Southwell: The Visitation

The Visitation. Tissot. Brooklyn Museum.

Proclaymed Queene and mother of a god
The light of earth the Soveraigne of Saints
With Pilgrimm foote upp tyring hils she trodd
And heavenly stile with handmayds toyle acquaints
Her youth to age her helth to sicke she lends
Her heart to god to neighbour hand she bendes.

A prince she is and mightier prince doth beare
Yet pompe of princely trayne she would not have
But doubtles heavenly quires attendant were
Her child from harme her selfe from fall to save
Word to the voyce songe to the tune she bringes
The voyce her Word, the tune her dittye sings

Eternall lightes enclosed in her breste
Shott out such percing beames of burning love
That when her voyce her Cosens eares possest
The force thereof did force her babe to move
With secret signes the children greete ech other
But open praise ech leaveth to his mother.

Notes

The Magnificat. Tissot

[l2] The light of earth the Soveraigne of Saints: This can in one sense refer to Mary who is the Stella Matutina and the Stella Maris - the Morning Star, the Star of the Sea: the 'light of the earth'. She is also honoured as a queen under various titles (thirteen in the Litany of Loreto), including Regina Omnium Sanctorum, Queen of All Saints. See also the use of 'soveraigne' in line 7 in Our Ladies Salutation'.The syntax supports a second sense whereby she is the 'mother of a god' and 'the light of the earth', Christ the 'light of the world'; and the mother of the 'Soveraigne of Saints', Christ the King.

[l3] upp tyring hils she trodd: Mary made a journey from Nazareth to a village in the hill country of Judah, Ain Karim, some 90 miles distant. Ain Karim means 'Spring of the Vineyard', an interesting name for the birthplace of John the Baptist who was to baptise Christ in the waters of the Jordan. There are many texts linking Christ to the 'vine': see, for instance:[5] I am the vine: you the branches: he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same beareth much fruit: for without me you can do nothing.[John XV]

[l4] And heavenly stile: this line makes reference to the heavenly and the earthly. The angel from Heaven speaks of miraculous, Heavenly things:

[31] Behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and shalt bring forth a son; and thou shalt call his name Jesus. [32] He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the most High; and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of David his father; and he shall reign in the house of Jacob for ever. [33] And of his kingdom there shall be no end. [34] And Mary said to the angel: How shall this be done, because I know not man? [35] And the angel answering, said to her: The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the most High shall overshadow thee. And therefore also the Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

[36] And behold thy cousin Elizabeth, she also hath conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month with her that is called barren: [37] Because no word shall be impossible with God. [Luke I]

The Blessed Virgin Mary, here in her earthly home in Nazareth, replies: Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to thy word. Pondering the Heavenly words in her heart, but mindful of earthly, practical concerns for her elderly kinswoman, Elizabeth, Mary journeys 'with haste' to offer help. She bends he heart to God, but to her neighbour (Elizabeth), she will lend a helping hand [l6]. This last line is a wonderful example by Mary of Jesus' answer to the scribe who asked which was the 'first commandment of all':

[29] And Jesus answered him: The first commandment of all is, Hear, O Israel: the Lord thy God is one God. [30] And thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind, and with thy whole strength. This is the first commandment. [31] And the second is like to it: Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is no other commandment greater than these.

[l5] sicke: either a sickness or a person suffering (here Elizabeth). Cf 1526   Bible (Tyndale) Matt. ix. f. xj   Then sayd he vnto the sicke of the palsey.

[l7] prince: Mary. Can be applied to a female sovereign in Elizabethan usage. See eg, 1581   W. Stafford Compend. Exam. Complaints (1876) i. 29   Yea, the Prince,..as she hath most of yearely Reuenewes,..so should shee haue most losse by this dearth.

l11-12] Word, voyce, songe, tune, dittye: these two lines are rich in imagery and meaning. There is clearly at one level a reference to Mary singing the Magnificat, the 'Canticle of Mary'. She voices her ideas through words that she sings. There is another possible reference:
'Word to the voyce...she bringes': Mary bears within her womb Jesus, the 'Word made flesh', and she has brought him to John who is in the womb of his mother Elizabeth and will later say that he is the 'voice of one crying in the wilderness'.
dittye: The words of a song, as distinguished from the music or tune. See eg, 1561   Iniunctions Bishop of Norwich sig. B.iii   'That the songe in the Churche be..so deuised and vsed that the ditte may plainly be vnderstand.'

[l14-15] eternall lightes...percing beames of burning love: Jesus, the 'light of the world', enables to see the truth and the way to Heaven:

[12] Again therefore, Jesus spoke to them, saying: I am the light of the world:
he that followeth me, walketh not in darkness, but shall have the light of life. [John  8, 12].

But the Divine fire that provides this light also enflames hearts. After the resurrection, two disciples met up with a stranger on their way to Emaus. And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded to them in all the scriptures, the things that were concerning him. They did not recognise him as Jesus until the breaking of bread in the evening, when their eyes were suddenly opened.

[32] And they said one to the other: Was not our heart burning within us, whilst he spoke in this way, and opened to us the scriptures? [Luke 24]

ll17-18] With secret signes... : Luke recounts the words uttered by Elizabeth and Mary. 'secret signes' can mean here a sign that is not outwardly visible, as in the coming of the Holy Ghost upon Elizabeth and her baby's dancing for joy in the womb.

And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: [42] And she cried out with a loud voice, and said: Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. [43] And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? [44] For behold as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy.[Luke 1]

The angel who visited Zachary in the temple to prophesy the birth of John included the following words: 

he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.[Luke 1, 15]

John was not free from original sin at the moment of his conception but was freed from sin while he was still in his mother's womb, when the little Lamb of God arrived, Himself also in a mother's womb. This is almost like a baptism by his cousin Christ.

There may also be a reference to the 'secret signs' necessary in Elizabethan England for people to avoid falling foul of the oppressive, anti-Catholic laws. In this scene, two cousins greet each other by 'secret signes'.  Did two other cousins, Fr Southwell and Shakespeare, use such signs?