The burning Babe - by Robert Southwell

As I in hoary Winters night stoode shyveringe in the snowe
Surpris'd I was with sodayne heat, which made my heart to glowe
And lifting upp a fearefull eye to vewe what fire was nere
A pretty babe all burninge bright did in the ayre appeare
Who scorched with excessive heate such floodes of teares did shedd [5]
As though his floodes should quench his flames, which with his tears were fedd
Alas quoth he, but newly borne in fiery heates I frye
Yet none approach to warme their hartes or feele my fire but I!
My faultles brest the furnace is the fuell woundinge thornes
Love is the fire and sighs the smoke the ashes shame and scornes [10]
The fewell Justice layeth on, and Mercy blowes the coales,
The metall in this furnace wrought are mens defiled soules
For which as nowe on fire I am to worke them to their good
So will I melt into a bath to wash them in my bloode
With this he vanisht out of sight and swiftly shronke awaye [15]
And straight I called unto mind that it was Christmas daye.

Notes

AHB 2018

A mystery of love through suffering and sacrifice pervades this poem, with its powerful images of light, darkness, heat, cold, fire, water and blood.

It is possible to meditate upon 1) a general sense; 2) an historical sense; and 3) a personal sense. In the general sense, after their sin of disobedience, the 'poor banished children of Eve' find themselves in a world very different from the Paradise their first parents left. It is a cold, dark and accursed place. 

... cursed is the earth in thy work; with labour and toil shalt thou eat thereof all the days of thy life. [18] Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herbs of the earth. [19] In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread till thou return to the earth, out of which thou wast taken: for dust thou art, and into dust thou shalt return.[Genesis 3]

Note the references to thorns and thistles, signifying perhaps not only harsher conditions of living but also a world of sin, where the sins become the 'wounding thorns' of the poem (l9). God fulfils His promise in Genesis to send a New Eve and a New Adam, who will redeem mankind from the curse of sin and death. The Word is made flesh, a baby is born in Bethlehem. His love for mankind is so great that He will suffer torture, crucifixion and death to save sinners. He perspired drops of His blood and water in the garden of Gethsemane. He will shed every last drop of His blood on the cross. When his side is pierced with a lance, He will shed water.

Key

1) furnace                               1) heart
2) fire                                     2) on fire with love
3) wounding thornes (fuel)    3) sins
4) smoke                                4) sighs
5) ashes                                  5) shame & scornes
6) stoker                                 6) Justice
7) bellows                              7) Mercy
8) metal                                  8) defiled soules
9) bath                                    9) blood
10) water                                10) tears


The second sense calls to mind the historical context in which the poet found himself. Following the vast looting operation under the reigns of Henry VIII and his son Edward, who confiscated for themselves and their cronies the wealth of the Church held in trust for all their subjects, Elizabeth introduced a cruel regime of persecution against Catholics. She, who continued to claim the title granted by the Pope to her father of 'Fidei Defensor' (defender of the faith), viciously and persistently attacked that same Faith. In his poem Lepanto, Chesterton wrote of her, that while the very future of Christendom hangs in the balance, being menaced by the cruel and infidel Turks:

The cold queen of England is looking in the glass;

The persecution of Catholics under Elizabeth and her family may be likened unto that suffered by Israel in the Babylonian captivity. Indeed, Nabuchodonosor had attacked Jerusalem and had looted the Temple before carrying off the faithful Israelites and eventually trying to force them under pain of imprisonment, torture and death to take part in his false religion. This was just what Elizabeth and her ministers had done and were doing to the faithful Catholics. For a summary of her draconian Penal Laws, see the Catholic Encyclopedia.


In a personal sense, I too stood shivering in the cold, bleak world of my own iniquity.

[12] And because iniquity hath abounded, the charity of many shall grow cold. [Matthew 24]

Through the saving waters of Baptism, I was given a chance of coming to know, love and serve God in this world; and of being happy with Him forever in the next. I was granted the saving graces of the Sacraments. But I fell into iniquity again...and again... and again. Christ's inexhaustible love, however, is like a mighty furnace that will burn away my sins, if only I can become like a little infant and beg His forgiveness through true contrition; making use of the Sacraments He has instituted to help sinners obtain His pardon, absolution and penance through the ministers of His Church; and to help the unworthy to approach His Real Presence in Holy Communion.

The image of this great furnace cannot but recall to mind the glorious faith of the three children who refused to bow down before the demonic statue that King Nabuchodonosor had set up. There are many echoes in this poem of the words, sounds, images and meanings in the third chapter of the Book of Daniel which is well worth revisiting. The Song of the Three Children is part of Lauds in the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary and would have been very familiar in prayer or chant to many Catholics in the 16th century. Here is a poignant excerpt from the Song:

[66] O ye fire and heat, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever. [67] O ye cold and heat, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever. [68] O ye dews and hoar frosts, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever. [69] O ye frost and cold, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever. [70] O ye ice and snow, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever.[71] O ye nights and days, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever. [72] O ye light and darkness, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever. [Daniel 3]

In the New Testament,  St Luke recalls the testimony of two eye witnesses of the Risen Christ. They were on their way to Emmaus when they were joined by a stranger who explained the prophecies relating to the Messiah's life, death and resurrection. He later joined them for a meal in the village and they suddenly recognised him as Jesus during the breaking of bread. He left them and Luke recounts:

[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]