Southwell: Our ladyes Spousalls

Continuing with Robert Southwell's sequence of poems on the Blessed Virgin Mary and Christ, we now consider her 'spousalls' to Joseph.

By Tissot. (Brooklyn Museum)

Wife did she live yet Virgin did she die
Untowched of man, yet mother of a sonne
To save herself and childe from fatall lye
To end the webb whereof the thredd was spoone
In marriage knotts to Joseph she was tyde
Unwonted workes with wonted veyles to hide.

God lent his paradice to Josephs Care
Wherein he was to plante the tree of life
His sonne of Josephs child the title bare
Just cause to make the mother Josephs wife.
O blessed man betrothd to such a spouse
More blessd to live with such a childe in house.

No carnall love this sacred league procurde
All vaine delights were farre from their assent
Though both in wedlocke bandes themselves assurde
Yet streite by vow they seald their chaste intent.
Thus had she Virgins, wives, and widowes crowne
And by chast child-birth doubled her renowne.

Notes

Preliminary: The Joseph in the Gospels is known to all Christians as an example of chastity. It is interesting to note that his namesake, Joseph son of Jacob, also demonstrated the virtue of chastity.  When he was employed by Potiphar in Egypt, the latter's wife tried to seduce him. The story is recounted in Chapter 39 of Genesis:

[7] And after many days his (Potiphar's) mistress cast her eyes on Joseph, and said: Lie with me. [8] But he, in no wise consenting to that wicked act, said to her: Behold, my master hath delivered all things to me, and knoweth not what he hath in his own house: [9] Neither is there any thing which is not in my power, or that he hath not delivered to me, but thee, who art his wife: how then can I do this wicked thing, and sin against my God? [10] With such words as these day by day, both the woman was importunate with the young man, and he refused the adultery.

Potiphar's wife was so enraged by his rejection of her advances that she made a false accusation of rape against Joseph and he was thrown into prison.

St Joseph was of the City of David but was worked in Nazareth as a tekton (a carpenter according to St Justin, writing in the second century AD). St Thomas Aquinas suggests that Joseph was affianced to Mary at the time of the Annunciation and married her some time after.

[16] And Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ

[18] Now the generation of Christ was in this wise. When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child, of the Holy Ghost. [19] Whereupon Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing publicly to expose her, was minded to put her away privately. [20] But while he thought on these things, behold the angel of the Lord appeared to him in his sleep, saying: Joseph, son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife, for that which is conceived in her, is of the Holy Ghost. [21] And she shall bring forth a son: and thou shalt call his name JESUS. For he shall save his people from their sins. [22] Now all this was done that it might be fulfilled which the Lord spoke by the prophet, saying: [23] Behold a virgin shall be with child, and bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. [24] And Joseph rising up from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him, and took unto him his wife. [25] And he knew her not till [A Hebrew mode of speech connoting only what is done without any regard to the future] she brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.  [Matthew I]

[Title] spousalls: (n plural)The action of marrying someone, or of contracting to do so; the performance of a ceremony of marriage or (esp.) betrothal

Verse 1: Mary was seen to live the life of a wife and mother but remained ever a virgin up to the end of her earthly life, her dormition and her assumption into Heaven. She was untouched by any man in the sense of never having any congress, conjugal or otherwise. Though 'untouched of man', both men and women have been touched by her graces and intercessions as she spends her time in Heaven doing good on earth.

[l3] fatall: 'Producing or resulting in death, destruction, or irreversible ruin, material or immaterial; deadly, destructive, ruinous.' For the Blessed Virgin Mary, marriage to Joseph would prevent the dissemination of rumours ('lyes') that would ruin her good name and lead to dishonour for herself and also for her son.

[ll4] To end the webb ...spoone: 'spoone' is of course 'spun'. One possible image here is of a woman spinning wool or flax from a distaff into thread and twisting it onto a spindle. Such women were called 'spinsters' which came to mean an unmarried woman (with none of the pejorative connotations of modern English).

[l5] In marriage knotts ...tyde: To preserve their reputation and honour, Mary and Joseph would 'tie the knot'  of marriage, providing thereby a husband for Mary and a foster-father for Jesus.

