[1][Lit.: 'It says, then, thus.']
[2]For a verse translation in the metre of the original, see Vol. II.
[3][The adjectives are feminine throughout.]
[4][The word translated 'at rest' is a past participle: more literally, ‘stilled.']
[5][Lit.: 'I remained and forgot.']
[6][Lit. 'and wideawake guides.']
[8]Needless to say, the Saint does not here mean that he will not write in conformity with moral standards - no writer is more particular in this respect - nor that he will deal with no delectable matters at all, but rather that he will go to the very roots of spiritual teaching and expound the 'solid and substantial instruction,' which not only forms its basis but also leads the soul toward the most intimate union with God in love.
[9]The Codices give neither title nor sub-title: both were inserted in e.p. ['Desire' is to be taken as the direct object of 'describes'; 'these' refers to 'sense' and 'desire,' not to the dark night.]
[10][Lit., 'appetites,' but this word is uniformly translated 'desires,' as the Spanish context frequently will not admit the use of the stronger word in English.]
[11][The word translated 'sensual' is sometimes sensual, and sometimes, as here, sensitivo. The meaning in either case is simply 'of sense.']
[12]So Alc. The other authorities read: 'and of this we shall treat likewise, in the second part with respect to the activity [of the soul] [these last three words are not contained in the Spanish of any authority], and in the third and the fourth part with respect to its passivity.' E.p. follows this division. Alc., however, seems to correspond more closely with the Saint's intentions; for he did not divide each of his 'books' into 'parts' and appears therefore to indicate by 'part' what we know as 'book.' Now Book I is in fact devoted to the active purgation of sense, as are Books II and III to the active purgation of the spirit. For the 'fourth book,' see General Introduction, IV above.
[13][The word translated 'at rest' is a past participle: more literally, ‘stilled.']
[14][Lit., 'and it in them.' This 'it' means the soul; the preceding 'it,' the house.]
[16][More exactly, this 'passage' or 'transition' (transito).]
[17][Lit., 'in negation of them.']
[18][By 'the mean' is meant the middle, or main part, of the journey.]
[19][Lit., 'without anything (sc. to do).']
[20]['Blank board': Sp., tabla rasa; Lat., tabula rasa.]
[21]Psalm lxxxvii, 16 [A.V. lxxxviii, 15].
[24]Psalm cxiv, 9 [A.V. cxv, 8].
[26][The words often translated 'deformity,' 'deformed,' or 'vileness,' 'vile,' are the ordinary contraries of 'beauty,' 'beautiful,' and might be rendered, more literally but less elegantly, 'ugliness,' 'ugly.']
[28][For 'grace . . . misery' the Spanish has gracia . . . desgracia. The latter word, however, does not, as might be supposed, correspond to English 'disgrace.']
[29]E.p. omits 'supreme'; the Spanish word [having a more literally superlative force than the English] can hardly be applied, save in a restricted sense, to what is finite.
[35][The word is applicable to any kind of preferential position.]
[37]Proverbs viii, 4-6, 18-21.
[38]Soliloq., chap. ii (Migne: Patr. lat., Vol. XL, p. 866).
[39]So Alc. The other authorities have merely: 'which may pertain to it,' and e.p. adds to this: 'through self-love.' Even when softened by Diego de Pesœs this phrase of the Saint did not escape denunciation, and it was the first of the 'propositions' condemned in his writings (cf. General Introduction, VI, above). It was defended by P. Basilio Ponce de Le—n in his Reply (p. lx), and more extensively by P. Nicolas de Jesœs Mar’a (Elucidatio, Pt. II, Chap i, pp. 125-40). In reality, little defence is needed other than that contained in the last chapters of the Ascent of Mount Carmel, which clearly show the harm caused by supernatural favours, when these are abused, to the memory, the understanding and the will. Who, after all, can doubt that we may abuse 'things supernatural' and by such abuse hinder the soul from attaining union with God?
[41]E.p. alters this to: 'in the same Scripture.' [It does not, in fact, occur in the same book.]
[45]Psalm lxxvii, 31 [A.V. lxxviii, 31].
[46][Exodus xxxiv, 2-3.] E.p.: 'within sight of the Mount.' A, B: 'near the Mount.'
[50]1 Kings [A.V., I Samuel] v, 3-5.
[52]Numbers xvii, 10. [More properly, 'the rod of Aaron.']
[54][Lit., 'the greater the bulk that that desire has in the soul.']
[57][Lit., 'he that goes feeding upon.']
[58]Psalm lviii, 15-16 [A.V., lix, 14-15].
[59][Lit., 'how much more God does.']
