"Past The Boundaries Of Knowing."

First Things has, over the past few years, been featuring Rhina Espaillat’s translations of certains poems by St. John of the Cross - and here they are:

• A Spiritual Canticle of the Soul and the Bridegroom Christ

• I Went In, I Knew Not Where

• Coplas: In Pursuit

• Song of the Soul That Takes Pleasure in Knowing God by Faith

• Songs of the Soul in Intimate Amorous Communion with God

• One Darkest Night

• Verses of the Soul That Pines to See God

• The Youthful Shepherd

• Letrillos

Poet Timothy Murphy considers these translations and the work of St. John of the Cross more generally.