Saint Peters Complaynte - by Robert Southwell

The Tears of Peter. After El Greco

How can I live that have my life deny'de
What can I hope that lost my hope in feare
What trust to one that trewth it self defyde
What good in him that did his god forsweare
O synne of synnes of evells the very worste [5]
O synfull wretch of synners most accurste

I vaunted erst though all his frendes had fayl'd
Alone with Christe all fortunes to have tr'de
And loe I craven first of all was quaild
Excellinge none but in Untrewth and pride [10]
Such distance is betwene high wordes and deedes
In proof the greatest vaunter seldome speedes

If tyrans bloody thretts had me dismay'd
Or smart of cruell torments made me yelde
There had bene some pretence to be afray'de [15]
I shoul have fought before I lost the feilde
But o infamous foyle a maydens breath
Did blowe me downe and blast my soule to death.

Was I to stay the Churche a Chosen rocke
That with so soft a gale was overthrowen [20]
Was I cheife pastour of the fa'thfull flocke
To guide their soules that murdred thus my owne
A rocke of ruyne not a reste to staye
A pastour not to feede but to betraye.

Could servile feare of rendering natures dewe [25]
Which grouth in yeres was shortly like to clayme
So thrall my love that I should thus eschewe
A vowed death and myself so faire an ayme
Dye, dye disloyal wretch thy life detest
For saving thyne throw hast forsworn the best [30]

Was life so deare and Christ become so base
I of so greate god of so small accounte
That Peter needs must followe Judas race
And all the jewels in Cruelty surmounte
Yet Judas deemed thirtye pence his price [35]
I worse then he for nought deny’d him thrice

Malchus. JJ Tissot. Brooklyn Museum

Where was the hart that did so little feare
The armed troupes that did him apprehended
Where was the sworde that stroke off Malchus eare
Where was the faith of Christie’s professed frende [40]
O Adams childe it was a selye Eve
That thee of faith and force did thus bereave

I once designed Judge to loose and bynde
Now pleade at mercyes barr as guilty thrall
Doves sonne was once to me for name assign'd [45]
My stony name now better sutes my fall
My othes were stones my cruell tonue the slynge
My god the marke at which my spite did flynge

Were all the Jewesh tyrannyes too fewe
To glutt thy hungry lookes with his disgrace [50]
That thow more malice then they all must shewe
And spitt thy poyson in thy makers face
Didst thowe to spare his foes putt up thy sworde
To brandish now thy tongue against thy lorde

Is this thy best deservinge maysters meede [55]
Is this the wage he earn’d with all toyle
And didn’t thow vow thy helped at every neede
Thus at the first encounter to recoyle
O impious tongue no tongue but vipers stinge
That could with cursing othes forswear thy kinge [60]

O tongue the first that did his godhedd sounde
How couldn’t thow utter such detestinge words
That every word was to his hart a wounde
And lawnced him deeper than a thowsand swordes
What Jewish race, yea what infernall sprite [65]
Could have disgorg’d against him greater spite

With mercy, Jesu, measure my offence,
Lett deepe remorse thy due revenge abate
Lett tears appease when trespas doth incense
Lett myldnes temper thy deserved hate [70]
Lett grace forgive lett love forgett my fall
With feare I crave with hope I humbly call

Notes

These 12 stanzas are a shorter and earlier version of a later 132 stanza version first printed in 1595. Peter's denial of Christ through fear would have a particular relevance and poignancy in sixteenth century England when a tyrannical regime, determined to eradicate Catholicism, was determined to use fear as a weapon against Catholics remaining faithful to their baptismal vows.


[Background in Scripture]: After the Last Supper, Jesus explains to His disciples:

[31] Then Jesus said to them: All you shall be scandalized in me this night. For it is written: I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be dispersed. [32] But after I shall be risen again, I will go before you into Galilee. [33] And Peter answering, said to him: Although all shall be scandalized in thee, I will never be scandalized. [34] Jesus said to him: Amen I say to thee, that in this night before the cock crow, thou wilt deny me thrice. [35] Peter saith to him: Yea, though I should die with thee, I will not deny thee. And in like manner said all the disciples. [Matthew 26]

After His agony in the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus was betrayed by Judas, His disciple, into the hands of His enemies.

[57] But they holding Jesus led him to Caiphas the high priest, where the scribes and the ancients were assembled. [58] And Peter followed him afar off, even to the court of the high priest. And going in, he sat with the servants, that he might see the end.[Matthew 26]

[69] But Peter sat without in the court: and there came to him a servant maid, saying: Thou also wast with Jesus the Galilean. [70] But he denied before them all, saying: I know not what thou sayest. [71] And as he went out of the gate, another maid saw him, and she saith to them that were there: This man also was with Jesus of Nazareth. [72] And again he denied with an oath, I know not the man. [73] And after a little while they came that stood by, and said to Peter: Surely thou also art one of them; for even thy speech doth discover thee. [74] Then he began to curse and to swear that he knew not the man. And immediately the cock crew. [75] And Peter remembered the word of Jesus which he had said: Before the cock crow, thou wilt deny me thrice. And going forth, he wept bitterly.[Matthew 26]

[l1] my life: Jesus, 'the way, the truth and the life' [John 14, 6].There may also be  reference to teh supernatural life of the soul: cf l18: '...blast my soule to deathe'.