[l6] Unwonted: Not wonted, usual, or habitual; not commonly heard, seen, practised, etc.; infrequent. Not wont to appear; rarely seen. Going beyond ordinary limits.The 'unwonted workes' are described by Gabriel in response to Mary's question: 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.

The 'wonted veyles' are the external appearances of the betrothal and marriage, modest coverings that veil the mystery of the conception. St John records in chapter VI of his gospel of the Jews:

[42] And they said: Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know?

[l7] his paradice: In one sense, God's paradice refers to Mary. The image, however, suggests a further idea. . God created a beautiful garden for Adam.  Eve began as part of Adam's body, being formed from it. She was created as his friend and to be a 'helper like himself', created both to dwell in God's presence in Paradise [Genesis 2 20]. Mary, the second Eve, also begins physically joined (in her womb) to the second Adam, Jesus who is her son and her God. God places this paradise in Joseph's care. In the first as in the second state, the formula may be written thus:

Adam + Eve + freedom from sin + the real presence of God = Paradise.

Is it too fanciful to meditate upon a third state for Christians in the Church Militant?

The soul + Mary + freedom from sin + the real presence in Holy Communion = Paradise.

[l8] ...the tree of life: God planted the tree of life in the midst of Paradise. It was a gift to our first parents who, by eating of the fruit of it, would have been preserved in a constant state of health, vigour, and strength, and would not have died at all. The second tree of life is Jesus, our Divine Saviour, who was born in Bethlehem, the house of bread, was laid in a manger (from a word meaning 'to eat': whence the ox and ass were able to eat) and was later to explain to astonished listeners:

[51] I am the living bread which came down from heaven. [52] If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever; and the bread that I will give, is my flesh, for the life of the world. [53] The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying: How can this man give us his flesh to eat? [54] Then Jesus said to them: Amen, amen I say unto you: Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you. [55] He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath everlasting life: and I will raise him up in the last day.[John VI]

The astonishment of His listeners persists even to this day, among those who even give a second thought to the matter. Who could ever have imagined that Jesus would offer Himself as the fruit of the tree of life to us in Holy Communion? Who could ever slide into an indifferent frame of mind when approaching the Blessed Sacrament?

l11-12] O blessed...More blessed:The first sense here is that Joseph was a man blessed to be betrothed to such a spouse as Mary but was even more blessed to live in a house in the presence of the child Jesus, the son of the living God.
A second sense comes from recollecting that Fr Southwell was writing for an audience living in a land which, from once proudly proclaiming itself Mary's dowry, had become a place where recusant Catholics following the faith of their fathers, were cruelly persecuted. The Act of Uniformity of 1558 first imposed fines on all non-attenders of the new church services. These recusants may have pondered sadly on the fact that, unlike their parents and grandparents, they no longer enjoyed the blessing of their own local church, with the real presence of Jesus in the tabernacle. They no longer had easy access to Mass, Holy Communion (see previous note) and the other sacraments. The message for such Catholics would be to unite themselves to Mary and to pray that, just as the child Jesus was present in Joseph's house, He might also be present in their house, which is to say in their hearts.

[l13] this sacred league: 'league' means a covenant, compact, alliance made between parties for their mutual protection and assistance against a common enemy, the prosecution or safeguarding of joint interests, and the like. In one sense, it refers here to the betrothal and marriage between Mary and Joseph. The expression 'sacred league' may also refer to the 'Holy League' formed in 1571 as a result of the efforts of Pope St Pius V to defend Christendom from conquest by the infidel Turks. The League secured a miraculous victory against the odds at the Battle of Lepanto on 7 October that same year. The date became the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.

[l16] streite: If taken adverbially, the meaning would be 'immediately, without delay'. If taken as an adjective, qualifying 'vow', the sense might include: : 'tightly drawn' (of bonds, a knot); 'close'  (of an embrace); 'rigorous, strict' (of a religious order, its rules, etc.); 'stringent, strict, allowing no evasion' (of a commandment, law, penalty, vow).

Southwell: Our ladies Nativitye

Joye in the risinge of our orient starr
That shall bringe forth the Sunne that lent her light
Joy in the peace that shall conclude our Warr
And soon rebate the edge of Satons spight
Load starr of all engolfd in worldly waves
The card and Compasse that from Shipwracke saves.

