What do you think?
Rate this book
Obras completas
La presente colección de obras es ofrecida en homenaje a la memoria de la Cruz, por su categoría tanto de poeta como de prosista.
Leída y admirada mientras vivió, es una autora, predilecta en nuestros días, a quien mejor se puede apreciar cuando se conoce más sobre su vida.
La poesía fue para ella medio, no fin. Su afán de conocimiento, que incluyó las matemáticas, la conducía hacia profundos horizontes filósoficos, ansiosamente buscados por ella en sus lecturas, aunque no desdeñaba tocar temas concretos, humildes, tomados de la vida monjil, y hacía menudas observaciones cotidianas.
Todo aquel que desee estudiar la obra de Sor Juan y conocer sus escritos, los encontrará ahora completos aquí, reproducidos con la mayor fidelidad en un tomo que permite consultarlos fácilmente.
Leída y admirada mientras vivió, es una autora, predilecta en nuestros días, a quien mejor se puede apreciar cuando se conoce más sobre su vida.
La poesía fue para ella medio, no fin. Su afán de conocimiento, que incluyó las matemáticas, la conducía hacia profundos horizontes filósoficos, ansiosamente buscados por ella en sus lecturas, aunque no desdeñaba tocar temas concretos, humildes, tomados de la vida monjil, y hacía menudas observaciones cotidianas.
Todo aquel que desee estudiar la obra de Sor Juan y conocer sus escritos, los encontrará ahora completos aquí, reproducidos con la mayor fidelidad en un tomo que permite consultarlos fácilmente.
941 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1690
17 people are currently reading
604 people want to read
About the author
Juana Inés de la Cruz
264 books322 followersJuana Inés de la Cruz was born in a town in the Valley of Mexico to a Creole mother Isabel Ramírez and a Spanish military father, Pedro Manuel de Asbaje. As a child, she learned Nahuatl (Uto-Aztec language spoken in Mexico and Central America) and read and write Spanish in the middle of three years. Thanks to her grandfather's lush library, Juana Inés de la Cruz read the Greek and Roman classics and the theology of the time, she learned Latin in a self-taught way. In 1665, admired for her talent and precocity, she was lady-in-waiting to Leonor Carreto, wife of Viceroy Antonio Sebastián de Toledo. Sponsored by the Marquises of Mancera, she shone in the viceregal court of New Spain for her erudition and versifying ability. In 1667, Juana Inés de la Cruz entered a convent of the Discalced Carmelites of Mexico but soon had to leave due to health problems. Two years later she entered the Order of St. Jerome, remaining there for the rest of her life and being visited by the most illustrious personalities of the time. She had several drawbacks to her activity as a writer, a fact that was frowned upon at the time and that Juana Inés de la Cruz always defended, claiming the right of women to learn. Shortly before her death, she was forced by her confessor to get rid of her library and her collection of musical and scientific instruments so as not to have problems with the Holy Inquisition, very active at that time. She died of a cholera epidemic at the age of forty-three, while helping her sick companions. The emergence of Sor Juana De La Cruz in the late seventeenth century was a cultural miracle and her whole life was a constant effort of stubborn personal and intellectual improvement.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
January 30, 2021
I remember once hearing Carlos Fuentes proclaim that “England has Shakespeare and Spain has Cervantes. Mexico has a nun. But what a nun!”
And what a nun. Born on Nov 1648, only thirty years after the death of those great writers (both died on the same day, 22 April 1616), she lived during the Spanish Golden Age.
She was a precocious child. Encouraged by her mother, she learned to read and write at the age of six. She devoured books in her grandfather’s library. She learned Latin and Nahuatl. At sixteen, she lived in the court of the Vice Roy Marqués de Mancera. At age nineteen she joined a nunnery, San Jerónimo, surrounding herself with books and the new Mexican literary world.
Sadly in 1694, the Bishop of Puebla condemned her to a life of poverty, forcing her sell her books. She died from the plague on 17 April 1695, at the age of 47. Her reputation was lost until the mid twentieth century, where she is becoming more widely known. A beautiful painting of her by Miguel Cabrera sits in El Castillo de Chapultepec and the Monastery has an elegant cooking school, which has a tribute to her favourite desserts. Both are worthy stops in Mexico City.
I came across this book in the Porrúa bookstore near Templó Mayor. While I was tracking down Bolaño’s “Savage Detectives,” the exuberant clerk told me I should read Sor Juana’s poetry. He gave me a choice of a slim selection or this “Complete Work.” What the hell, why not read them all, I thought. Well it took me two years, but I did it.
And what to make of her work? Stunning, beautiful, lyrical, funny, poignant, and erudite. What astounds me is how good the poems are, how intelligent is Sor Juana, and how musical is the poetry. We are talking seventeenth century. Oh my!
She comments on love (a nun?), she knows her Roman and Greek poets (she quotes in Latin) she know her history and literature (proving how well-read she is). Sure, she praises and writes poems for the nobility of Mexico but it shows how much she became part of the elite literary scene. Sadly this would come back to bite her.
