When traytor to the Sonne, in Mothers eyes,
I shall present my humble sute for grace,
What blush can paint the shame that will arise,
Or write my inward feelings on my face? [l580]
Might she the sorrow with the sinner see,
Though I despisde: my grief might pittyed bee.
But ah, how can her eares my speech endure,
Or sent my breath still reeking hellish steam:
Can Mother like what did the sonne abjure, [l585]
Or heart deflowr'd a virgins love redeeme?
The Mother nothing loves that Sonne doth loth,
Ah! lothsome wretch detested of them both.
O sister Nymphes the sweet renowned payre,
That blesse Bethania bounds with your aboade: [l590]
Shall I infect that sanctified ayre,
Or staine those steps where Jesus breath'd and trode?
No: let your prayers perfume that sweetned place:
Turne me with Tygers to the wildest chase.
Could I revived Lazarus behold, [l595]
The thyrd of that sweet Trinitie of Saints,
Would not astonisht dread my sences holde?
Ah yes, my hart even with his naming faints;
I seeme to see a messenger from hell,
That my prepared torments comes to tell. [l600]
O John, o James, we made a triple corde,
Of three most loving and best loved friends:
My rotten twist was broken with a word,
Fit now to fuell fire among the fiends;
It is not ever true, though often spoken, [l605]
That triple twisted corde is hardly broken.
The devils dispossess'd, that out I threw
In Jesus' name, now impiously forsworn,
Triumph to see me caged in their mew,
Trampling my ruins with contempt and scorn.[l610]
My perjuries were music to their dance,
And now they heap disdain on my mischance.
Notes
[l581] sute: suit.
[l584] sent: scent. Mary continues as the subject: How can Mary render fragrant my breath still reeking of Hellish fumes?
[l589] sister Nymphes: a reference Mary and her sister Martha, who together with their brother Lazarus are represented by St. John as living at Bethania. St. Luke would seem to imply that they were, at least at one time, living in Galilee; he does not mention the name of the town, but it may have been Magdala. This would explain why Mary of Bethania and Mary Magdalene are the same person.
[l506] that sweete Trinitie of Saints: Mary, Martha and Lazarus.
[l601] a triple corde: Peter, James and John, who feature, for example, with Christ at His Transfiguration and areinvited by Him to watch and pray with Him during His Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane. cord: A string composed of several strands twisted or woven together; in ordinary popular use, now restricted to small ropes, and thick or stout strings; but formerly applied more widely, e.g. to the ropes of a ship, the string of a bow, etc.
[l606] triple twisted corde is hardly broken:
[11] And if two lie together, they shall warm one another: how shall one alone be warmed? [12] And if a man prevail against one, two shall withstand him: a threefold cord is not easily broken. [Ecclesiastes 4][l609] mew: A place of confinement; a cage, a prison. Also fig. Obsolete. < Anglo-Norman mue, muwe and Middle French mue act of shedding feathers, cage for moulting bird, prison (all 12th cent. in Old French)
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