The poetics of the sonnet in the work of the blind mystic Jean de Saint-Samson

Although the prose texts of the blind Carmelite Jean de Saint-Samson (1577-1636) are fairly well known, the same cannot be said for his poetic production, consisting in particular of hymns, which have so far only been the subject of a few studies from the perspective of the history of religious ideas. The present work focuses on an even more unknown part of his work: his sonnets. Through fifty-five pieces that remain in manuscript form, the mystic, who also practiced music, expresses his religious vision and sentiments in a style that upsets the rules in force at the time.