I must make note of a couple of her pieces. She wrote numerous “Loa’s” or “Praises” but I found two stunners: “El divino Narciso” and “El mártir del sacramento, San Hermenegildo.” The first shows her great love of mythology while the latter, tells the historical account of the saint.
I found the Villancicos, often created for specific religious occasions, and performed in the beautiful cathedral of a Mexico City, uplifting and mesmerizing. Best to sing these out loud. In one of these, she included parts in Nahuatl, obviously wanting to include the locals in the mass.
She wrote two comedies, “Los empeños de una casa” and “Amor es más laberinto”. In “Los empeños” Sor Juana interjected one-act farces or “Sainete’s” between the acts. These farces are so much fun and absolutely brilliant. Today we have the intermission; back then they got some extra laughs.
“Los empeños de una casa” reminds me a lot of Shakespeare. A riotous comedy of love between Don’s Carlos, Rodrigo, and Juan, with Doña’s Leonor and Ana, and their servants. Laughter all around.
“Amor es más laberinto” is a different kettle of fish. It changes the tragic outcomes of the a Greek myth of King Minos, the Minotaur, Theseus, Phaedra and Ariadne to a Mozart opera (The Magic Flute rather than Don Giovanni)!
Finally, the prose documents at the very end support the intelligence of this woman. “Neptuno Allegórico,” describes the triumphal arch of the metropolitan church in Mexico City but her “Explicación del arco” poem, added right after the prose, is stunning. When she was condemned by the Bishop, she writes in “Respuesta a Sor Filotea de la Cruz” taking a true stand defending herself and the malignment of women. This is truly a captivating and powerful piece of writing.
In the end, I was very impressed. I read a big chuck of this during the second wave of the pandemic, and I must admit, there was a calm in her words that helped during these long days. Ah, the power of words.
And what a nun. Born on Nov 1648, only thirty years after the death of those great writers (both died on the same day, 22 April 1616), she lived during the Spanish Golden Age.
She was a precocious child. Encouraged by her mother, she learned to read and write at the age of six. She devoured books in her grandfather’s library. She learned Latin and Nahuatl. At sixteen, she lived in the court of the Vice Roy Marqués de Mancera. At age nineteen she joined a nunnery, San Jerónimo, surrounding herself with books and the new Mexican literary world.
Sadly in 1694, the Bishop of Puebla condemned her to a life of poverty, forcing her sell her books. She died from the plague on 17 April 1695, at the age of 47. Her reputation was lost until the mid twentieth century, where she is becoming more widely known. A beautiful painting of her by Miguel Cabrera sits in El Castillo de Chapultepec and the Monastery has an elegant cooking school, which has a tribute to her favourite desserts. Both are worthy stops in Mexico City.
I came across this book in the Porrúa bookstore near Templó Mayor. While I was tracking down Bolaño’s “Savage Detectives,” the exuberant clerk told me I should read Sor Juana’s poetry. He gave me a choice of a slim selection or this “Complete Work.” What the hell, why not read them all, I thought. Well it took me two years, but I did it.
And what to make of her work? Stunning, beautiful, lyrical, funny, poignant, and erudite. What astounds me is how good the poems are, how intelligent is Sor Juana, and how musical is the poetry. We are talking seventeenth century. Oh my!
She comments on love (a nun?), she knows her Roman and Greek poets (she quotes in Latin) she know her history and literature (proving how well-read she is). Sure, she praises and writes poems for the nobility of Mexico but it shows how much she became part of the elite literary scene. Sadly this would come back to bite her.
I must make note of a couple of her pieces. She wrote numerous “Loa’s” or “Praises” but I found two stunners: “El divino Narciso” and “El mártir del sacramento, San Hermenegildo.” The first shows her great love of mythology while the latter, tells the historical account of the saint.
I found the Villancicos, often created for specific religious occasions, and performed in the beautiful cathedral of a Mexico City, uplifting and mesmerizing. Best to sing these out loud. In one of these, she included parts in Nahuatl, obviously wanting to include the locals in the mass.
She wrote two comedies, “Los empeños de una casa” and “Amor es más laberinto”. In “Los empeños” Sor Juana interjected one-act farces or “Sainete’s” between the acts. These farces are so much fun and absolutely brilliant. Today we have the intermission; back then they got some extra laughs.
“Los empeños de una casa” reminds me a lot of Shakespeare. A riotous comedy of love between Don’s Carlos, Rodrigo, and Juan, with Doña’s Leonor and Ana, and their servants. Laughter all around.
“Amor es más laberinto” is a different kettle of fish. It changes the tragic outcomes of the a Greek myth of King Minos, the Minotaur, Theseus, Phaedra and Ariadne to a Mozart opera (The Magic Flute rather than Don Giovanni)!
Finally, the prose documents at the very end support the intelligence of this woman. “Neptuno Allegórico,” describes the triumphal arch of the metropolitan church in Mexico City but her “Explicación del arco” poem, added right after the prose, is stunning. When she was condemned by the Bishop, she writes in “Respuesta a Sor Filotea de la Cruz” taking a true stand defending herself and the malignment of women. This is truly a captivating and powerful piece of writing.
