Journeys of a Mystic Soul in Poetry and Prose

Kevin Donnelly received his Ph.D. in Spanish (Colonial Spanish American Studies) from New York University in 2006. From 2006 to 2011 he was Assistant Professor at the University of Washington in Seattle. He currently resides in New York City where he continues to teach and work on international education and curriculum policy. He is also involved in translation projects ranging from fictional literary translations to historical texts and the promotion of new Latin American cinematic projects. Sandra Sider received her Ph.D. in comparative literature from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (1978), and was Curator of Manuscripts and Rare Books at The Hispanic Society of America 1985–94. She has translated the sonnets of Sor Juana Inés de La Cruz and the poetry of Sappho, and is the author of The Handbook to Life in Renaissance Europe (Facts on File, 2005). She currently teaches art history online for the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs.

"This edition, which offers a bilingual selection of poetry and selected prose by the nun-author Cecilia del Nacimiento (1570–1646), translated into English increases contemporary scholars’ access to, and therefore understanding of, the Spanish early modern religious and intellectual milieu. A significant, rarely-studied mystic and poet, and member of the Discalced Carmelite Order in the years after St. Teresa of Avila’s death, Cecilia del Nacimiento exemplifies the range of possibilities used by women writers who worked within the conventions of hegemonic discourses, while creating a unique literary voice."

• Acknowledgments xiIntroduction 1TranslationsProse TextsTreatise on the Transformation of the Soul in God (1603) 33Treatise on the Union of the Soul in God (c. 1602) 109First Account of God’s Favors (1629) 129Second Account of God’s Favors (1633) 153Glosses on the Song of Songs 165Theological Exposition on the Immaculate Conception of the Most Holy Virgin 187“Treatise on the Mysteries of our Holy Faith” (1632) 193Letters to her Sister Maria and to her Brothers Antonio and Juan 235PoetryPoems of Cecilia del Nacimiento (Spanish and English) 251Bibliography 523Title Index of the Poetry 529Index 533