La vía de transformación mística a partir delconcepto del amor en los dos primeros libros de Elsa Cross
Afhit Hernández Villalba
Interpretextos revista semestral de creación y divulgación de las humanidades . October 2, 2026 DOI: 10.53897/revinterp.2026.06.01 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that Elsa Cross's early poetry, especially Amor el más oscuro and 'La canción de Arnaut' from La dama de la torre, contains a mystical intuition or spiritual search that predates her later mystical work, expressed through symbolic imagery, troubadour references, and a conception of love as a path toward transcendent reality. Concludes that while these poems are not yet mystical poetry in the strict sense, they anticipate the mystical orientation of Cross's later writing. |
Abstract
This paper analyzes the presence of a mystical intuition in the early poetry of Elsa Cross, particularly in the books Amor el más oscuro (1966) and La dama de la torre (1969–1970), written before the spiritual experience the author underwent in India that would later shape her work. Drawing on Evelyn Underhill’s reflections on mysticism, this study proposes that the search for an absolute truth constitutes a human disposition that may appear as a spiritual intuition prior to any doctrinal formulation. The analysis shows that, in Amor el más oscuro, the theme of painful and unrequited love gradually evolves into a quest for transcendence that goes beyond the erotic plane and points toward a universal love. Likewise, in the poem “La canción de Arnaut,” included in La dama de la torre, the figure of the medieval troubadour Arnaut Daniel—evoked through La Divina Comedia by Dante Alighieri—functions as a symbol of a spiritual itinerary leading to the intuition of an absolute love that surpasses human experience. It is concluded that, although these poems cannot yet be considered mystical poetry in the strict sense, they do reveal an early spiritual search that anticipates the mystical orientation of Cross’s later work. This search is articulated through symbolic imagery, references to the troubadour tradition, and a conception of love as a path toward a transcendent reality.