John of the Cross

The phrase is often used today to refer to any personal crisis, but in John's original poem, it captures something more specific: a mystical journey where the soul sheds all attachments—comfort, consolation, and even the familiar sense of religious experience—to attain union with God. This darkness isn't despair; rather, it signifies the absence of the usual supports the self depends on. John viewed this process of letting go as essential, not disastrous.

Yes and no. The original *Dark Night of the Soul* is a brief lyric poem. John later wrote an extensive prose commentary on it—this commentary is what most people find when they pick up a book with that title. The poem consists of just eight stanzas, while the commentary spans hundreds of pages and serves as a systematic exploration of mystical theology.

He believed that the mystical experience he was trying to describe couldn't be fully expressed in doctrinal language. Poetry, with its vivid images and openness to ambiguity, came closer to the essence of that experience. He wrote the prose commentaries afterward, almost reluctantly, because people continually asked him to clarify the meaning of the poems.

In Spanish, his poetry is regarded as some of the most beautiful in the language—it's musical, rich with imagery, and heavily inspired by the Song of Songs from the Hebrew Bible. The English translations can differ significantly in quality, depending on who’s translating. While the ideas are complex, the poems aren't as hard to grasp as, for instance, late Eliot's work. They come across more like songs than riddles.

Teresa brought John on board to help expand her reform of the Carmelite order to include the male branch. They worked closely together, united by a shared vision of a contemplative religious life that prioritized interior prayer. At the time they met, Teresa was about 27 years older than John and was already a prominent figure. Both were later canonized and recognized as Doctors of the Church.

The nine months John spent in a cell in Toledo are closely linked to his most famous work. Isolated from books, community, and any typical outlets, he turned inward — and what emerged was poetry. He memorized verses he created in the dark and wrote them down after escaping. The harsh conditions of his imprisonment seem to have intensified the very kind of inner stripping away that his poems portray.

The psychologist Carl Jung popularized the phrase "dark night of the soul," which is part of the answer. However, John's work also connects with anyone curious about how people cope with loss, confusion, and the breakdown of certainty. His approach to navigating darkness instead of avoiding it has struck a chord with readers who aren't focused on Catholic theology at all.