Teresa of Ávila
Soliloquies (Exclamations of the Soul to God)
Written work
Soliloquies (Exclamations of the Soul to God)
Exclamaciones del alma a Dios
Lyrical prose prayers addressed to God in the second person, condensing the tension between longing for death and acceptance of life that runs through her poetry ('I die because I do not die'). They are the Teresian text closest to pure prayer and the one that best shows her oral rhythm.
Authorship note
Seventeen brief effusions written, according to the 1588 edition's heading, 'on different days… after communion, in the year 1569'. Known through Fray Luis de León's edition; no autograph survives.
Editions and translations
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English
Teresa of Ávila
Soliloquies (en Collected Works, vol. 1)
The Conscious LibrarySoliloquies (en Collected Works, vol. 1)
ICS Publications, 1976
Translation: Kieran Kavanaugh y Otilio Rodríguez
ISBN 9780935216059
Other works by Teresa of Ávila
- The Book of Her Life · 1565
- The Way of Perfection · 1566
- The Interior Castle (The Mansions) · 1577
- The Book of the Foundations · 1582
- Spiritual Testimonies (Accounts of Conscience) · 1581
- Meditations on the Song of Songs · 1567
- Constitutions · 1567
- On Making the Visitation · 1576
- Poems · 1570
- Letters · 1582
- A Satirical Critique · 1577
- Maxims (Counsels) · 1580
- Complete Works (collected editions) · 1588
- Response to a Spiritual Challenge · 1573
- Ordinances for a Confraternity · 1571
- Seven Meditations on the Lord's Prayer · 1630
Sources
- Teresa de Jesús. Obras completas. Transcripción, introducciones y notas de Efrén de la Madre de Dios y Otger Steggink. Madrid: Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, 1962 (ediciones posteriores revisadas).
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