Poems of St. John of the Cross

by John of the Cross, Saint; Campbell, Roy; Campbell, Roy; Kavanagh, P. J.

• ISBN13: 9781860465895
• ISBN10: 1860465897
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-04-01
• Publisher: Trafalgar Square

Summary

The 16th century Spanish Carmelite monk, St. John of the Cross, is not only one of the greatest of all Christian mystics. He is also considered by many to be Spain's finest religious poets His intense and profound poetry, marked by an extraordinary lyrical fervour, reflects his own mystical experiences and his aim to renounce all and surrender himself totally to the love of God. Only then, he believed, could the soul, purified of the taint of the material world, reach a state of grace. The finest English translation of the poems, a work of poetic art in its own right, was made by the South African Roy Campbell (1901 - 1957) who succeeded in recreating the extraordinarily subtle music of the original verse and echoing their remarkable blend of sensuality and spirituality. In this bilingual edition the original Spanish poems are published, accompanied by Campbell's translation on facing pages.

Table of Contents

Introduction	1	(24)
Songs of the soul in rapture	25	(4)
Songs between the soul and the Bridegroom	29	(18)
Song of the soul in intimate communication and union with the love of God	47	(2)
Verses written after an ecstasy of high exaltation	49	(6)
Coplas about the soul which suffers with impatience to see God	55	(6)
Other verses with a divine meaning	61	(4)
Other songs concerning Christ and the soul	65	(2)
Song of the soul that is glad to know God by faith	67	(4)
Romance I	71	(4)
Romance II	75	(4)
Romance III	79	(2)
Romance IV	81	(6)
Romance V	87	(4)
Romance VI	91	(2)
Romance VII	93	(4)
Romance VIII	97	(2)
Romance IX	99	(4)
A Poem by the same author which paraphrases The Psalm, Super flumina Babylonis	103	(6)
With a divine intention	109	(4)
With a divine intention, by the same author	113	(6)
Concerning the Divine Word	119	(1)
Summary of perfection	119