In the end, I was very impressed. I read a big chuck of this during the second wave of the pandemic, and I must admit, there was a calm in her words that helped during these long days. Ah, the power of words.
January 20, 2013
Although I have not read completly this book, I have read some sonnets and others Sor Juana´s poems.
This version of the Porrúa´s Library is excellent.
This version of the Porrúa´s Library is excellent.
April 23, 2019
Esta denso y la mitad de las cosas que escribe no las entiendo pero me ayuda a volverme una lectora más activa porque amo infinitamente a Sor Juana, mi luna y mi sol, perdóname por ser tan boba.
February 8, 2025
Su estilo es bello, cuidado, sumamente formal —en suma barroco. Mientras que disfruté su poesía lírica, prosa y teatro a un menor grado, pasar por 500 páginas de Loas, Autos y Villancicos fue difícil. En fin, la misma autora, en su *Respuesta a Sor Filotea de la Cruz*, lo dice: "[D]emás, que yo nunca he escrito cosa alguna por mi voluntad, sino por ruegos y preceptos ajenos; de tal manera, que no me acuerdo haber escrito por mi gusto sino es un papelillo que llaman El Sueño." ¿Qué podemos decir entonces del Sueño, o Primero Sueño? Ocupa un lugar excepcional en la poesía mexicana como épica sobre la existencia que quizá se alcanzó hasta el Siglo XX con Piedra de Sol y Muerte sin fin. Y ese es sólo el inicio a las aguas oscuras que lo acuerpan.
Es parte de nuestra naturaleza humana el imaginar escenarios distintos y aquella inspiración que nos proporciona Sor Juana no es excepción. ¿Qué hubiera pasado si hubiera sido un hombre? ¿Qué hubiera pasado si hubiera nacido en España? ¿Sería un pilar de la literatura más alto de lo que es en nuestro universo? Todas estas preguntas suscitan imaginación pero ignoran el hecho irrefutable que es que su escritura fue tal precisamente por las circunstancias que vivió en su vida: una mujer cuyo profundo amor por las letras se vería en constante lucha con el mundo asfixiante de la Nueva España. ¿No es precisamente por ello que el Primero Sueño nos invitar dejar nuestras cadenas y contemplar el potencial enorme del ser humano —de ser verdaderamente libres?
Es parte de nuestra naturaleza humana el imaginar escenarios distintos y aquella inspiración que nos proporciona Sor Juana no es excepción. ¿Qué hubiera pasado si hubiera sido un hombre? ¿Qué hubiera pasado si hubiera nacido en España? ¿Sería un pilar de la literatura más alto de lo que es en nuestro universo? Todas estas preguntas suscitan imaginación pero ignoran el hecho irrefutable que es que su escritura fue tal precisamente por las circunstancias que vivió en su vida: una mujer cuyo profundo amor por las letras se vería en constante lucha con el mundo asfixiante de la Nueva España. ¿No es precisamente por ello que el Primero Sueño nos invitar dejar nuestras cadenas y contemplar el potencial enorme del ser humano —de ser verdaderamente libres?
March 29, 2015
In my first semester of graduate school I read a bunch of Sor Juana in the original Spanish. It was a grueling experience made even more so by the tiny print and overwhelming size of this edition of her complete works. In the intervening years I have been glad to have this book on my shelf. Like a Bible or a textbook it places a lot of text within good reach, though it is not terribly pretty or easy to use.
The review I wrote in 2009, in a moment of frustration, was less generous:
The one-star review is not for colonial Mexico's nun-slash-superstar, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz. It's for this lousy edition of her works. If you like a thousand-page book that comes with no table of contents, lumps the writers' work into genres, introduces each piece with dithering epigraphs ALL IN CAPITAL LETTERS, is printed on Kleenex™-thin paper and makes Sor Juana's decadently baroque verses even harder to understand, then, by all means, buy this book. My only compliment is that it's inexpensive.
The review I wrote in 2009, in a moment of frustration, was less generous:
The one-star review is not for colonial Mexico's nun-slash-superstar, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz. It's for this lousy edition of her works. If you like a thousand-page book that comes with no table of contents, lumps the writers' work into genres, introduces each piece with dithering epigraphs ALL IN CAPITAL LETTERS, is printed on Kleenex™-thin paper and makes Sor Juana's decadently baroque verses even harder to understand, then, by all means, buy this book. My only compliment is that it's inexpensive.
September 3, 2012
Lo mejor son sus sonetos y más a la luz de las Trampas de la fe de Octavio Paz.
January 7, 2014
Una sola palabra puede expresar (aunque de forma imperfecta) los escritos de la Décima Musa... ¡MARAVILLOSOS!
March 30, 2020
Dios está en esta poesía. No hay más explicación para obras tan hermosas
August 19, 2025
Aunque esté en la edición Sepan Cuántos, yo a usted la amo sorJui.
August 17, 2024
vivan las lesbianas del siglo pasado
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews