" So sublime,' wrote Menendez Pelayo, is this poetry [of St. John of the Cross] that it scarcely seems to belong to this world at all; it is hardly capable of being assessed by literary criteria. More ardent in its passion than any profane poetry, its form is as elegant and exquisite, as plastic and as highly figured as any of the finest works of the Renaissance. The spirit of God has passed through these poems every one, beautifying and sanctifying them on its way. "

― John of the Cross , Ascent of Mount Carmel, Dark Night of the Soul, & A Spiritual Canticle of the Soul and Bridegroom Christ