The patriacks and Prophetts were the flowres
Which time by course of ages did distill
And culld into this little cloude the showres
Whose gratious droppes the world with joy shall fill
Whose moysture suppleth every soule with grace
And bringeth life to Adams dyeing race.

For god on earth she is the royal throne
The chosen cloth to make his mortal weede
The quarry to cutt out our Corner stone
Soyle full of fruite yet free from mortall seed
For heavenly floure shee is the Jesse rodd
The childe of man the parent of s god.

Notes

[l1-2]orient starr...the Sunne that lent her light: the star rising in the east. Mary is the 'Stella Matutina,' the Morning Star, appearing after the dark night but always heralding the Sun. The star's place is in the high heaven. Mary's womb was a heaven where she welcomed her Son; and He has welcomed her into Heaven. 'Mary, like the stars, abides for ever, as lustrous now as she was on the day of her Assumption; as pure and perfect, when her Son comes to judgment, as she is now.' [Newman, Meditations and Devotions]

'It is Mary’s prerogative to be the Morning Star, which heralds in the sun. She does not shine for herself, or from herself, but she is the reflection of her and our Redeemer, and she glorifies Him. When she appears in the darkness, we know that He is close at hand.' [ibid]

'Stella maris', star of the sea, is the most popular interpretation of the name Mary (Miriam), and dates back to St. Jerome AD (340-420). In Isaiah 40:15, however, Jerome renders the word 'stilla maris' (drop of the sea), instead of  stella maris. Miriam occurs only once in the Old Testament, with reference to the name of Moses' sister. Some have concluded from this that it is of Egyptian origin, from the Egyptian mer or mar, 'to love', and the Hebrew Divine name Yam or Yahweh. Miriam then comes to mean 'one loving Yahweh' or 'one beloved of Yahweh'. Another fascinating suggestion is that Miriam derives not from a compound form but from a simple Hebrew noun meaning 'well-formed'. It would therefore be equivalent to 'the beautiful one'. For a fuller treatment of this subject, see 'The Name of Mary' in the New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia.

[l4] rebate: To reduce the effect or force of (a physical agent); to ward off or turn aside (a blow, stroke, etc.). To blunt a weapon; to dull the edge or point of a blade, etc.

Satons spight: Satan's spite. We are engaged in a 'warr' but we now through Mary have the hope of peace:

[12] For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood; but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places. [Ephesians 6]

[l5] Load starr: A star that shows the way; esp. the pole star. A ‘guiding star’; that on which one's attention or hopes are fixed. 'If the winds of temptation arise, if you are driven upon the rocks of tribulation, look to the star, call on Mary. If you are tossed upon the waves of pride, of ambition, of envy, of rivalry, look to the star, call on Mary. Should anger, or avarice, or fleshly desire violently assail the frail vessel of your soul, look at the star, call upon Mary.' Attributed to St Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153).


[l6] The card and Compasse: The mariner's compass consists essentially of three parts, the bowl or box, containing the card on which the 32 points of the compass are marked, and the needle'.

[l7] patriacks: patriarchs.

[l8] distill: here used with a different sense from line 4 of The Conception of oure Ladie (above). Here the sense is: To extract the essence of (a plant, etc.) by distillation; to obtain an extract of. Cf Shakespeare Midsummer Night's Dream i. i. 76   'Earthlyer happy is the rose distild, Then that, which, withering on the virgin thorne, Growes, liues, and dies, in single blessednesse.'

[l9] cull'd: Gathered, picked, plucked (flowers, fruits, etc.).

[l10] gratious: several possible layers of meaning: enjoying grace or favour; pleasing, acceptable to, popular with. Characterized by or exhibiting kindness, courtesy, or generosity of spirit; courteous, considerate, generous. Of a person or thing: characterized by, conveying, or filled with divine grace;


[l11] suppleth: supplieth.

[l14] weede:  An article of apparel; a garment.

[l15] our Corner stone: Christ.

[22] The stone which the builders rejected; the same is become the head of the corner. [Psalm 117, the Psalmist foretelling the coming of Christ]

[l16] Soyle...free from mortall seed: the soyle here is Mary's womb; the blessed fruit of her womb is  Jesus. Mary herself asked Gabriel how she could become a mother without the human (mortal) seed of a husband.

[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. [Luke 1]

[l17] the Jesse rod: this is a reference to one of the prophecies of Isaiah foretelling the coming of the Messiah, some 700 years before Christ:

[1] And there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up out of his root. [Isaiah 11]

Jesse was the father of eight sons. The youngest was born in Bethlehem and was to become the King of Israel. Christ came from this royal line and was born in Bethlehem. 'rod' means here a straight, slender shoot or branch, growing on or cut from a tree or bush; by extension an offshoot, a scion. 'Rod' apparently derives from the same root as 'rood', meaning 'cross' (as in the 'rood screen' in Christian churches). The flower that rises up out of Jesse's root is Mary, the 'heavenly floure.'

Southwell: The Conception of our Ladie

Our second Eve putts on her mortall shrowde
Earth breedes a heaven for gods new dwelling place
Now ryseth up Elias little cloude
That growing shall distill the shoure of grace
Her being now begins who ere she ende
Shall bringe the good that shall our evill amende.

Both grace and nature did their force unite
To make this babe the summe of all their best
Our most her lest, our million but her mite
She was at easyest rate worth all the reste
What grace to men or Angells god did part
Was all united in this infants hart.

Fower only wightes bredd without fault sre nam'd
And all the rest conceived were in synne
Without both man and wife was Adam fram'd
Of man but not of wife did Eve beginne.
Wife without touch of man Christ's mother was
Of man and wife this babe was bred in grace.

Notes

[l1] Our second Eve: The parallels and contrasts between the first Eve and Mary, the 'second Eve', have been the subject of commentaries from the earliest times of Christianity. One of the first examples comes from St  Justin Martyr, born about AD 100 and converted to Christianity about A.D. 130. He taught and defended the Christian religion in Asia Minor and at Rome, where he suffered martyrdom about the year 165. Two 'Apologies' bearing his name and his "Dialogue with the Jew Tryphon" have come down to us. Here is an excerpt from his Dialogue:

He (Christ) became man by the Virgin, in order that the disobedience which proceeded from the serpent might receive its destruction in the same manner in which it derived its origin. For Eve, who was a virgin and undefiled, having conceived the word of the serpent, brought forth disobedience and death. But the Virgin Mary received faith and joy, when the angel Gabriel announced the good tidings to her that the Spirit of the Lord would come upon her, and the power of the Highest would overshadow her: wherefore also the Holy Thing begotten of her is the Son of God; and she replied, 'Be it unto me according to thy word.' And by her has He been born, to whom we have proved so many Scriptures refer, and by whom God destroys both the serpent and those angels and men who are like him; but works deliverance from death to those who repent of their wickedness and believe upon Him. [Chapter C]

[l1] mortall shrowde: words with connotations for the modern mind of death, winding sheets, funerals etc. 'shrowde' had a broader meaning in Elizabethan English of a 'covering' (preserved today when used in expressions such as 'shrouded in mystery'). Her 'being now begins' when God creates her soul and her body, the latter 'covering' or 'clothing' the former. 'Mortall' perhaps means 'human' rather than destined to die, because although Mary was human she never died, being free from the mortality that was one of the consequences of Eve's sin of disobedience.

[l2] Earth breedes a heaven...: A creature, Mary, provides in her womb a dwelling place for her Creator. A human being, in the order of nature, provides a home in her flesh for a supernatural being, God the Son. Mary, a woman bred of earthly parents but conceived without sin, will provide an immaculate dwelling place, a heavenly home for her Son.

[l3-4] Elias little cloud/distill the shoure of grace: This is a reference to Chapter 18 of the Third Book of Kings (1 Kings). Achab, King of Israel, had married Jezabel and together they had promoted the worship of the demon Baal throughout the land. The Lord God punished this idolatry with a drought. Elias, a prophet of the lord, challenged the priests of Baal to a trial by fire on Mount Carmel. The idolaters were unable to call down fire from their demon but Elias' prayer to the one, true God was answered.  The priests of the demon Baal were all slain and Elias told Achab that rain would come. Eventually, Elias servant reported that a little cloud had appeared in the cloudless sky, coming from the direction of the sea and shaped like a foot. The cloud grew and the rain they had prayed for
arrived,  showered down upon the people of Israel to save them from death and suffering through the hunger and thirst caused by the drought.