[60]Isaias xxix, 8. The editions supply the translation of the first part of the Latin text, which the Saint and the Codices omitted: 'After being wearied and fatigued, he yet thirsteth,' etc.
[66]Thus Alc. [with 'run' for 'eat']. A, B, e.p. read: '. . . when they turn from the way of God (which is the right hand) are justly hungered, for they merit not the fullness of the sweetness of spirit. And justly, too, when they eat on the left hand,' etc. [While agreeing with P. Silverio that Alc. gives the better reading, I prefer 'eat' to 'run': it is nearer the Scriptural passage and the two Spanish words, comen and corren, could easily be confused in MS.]
[67]Psalm cxviii, 61 [A.V., cxix, 61].
[68]Psalm cxvii, 12 [A.V., cxviii, 12].
[69]Judges xvi, 16. [Actually it was Samson, not Dalila, who was 'wearied even until death.']
[71][Lit., 'bound him to grind in a mill.']
[75]Psalm xxxvii, 5 [A.V., xxxviii, 4].
[76][Lit., 'gives no occasion either for,' etc.]
[77]Psalm xxxix, 13 [A.V., xl, 12.]
[78]Psalm vi, 4 [A.V., vi, 3].
[79][Lit., 'the present visage.']
[81][hoguera. More exactly: 'fire,' 'bonfire,' 'blaze.']
[82]Psalm lvii, 9 [cf. A.V., lviii, 8].
[83]Psalm lvii, 10 [A.V., lviii, 9].
[84][Lit., 'before it can understand God.']
[85]3 Kings [A.V., 1 Kings] xi, 4.
[87][Lit., 'we ... know not what there is between.']
[89][Lit., ‘is added desire.’]
[92][More literally: 'and all the best that is of the creatures.' 'Best' is neuter and refers to qualities, appurtenances, etc.]
[95][Lit., mas resplandecientes, 'more brilliant,' 'more luminous.']
[96][Lit., plazas (derived from the Latin plateas), which now, however, has the meaning of 'squares,' '(market) places.']
[97]['Clearer' here is mas claros; the adjective is rendered 'bright' elsewhere.]
[98][The words translated 'unruly,' 'disordered,' here and elsewhere, and occasionally 'unrestrained,' are the same in the original: desordenado.]
[99][The Spanish of the text reads literally: 'in a union.']
[100][The verb is pintar, 'paint': perhaps 'corrupt' is intended. The same verb occurs in the following sentence.]
[105][Lit., 'revolves'- 'turns over in its mind' in our common idiom.]
[107]Psalm lviii, 10 [A.V., lix, 9].
[111]Ecclesiasticus xxiii, 6. [In the original the last two sentences are transposed.]
[112][Lit., ‘not pure on (or ‘in’) God.’]
[113][The original has no such explanatory phrase.]
[114][That is, will be enjoying all the union that the prayer of quiet gives.]
[116][The original omits ‘union.’]
[118][cordeles: a stronger word than that used above (hilo), which, if the context would permit, might better be translated 'string' - its equivalent in modern speech. Below, hilo is translated 'thread.']
[119][Hilo, rendered 'thread,' as explained in n. 4 above, can also be taken in the stronger sense of 'cord.']
[122][Lit., 'the fire is increased by a single spark.'] Ecclesiasticus xi, 34 [A.V., xi, 32].
[124][The original phrase (gente menuda) means 'little folk.' It is used of children and sometimes also of insects and other small creatures. There is a marked antithesis between the 'giants,' or sins, and the 'little folk,' or imperfections.]
[126]1 Corinthians vii, 29-31.
[127][The word here translated 'remissness' is rendered 'remission' in the text, where it seems to have a slightly different meaning.]
[128][The word translated 'remnants' also means 'after-taste.']
[130]2 Corinthians xii, 9. ['Virtue' had often, in the author's day, much of the meaning of the modern word 'strength.']
[131][The word used for desire is apetito, which has been used in the past chapters for desires of sense (cf. chap. I, above).]
[133]Lit., 'Not that which is to desire anything, etc.']
[135]The Saint does not, however, allude to these lines again. The order followed below is that of Alc., which differs somewhat from that followed in the diagram.
[136][This line, like ll. 6, 8 of the paragraph, reads more literally: 'Desire not to possess (be, know) anything in anything.' It is more emphatic than l. 2.]
[137][There is a repetition here which could only be indicated by translating 'all-ly.' So, too, in the next couplet.]
[138][Lit. ‘anything in all.’]
[139]This confirms our point (Bk. I, chap. ii, ¤ 6, above) that the Saint considers the Argument as part of the Prologue.