San Juan de la Cruz's 'La noche oscura' and Symbolism: A Critical Reading

San Juan de la Cruz's mystical' En una noche oscura' has received considerable critical attention both theological as much as literary. How can the mystical experience be expressed in verse? Despite many literary approaches to this poem, and other related sacred' poems, approaches that relate these verses to the poet's mystical' experiences, no critic has read, to my knowledge, En una noche oscura' from a close hermeneutical viewpoint. Such a reading, relating the poem to fin de siglo Symbolist aesthetics, shows that certain poetic processes are timeless and reveals an altogether different version of the poem. Placing the poem in a timeless Symbolist frame reveals how San Juan could convey that which passes human understanding' and further suggests that the poet may not have been writing solely about his own experiences.