SOR JUANA INÉS DE LA CRUZ (1674)

Poet, scholar and nun; outstanding lyric poet of Mexico´s colonial period.

An intellectual prodigy, at eight she composed a loa (short dramatic poem) inn honour of the Blessed Sacrament; at the same time she begged her parents to disguise her as a boy and send her to the University of Mexico, but had to be content with reading her grandfather´s books; at nine she went to live in Mexico City, where she studied Latin, mastering the language in 20 lessons.

The fame of her learning reached the viceroy, who invited her to court, where her wit, beauty and magnetic personality won her great popularity. In a oral examination arranged by the viceroy, Juana Inés (then 17) astonished 40 professors with her knowledge.

In order to dedicate her life to learning and perhaps influenced by a disappointment in love, Juana Inés entered the convent of San Jerónimo on Feb. 24, 1669. There she assembled a library of about 4,000 volumes, experimented in the sciences and wrote poems and religious and secular plays. Attempts were made to curb her scholastic activities. Her daring criticism of a sermon of the famed Brazilian Jesuit António Vieyra prompted a letter from the Bishop of Puebla, under the pseudonym of Sor Filotea, admonishing her to concentrate on religious studies.

In her Respuesta a Sor Filotea ("Reply to Sister Philotea"), a long letter and a revealing autobiographical fragment, written March 1, 1691, she defended her desire for broad knowledge. Two years later, she gave up all contact with the world, signed a confession with her own blood, sold her books, scientific and musical instruments, distributed the money to the poor, and devoted her time exclusively to religious duties. She died the victim of an epidemic, while nursing her sister nuns.

The three volumes of her works were printed in Spain; the first, Inundación castálida (1689; "Flood from the Muses Springs"), appeared in Madrid; the second, Segundo volumen de las obras de Soor Juana Inés de la Cruz, (1692; "Second volume of the works of Sister Juana Inés de la Cruz"), in Seville; and the third, Fama y obras pósthumas de Fénix de México y Dézima Musa (1700; "Fame and Posthumous Works of the Mexican Phoenix and Tenth Muse"), in Madrid.

Several editions of the three volumes appeared during the 18th century. Other of her productions were printed separately. Although the stylistic affectations of the baroque Spanish poet Góngora invade some of her work, most of her lyrics have a simple beauty and direct emotional appeal.