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The Writings
The works of St. John of the Cross do not compare in quantity
and thematic variety with the writings of other great Doctors
of the Church. As a poet, first of all, John presented the
rich content of his mystical experience in lyric poetry, and
by this has contributed a sublime treasure to Spanish
literature. In addition, he has left us four major prose
works: The Ascent of Mount Carmel; The Dark Night; The
Spiritual Canticle; and The Living Flame of Love. The only
other writings left are relatively few letters and various
maxims and counsels. Written during the last 14 years of his
life, after his intellectual and spiritual growth had come to
full flower, his extant works show a doctrinal synthesis of
the spiritual life that was substantially complete in his mind
once he began to write. No essential change of thought occurs
in his teaching; there is no "earlier John " to
contrast with
the "later John. " The themes he dwells on also
remain
constant: union with God, its trinitarian origins and final
outcome in glory; Jesus Christ, Word and Beloved; faith, as
both the content of the mystery and the obscure way to union;
love, the going out from self to live in the other; the active
and passive development of the theological life; the
communication of God in silent prayer; the appetites, a
dynamic of sin and destruction.
In the field of Spanish literature, John of the Cross has won
a prominent place for his poetry. As for his prose style, he
writes in different modes. Sometimes he explains through
common symbols, at other times in biblical language, or again
through the conceptual terms of the scholastic theologian;
sometimes the style is very much his own creation. But it is
not apparent that he took pains to polish his prose. His
sentences can get complicated, repetitious, and cluttered. Not
infrequently, however, the inspiration of his poetry overflows
into his prose, offering passages of literary power,
originality, and beauty.
With the exception of The Sayings of Light and Love and some
letters whose autographs have been conserved, John of the
Cross's original manuscripts have been lost. His writings come
to us in numerous codices that hand on more or less faithful
copies. Thus we have a critical problem concerning the
original reading and the selection of the codex that seems
most faithful to the original. The particular introductions to
each work will point out the codex considered most trustworthy
by specialists; this copy will then be followed in the
translation.
Here is an overview of the authentic works and their actual or
approximate places and dates of composition:
TOLEDO PRISON (1578)
The Spiritual Canticle .pdf (poem, 31 stanzas)
For I Know Well the Spring (poem)
external link The Romances: On the Gospel text "In principio erat
Verbum
(poem)
On the psalm "Super flumina Babylonis " (poem)
CALVARIO, BEAS, BAEZA (1578-81)
The Dark Night .pdf (poem, 1578 or 1579)
The Sketch of the Mount
The Sayings of Light and Love
The Precautions
Counsels to a Religious
The Ascent of Mount Carmel (treatise, 1581-85)
.pdf htm format Additions to The Spiritual Canticle (poem); other poems
(1580-84)
GRANADA (1582-88)
The Spiritual Canticle (commentary in a first redaction, 1584)
The Dark Night (commentary, 1584-85)
Last poems in Granada (1585)
The Living Flame of Love (commentary in a first redaction,
1585-86)
The Spiritual Canticle (commentary in a second redaction,
1585-86)
LA PEÑUELA (1591)
The Living Flame of Love (commentary in a second redaction)
Copyright ICS
Publications. Permission is hereby
granted for any non-commercial use, if this copyright notice is
included.
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