Dark Night
Poems and Selected Prose
$24.77
- Paperback
192 pages
- Release Date
10 August 2026
Summary
“Oh living flame of love, how tenderly you scorch me”
The poetry of the sixteenth-century Spanish mystic, John of the Cross, has inspired and consoled for hundreds of years, influencing writers from James Joyce to Seamus Heaney, Geoffrey Hill to T.S. Eliot. This new edition of his essential works, in a sensitive and luminous translation by Martha Sprackland, gathers John of the Cross’s complete poems and a selection of his prose, including from his extended commentary on the poem ‘Dar…
Book Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780241699294 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10: | 0241699290 |
| Author: | Martha Sprackland, John of the Cross, Dr Colin Thompson |
| Publisher: | Penguin Books Ltd |
| Imprint: | Penguin Classics |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Number of Pages: | 192 |
| Release Date: | 10 August 2026 |
| Weight: | 200g |
| Dimensions: | 198mm x 129mm x 15mm |
About The Author
Martha Sprackland
John of the Cross
John of the Cross (1542–1591) was born in Fonteveros, Spain, and joined the Carmelite Order as a young man. After meeting St. Teresa of Ávila, he joined her attempts at reforming the order, embracing a more stringently monastic and studious life than Carmelites then practiced. Arrested, imprisoned, and tortured for his beliefs, he experienced a profound spiritual awakening during his captivity which inspired an outpouring of mystical poetry and writings, including The Ascent of Mount Carmel, The Dark Night, and The Spiritual Canticle. He was canonized as a saint in 1726.
Martha Sprackland
Martha Sprackland is an editor, writer, and translator from the north of England. She has translated poetry by Ana Gorria, Ver nica Viola Fisher, and Gladys Mendia, and short fiction by Sara Mesa. In 2021, she was shortlisted for the Peirene-Stevns Translation Prize. Her debut collection of poems, CITADEL (Pavilion/LUP, 2020), was shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best First Collection, the John Pollard International Poetry Prize, and the Costa Poetry Award.
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