From John Yepes

[Guest guest]

Nine Verses Made upon an

Ecstasy of High Contemplation

by St. John of the Cross (1542-1591)

 

I entered in, not knowing where,

And there remained uncomprehending,

All knowledge transcending.

I entered - where - I did not know,

Yet when I found that I was there,

Though where I was I did not know,

Profound and subtle things I learned;

Nor can I say what I discerned,

For I remained uncomprehending,

All knowledge transcending.

 

Of peace and holy truth

It was knowledge to perfection,

Within the depths of solitude

The narrow path of wisdom;

A secret so profoundly hidden

That I was left there stammering,

All knowledge transcending.

 

I was so caught up and rapt away,

In such oblivion immersed,

That every sense and feeling lay

Of sense and feeling dispossesed;

And so my mind and soul were blessed

To understand not understanding,

All knowledge transcending.

 

The one who truly reaches there

No longer in himself remains,

And all that he had known at first

Seems base and mean to him, and wanes;

So great a knowledge then he gains

That he is left uncomprehending,

All knowledge transcending.

 

His understanding is the less endowed -

The more he climbs to greater heights -

To understand the shadowed cloud

Which there illuminates the night;

Thus he who comprehends his sight

Will alway stay not understanding,

All knowledge transcending.

 

This knowledge through uncomprehending

Is of such supreme dominion

That by learned men contending

It is never grasped or won;

Their learning never lights upon

The knowledge of unknowing,

Beyond all knowledge going.

 

And that exalted wisdom

Is of such a high degree,

It can be undertaken

By no art or faculty;

Who knows the way to mastery

By a knowledge that unknows

Transcending ever goes.

 

And if you wish to hear,

This highest knowledge is conceived

In a sense, sublime and clear

Of the essence of the Deity;

It is an act of His great Clemency

That keeps us there uncomprehending,

All knowledge transcending.

 

posted April2, 2006......bob