Southwell: The Presentation

To be redeemd the worlds redeemer brought
Two sely turtle doves for ransome payes
O ware with Empyres worthy to be bought
This easy rate doth sounde not drowne thy praise
For sith no price can to thy worth amounte
A dove yea love dew price thou doest accounte.

Old Simeon cheap penyworth and sweete
Obteyn'd when the in armes he did embrace
His weeping eies thy smiling looks did meete
Thy love his heart thy kisses blissd his face
O eies O hart meane sights and loves avoyde
Base not your selves, your best you have enjoyed.

O Virgin pure thow do'st these Doves present
As due to lawe not as an equall price
To buy such ware thow wouldst thy life have spente
The worlds to reach hid worth could not suffice
If god were to be bought not worldly pelfe
But thow wert fittest price next god himself.

Notes

 

Presentation in Temple. JJ Tissot. Brooklyn Museum

[Preliminary]: Purification and Redemption: According to the Mosaic law, a mother who had given birth to a male child was considered unclean for seven days. After forty days, the mother was to 'bring to the temple a lamb for a holocaust and a young pigeon or turtle dove for sin'; if she was not able to offer a lamb, she was to take two turtle doves or two pigeons.  The priest prayed for her and so she was cleansed (Leviticus 12:2-8). Forty days after the birth of Christ, Mary complied with this precept and redeemed her first-born from the temple (Numbers 18:15). Our Redeemer was 'redeemed' by His mother in compliance with the law.

[22] And after the days of her purification, according to the law of Moses, were accomplished, they carried him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord: [23] As it is written in the law of the Lord: Every male opening the womb shall be called holy to the Lord: [24] And to offer a sacrifice, according as it is written in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons: [Luke 2]

[l1] redeemd/redeemer: to redeem- To ransom (a person) from slavery, captivity, or punishment; to save (a person's life) by paying a ransom.

[l2] selye: 'silly' - in Elizabethan/Jacobean usage can mean 'helpless, defenceless, powerless; frequently with the suggestion of innocence or undeserved suffering. Meagre, poor, trifling; of little significance, substance, or value; weak, feeble, frail; lacking strength, size, or endurance.'

[l2] payes: To construe this as a verb is attractive, as in 'pays a ransom', but sits ill with the syntax. If it is construed as a noun, the sense becomes 'ransom payment(s) (there being two doves). One contemporaneous citation would permit a singular construction of the noun: 1598   R. Barret Theorike & Pract. Mod. Warres iv. 117   Souldiers of great experience..should be aduantaged in their payes ('salary').

[l3] O ware...bought: The little baby Jesus is compared to 'ware' (see also l15) that is worthy of being redeemed by all the riches of the world's empires.

[l4] This easye rate... thy praise: this rate of paying two turtle doves is an easy rate that sounds (proclaims) rather than drowns (or conceals) His praise.

[l6] yea: Used to introduce a statement, phrase, or word, stronger or more emphatic than that immediately preceding: = ‘indeed’; ‘and more’. dew: 'due'. If thou (referring to the Lord) dost account a dove a fitting (due) price to pay in order to redeem the firstborn, then even more so would be love in the giver's heart.

[l7] Simeon: 
[25] And behold there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Ghost was in him.[26] And he had received an answer from the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Christ of the Lord. [27] And he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when his parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the law, [28] He also took him into his arms, and blessed God, and said: [29] Now thou dost dismiss thy servant, O Lord, according to thy word in peace; [30] Because my eyes have seen thy salvation, [31] Which thou hast prepared before the face of all peoples: [32] A light to the revelation of the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.[Luke 2]

[l8] the: thee, the holy infant Jesus. For a minuscule sum (cheap penyworth), Simeon obtained a sweet privilege of taking the Holy Infant in his arms.

[l9] thy smyling looks: It is commonly attested that babies smile for the first time  around six weeks after birth (ie, some 40 days!).

[l10] blissd: to bliss and/or to bless - to give joy or gladness to; to gladden, make happy. (In 16–17th centuries blended with bless.) Obsolete. The verb is used twice in this line: 'Thy love blissed his heart, thy kisses blissed his face.' In the first two verses, the poet is addressing Christ.

[l12] Base not yourselves: Following on from the exhortation to avoid 'meane sights and loves', 'base' seems to suggest 'Do not debase yourselves', mindful that you have found satisfaction in ensuring that your eyes and heart focus on what is good (best).

[l17] pelfe: Property, material possessions; objects of value. Obsolete. Chiefly depreciative. Money, riches. 1589   G. Puttenham Arte Eng. Poesie iii. xxii. 217   A misers mynde thou hast, thou hast a Princes pelfe. A lewd terme to be giuen to a Princes treasure. 'If God were to be bought, no worldly lucre would suffice; but thou, Mary, would be the fittest price (next to God Himself).