Traditional attribution
Summary of Perfection ('Forgetfulness of creation')
Suma de la perfección («Olvido de lo criado»)
Four lines summing up John's programme: forgetfulness of creation, remembrance of the Creator, attention to the inner life and remaining in love with the Beloved. Its synthetic perfection explains its circulation, regardless of authorship.
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Authorship note
Disputed attribution: a quatrain transmitted by late manuscripts; some editions include it among the authentic poems and others among the doubtful.
Editions and translations
Editions in your language first, without hiding the others. Each with its cover and its store.
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Poesía
Cátedra, 2000
ISBN 9788437604107
Edición de la poesía completa. Contiene este poema.
Other works by John of the Cross
- Spiritual Canticle (poem) · 1578
- Dark Night (poem) · 1579
- Living Flame of Love (poem) · 1585
- Song of the Soul that Rejoices in Knowing God through Faith ('How well I know the fount') · 1578
- Romances on the Gospel 'In principio erat Verbum' · 1578
- Romance on the Psalm 'Super flumina Babylonis' · 1578
- Stanzas Concerning an Ecstasy Experienced in High Contemplation ('I entered into unknowing') · 1580
- Stanzas of the Soul that Suffers with Longing to See God ('I live, but not in myself') · 1580
- 'Upon a quest of love' (stanzas a lo divino) · 1580
- 'A lone young shepherd lived in pain' · 1584
- Gloss 'Without support and with support' · 1580
- Gloss 'Not for all of beauty' · 1580
- 'With the divine Word' (Christmas song) · 1585
- 'My soul is detached' (attributed stanzas) · 1600
- The Ascent of Mount Carmel · 1585
- The Dark Night · 1585
- Spiritual Canticle (redaction A) · 1584
- Spiritual Canticle (redaction B) · 1586
- The Living Flame of Love (commentary) · 1586
- Sayings of Light and Love · 1585
- The Precautions · 1580
- Counsels to a Religious on How to Reach Perfection · 1585
- Censure and Opinion on the Spirit of a Nun · 1588
- The Mount of Perfection (drawing of Mount Carmel) · 1579
- Letters · 1591
- Points of Love Gathered at Beas · 1580
- Spiritual Maxims and Sentences (later collections) · 1700
- Complete Works (collected editions) · 1618
Sources
- San Juan de la Cruz. Obras completas. Ed. José Vicente Rodríguez; introducciones y notas doctrinales de Federico Ruiz Salvador. Madrid: Editorial de Espiritualidad, 1980 (ed. revisada 2008, ISBN 9788470683459).
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