‘ASCENT OF MOUNT CARMEL’ by Saint John of the Cross – ‘ARGUMENT’ & ‘STANZAS’; pages 11-12

[Saint John of the Cross – XVI Century AD; Fontiveros, Crown of Castile, Spanish Monarchy/Ubeda, , Crown of Castile, Spanish Monarchy; (Aged 49); Priest, Mystic, Writer, Doctor of the Church]
“ARGUMENT
ALL the doctrine whereof I intend to treat in this Ascent of Mount Carmel is included in the following stanzas, and in them is also described the manner of ascending to the summit of the Mount, which is the high estate of perfection which we here call union of the soul with God. And because I must continually base upon them that which I shall say, I have desired to set them down here together, to the end that all the substance of that which is to be written may be seen and comprehended together; although it will be fitting to set down each stanza separately before expounding it, and likewise the lines of each stanza, according as the matter and the exposition require. The poem, then, runs as follows:
STANZAS
Wherein the soul sings of the happy chance which it had in passing through the …More