Using the theory of orality, this book shows how the poems were composed with the techniques of oral tradition, and the oral character of this poetry helps in establishing the uniqueness of the experience induced by the poems. This book is an original and yet attentive reading of the poetic texts using an interdisciplinary approach (philosophical, philological and literary). It represents a major contribution to the study of the poetry of John of the Cross: shattering, and yet rigorous and faithful to the text.