[l7] vaunted: vaunt - To boast or brag; to use boastful, bragging, or vainglorious language.Fairly common c1600; now rare or Obsolete.

[l7] erst: Earliest, soonest, first in order of time.

[l9] loe: lo

[l9] quaild: quailed: To quail: Of courage, hope, faith, etc.: to fail, give way, become faint or feeble. Now rare.

[l12] speedes: to speed -  intransitive. Of persons: To succeed or prosper; to meet with success or good fortune; to attain one's purpose or desire. Now arch.

[l13] tyrans: tyrant's (or tyrants')

[l14] smart: Sharp, often intense, physical pain

[l17] foyle: Foil - A repulse, defeat in an onset or enterprise; a baffling check. arch. A disgrace, stigma. Obsolete. The cause of (one's) defeat or failure. Obsolete.

[l17] maydens breath: the words uttered by the maidservants as recounted by the evangelists (see eg Matthew 26, 69-71, cited above]

[l19] stay: v transitive. To support, sustain, hold up (a person or thing). 1590   Spenser Faerie Queene i. vi. sig. F4   And in his hand a Iacobs staffe, to stay His weary limbs vpon.


[l23] stay: n. A thing on which something else rests; a support or prop for holding or steadying something.

[l25] rendering natures dewe: rendering unto nature her due, ie dying.

[l26] grouth: growth.

[l27] thrall: arch. transitive. To bring into bondage or subjection; to deprive of liberty; to hold in thraldom, enthrall, enslave; to take or hold captive.

[l28] A vowed death: a reference to Peter's words:

[35] Peter saith to him: Yea, though I should die with thee, I will not deny thee.

[l32] accounte: With that-clause and to-infinitive. To calculate or reckon, to conclude. Obsolete.

[l37] hart: heart

[l39] Malchus: A reference to Peter's reaction when Christ's enemies sought to seize him inn the garden of Gethsemane:

[10] Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it, and struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his right ear. And the name of the servant was Malchus.[11] Jesus therefore said to Peter: Put up thy sword into the scabbard. The chalice which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it? 

[l41] a selye Eve: this is a reference to the maidservant whose questions frightened Peter. 'selye' means:  Insignificant, trifling; mean, poor; feeble. Often of the soul, as in danger of divine judgement.

[l43-48]: At Cesarea Philippi, Christ asked his disciples '..whom do you say that I am?' Peter replied and Christ's response provides a key to understanding this verse:

[16] Simon Peter answered and said: Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God. [17] And Jesus answering, said to him: Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona: because flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but my Father who is in heaven. [18] And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. [19] And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven. [Matthew 16]

[l44] thrall:  one whose liberty is forfeit; a captive. Peter stands condemned of cowardice in the face of the enemy, of lying, of betraying his friend and of treason against his Lord and King. Found guilty, he stands before the bar of the court and can only plead for mercy from his judge.

[l45] Doves sonne: see Matthew 16, 17 above: 'Simon Bar-Jona' means Simon son of Jonah; Jonah means 'dove' or 'pigeon'.

[l46] My stony name: At the beginning of Christ's public ministry, Andrew brought his brother Peter to meet the Messiah:

[42] And he brought him to Jesus. And Jesus looking upon him, said: Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is interpreted Peter. [John 1]

'Cephas' means 'rock' in Aramaic and becomes 'Peter' through Greek and Latin. The idea of a rock recalls the parable of the man who built his house on a rock:

[24] Every one therefore that heareth these my words, and doth them, shall be likened to a wise man that built his house upon a rock, [25] And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and they beat upon that house, and it fell not, for it was founded on a rock.[Matthew 7]

[l47] othes: oaths. Peter had sworn before Christ (effectively an oath before God) that he would not deny Him even if were to cost him his life. After denying Him three times, he began to curse and swear that he knew him not.

[l48] marke: A target, butt, or other object set up to be aimed at with a missile or projectile. Hence also: a person or animal targeted by an archer, spear-thrower, etc. Also in figurative contexts. 1535   Bible (Coverdale) Lament. iii. 12   He hath bent his bowe, and made me as it were a marck to shute at.

[l53] putt up thy sworde: See note to [l39] above.

[l55] maysters meede: master's reward

[l61] O tongue the first that did his godhedd sounde:  a reference to Peter's confession of faith at Cesarea Philippi:

[16] Simon Peter answered and said: Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God.[Matthew 16]

[l64] lawnced: lanced, speared.

[l65] sprite: spirit

[l69] trespas: A transgression; a breach of law or duty; an offence, sin, wrong; a fault.

[l69] incense: To inflame with wrath, excite or provoke to anger, make angry, enrage, exasperate. 1596 Spenser Second Pt. Faerie Queene v. iii. sig. O7v   Much was the knight incenst with his lewd word.