Status
Available
Call number
Publication
The University of Chicago Press ; Bilingual edition, third edition, reprinted
Description
San Juan de la Cruz, the great sixteenth-century Spanish mystic, is regarded by many as Spain's finest poet. Passionate, ecstatic, and spiritual, his poems are a blend of exquisite lyricism and profound mystical thought. In The Poems of St. John of the Cross John Frederick Nims presents his superlative translation of the complete poems, re-creating the religious fervor of St. John's art. This dual-language edition makes available the original Spanish from the Codex of Sanlúcon de Barrameda with facing English translations. The work concludes with two essays--a critique of the poetry and a short piece on the Spanish text that appears alongside the translation--as well as brief notes on the individual poems.
User reviews
LibraryThing member tuckerresearch
St. John of the Cross was a supreme mystic, and his poems are perhaps less known than his mystical treatises, but this collection corrects that. Roy Campbell, a long-wrongly-forgotten poet himself proves his merits as a translator extraordinaire.
LibraryThing member vpfluke
This is a superb translation of the poetry of St. John of the Cross. Ken Krabbenhoft has caught the beauty of the Spanish original. The poems grow upon you with rereading. One of the two poems that particularly captured my imagination was "I entered I knew not where", which continues "and remained
The other poem that I've read over a number of times is "Surely I know the spring that swiftly flows", which continues "even during the night". There is rhythm in this poetry, always anchored by the last line of each verse "even during the night" (Spanish "aunque es de noche") which pulls one into the depths of his soul, and the reader is drawn into his own depths, not revealed fully but now seen darkly.
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without knowing,/ there transcending all knowledge". This is a paean to the intuitive way of knowing, which for St. John comes through the knowing of God but always remains a counter sense of not knowing. this is where your heart feels path but which your brain is unable to describe accutely.The other poem that I've read over a number of times is "Surely I know the spring that swiftly flows", which continues "even during the night". There is rhythm in this poetry, always anchored by the last line of each verse "even during the night" (Spanish "aunque es de noche") which pulls one into the depths of his soul, and the reader is drawn into his own depths, not revealed fully but now seen darkly.
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LibraryThing member g026r
Barnstone produces a terrible translation; he mangles or creates phrases from whole cloth so that stanzas fit the rhyme scheme he's attempting to imitate. Those poems where he isn't trying to force the result into the original rhyme scheme are decent, but they're few and far between.
LibraryThing member empress8411
This book was more academic than I expected. The book opens with the Spanish and English versions of each poems. The poems include The Codex of Sanlucar de Barrameda and Additional Poems. The last third of the book includes the life history of San Juan, textual and historical analysis of the
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poems,and a expose on the Spanish text. This is an excellent place to start if you are interested an academic study of his poems. The language is clear, concise, and accessible. Worth reading, and an excellent addition to any poetry lover's library. Show Less
Original language
Spanish
ISBN
0226401103 / 9780226401102
Local notes
Contents
Preface to the Third Edition
I. The Codex of Sanlúcar de Barrameda
-- Adonde te escondiste / The Spiritual Canticle
-- En una noche obscura / The Dark Night
-- O llama de amor uiua / The Living Flame of Love
-- Entreme donde no supe / Deep Rapture
-- Viuo sin viuir en mi / Life No Life
-- Tras de un amoroso lançe / Of Falconry
-- Un pastorcico solo / Madrigal
-- Que bien se yo la fonte / Song of the Soul
-- En el principio moraua / Ballad i: In Principio
-- En aquel amor inmenso / Ballad ii: Of a Communication
-- Una esposa que te ame / Ballad iii: Of the Creation
-- Hagase pues dixo el padre / Ballad iv: Of the Creation
-- Con esta buena esperança / Ballad v: Of Hunger for the Coming
-- En aquestos y otros ruegos / Ballad vi: Of Simeon
-- Ya que el tiempo era llegado / Ballad vii: Of the Incarnation
-- Entonces llamó a un archangel / Ballad viii: Of the Annunciation
-- Ya que era llegado el tiempo / Ballad ix: Of the Nativity
-- Encima de las corrientes / Ballad of Babylon
II. Additional Poems
-- Sin arrimo y con arrimo / Without and With Mainstay
-- Por toda la hermosura / The Lucky Days
-- Del Verbo divino / Divine Word
-- Olvido de lo criado / The Capsule of Perfection
III. From the Codex of Jaén
-- A dónde te escondiste (segunda redacción) / The Spiritual Canticle (revised edition)
IV. Notes:
-- Considerations
-- The Spanish Text
-- The Poems
Preface to the Third Edition
I. The Codex of Sanlúcar de Barrameda
-- Adonde te escondiste / The Spiritual Canticle
-- En una noche obscura / The Dark Night
-- O llama de amor uiua / The Living Flame of Love
-- Entreme donde no supe / Deep Rapture
-- Viuo sin viuir en mi / Life No Life
-- Tras de un amoroso lançe / Of Falconry
-- Un pastorcico solo / Madrigal
-- Que bien se yo la fonte / Song of the Soul
-- En el principio moraua / Ballad i: In Principio
-- En aquel amor inmenso / Ballad ii: Of a Communication
-- Una esposa que te ame / Ballad iii: Of the Creation
-- Hagase pues dixo el padre / Ballad iv: Of the Creation
-- Con esta buena esperança / Ballad v: Of Hunger for the Coming
-- En aquestos y otros ruegos / Ballad vi: Of Simeon
-- Ya que el tiempo era llegado / Ballad vii: Of the Incarnation
-- Entonces llamó a un archangel / Ballad viii: Of the Annunciation
-- Ya que era llegado el tiempo / Ballad ix: Of the Nativity
-- Encima de las corrientes / Ballad of Babylon
II. Additional Poems
-- Sin arrimo y con arrimo / Without and With Mainstay
-- Por toda la hermosura / The Lucky Days
-- Del Verbo divino / Divine Word
-- Olvido de lo criado / The Capsule of Perfection
III. From the Codex of Jaén
-- A dónde te escondiste (segunda redacción) / The Spiritual Canticle (revised edition)
IV. Notes:
-- Considerations
-- The Spanish Text
-- The Poems
Other editions
The Poems of St John of the Cross by Saint John of the Cross (Paperback)
The Poems of St John of the Cross by Saint John of the Cross (Paperback)
The Poems of St John of the Cross by Saint John of the Cross (Hardcover)
The Poems of St. John of the Cross by Saint John of the Cross (Paperback)
St John of the Cross: Poems by Saint John of the Cross (Paperback)
St John of the Cross: Poems by Saint John of the Cross (Paperback)
St John of the Cross: Poems by Saint John of the Cross (Paperback)
The Poems of St. John of the Cross by Saint John of the Cross (Paperback)