St. John of the Cross is considered one of the foremost poets in the Spanish language. Although his complete poems add up to less than 2500 verses, two of them—the Spiritual Canticle and Dark Night of the Soul—are widely considered to be among the best poems ever written in Spanish, both for their formal stylistic point of view and their rich symbolism and imagery.
New World Encyclopedia writers
b. 1542 d. 1591 CE
Juan de Yepes Alvarez
Saint John of the Cross (June 24, 1542 – December 14, 1591), born Juan de Yepes Alvarez, was a major figure of the Counter-Reformation, a Spanish mystic, Carmelite friar and priest, born at Fontiveros, a small village near Ávila.
Best known for his introspective poetry and writings on the growth of the soul, his works are considered a peak in the literary landscape of Spanish writing and the summit of Spanish mystical literature. In particular, he is the renowned author of the “Dark Night of the Soul,” a term that is still widely used in Christian spiritual practice today.
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