work of Leonard Cohen

This essay deals with the nature of love in the work of Leonard Cohen and its relation to Kabbalah, Zen Buddhism, Christian mysticism, and the alchemical wedding coniunctio oppositorum. Love is seen as pulsating between agape, the unconditional love of G-d and humanity, and eros, the insatiable desire for bodily pleasures. In both senses, it has certain accompanying attributes, according to the singer, explained by the words “chain,” “bond,” “wound,” and “suffering.” The literary persona of Leonard Cohen is viewed as longing for divine love, exploring prayer, solitude, and carnal love as a means of spiritual nourishment leading to the purification of the soul. Moreover, his work is characterised by a liturgical language, which he uses in order to glorify the most profane features of our human nature and to highlight the potential of the body to serve as an instrument to reach the sacred.