Mary appears amidst a humanity suffering from the terrible consequences of the sin committed by their first parents. People were hungry and thirsty for faith, hope and love in a world dominated by Satan and his minions.  many of them praying for the coming of the reign of the promised Messiah.   Small in her humility, like a little cloud, she is to become a conduit through which the reign arrives and  divine grace will be showered upon a suffering mankind.

The little cloud shaped like a foot recalls the following prophecy in Genesis:

[14] And the Lord God said to the serpent: Because thou hast done this thing, thou art cursed among all cattle, and beasts of the earth: upon thy breast shalt thou go, and earth shalt thou eat all the days of thy life. [15] I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel. [Genesis 3]

The 'woman' is Mary; the serpent's seed are his human minions;* 'her seed' is the Messiah, Jesus; Christian art traditionally shows Our Lady crushing the head of a serpent beneath her feet.

*[44] You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and he stood not in the truth; because truth is not in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father thereof. [John 8]

According to a tradition of the Carmelite Order, a group of holy men formed a religious community on Mount Carmel during the lifetime of Elias, leading strict lives of fasting, penance and prayer. Their descendants were rescued by the Crusaders from the Saracen Muslims sweeping across the Holy Land. These refugees from persecution formed the first Carmelite community in England. See the Flos Carmeli tab for more details due to be published shortly.

[l9] her lest...her mite: her lest = her least. 'mite': a. Any small coin of low value; originally applied to a Flemish copper coin, but in English used mainly as a proverbial expression for an extremely small unit of monetary value. b. In proverbial phrases (esp. based on Biblical reference), as the type of a small or insignificant amount.

Mary is the 'summe' of all that is best in grace and nature (l8). In one sense, therefore, she is the summit or high-point. As a representative of mankind fallen low after Adam's sin, she is the highest, in other words 'our most'. Mary, having perfect humility, in her own eyes regards herself as the least.

My soul doth magnify the Lord. [47] And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. [48] Because he hath regarded the humility of his handmaid; for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. [49] Because he that is mighty, hath done great things to me; and holy is his name.[Luke I]

In another sense, Mary is the 'sum' resulting from the 'addition' of all that's best in grace and nature. This 'sum' would naturally be regarded by us as a huge figure or quantity: 'our best', 'our million'. Mary, however, magnifies the Lord not herself and contemplates the might of He that is mighty and the great things that He has done for her, despite her unworthiness and lowliness. He must increase, but I must decrease, says John the Baptist (John 3:30). Our Lord Himself says to us: Amen I say to you, unless you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. [4] Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, he is the greater in the kingdom of heaven. [Matthew 18]. St Therese of Lisieux, the 'little flower',  placed this at the heart of her little life in Carmel.

[l1]: fower: four.
[ll 13-18]: wight: a human being, man, woman or person.  wife: historically, 'wife' could mean simply a woman or a married woman considered in relation to her spouse.

This verse refers to the only four people named in all human history who were not conceived in sin, ie who were sinless from the instant of their conception (or coming into being).

• Adam: specially created by God with no human parents, male or female.
• Eve: created by God from a man (Adam) and having in a certain sense a male parentage  but with no female parentage.
• Mary: 'of man and wife this babe was bred in grace'. Mary's parents were St Anne and St Joachim, names coming through unbroken tradition from Apostolic times. 'bred 'in grace' means that Mary was from the first instant of her conception in her mother's womb free from all sin. This is what is meant by her 'immaculate conception'. For more details, see Ineffabilis Deus, 1854.
• Jesus: 'Wife without touch of man Christ's mother was'. Jesus' father is God the Father; He was conceived by the Holy Ghost; He was born of the Virgin Mary, His mother.

Southwell: tantalising links to Shakespeare

My starting point in this endeavour was a slim volume entitled St Robert Southwell, Collected Poems (Manchester: Fyfield books. 2007. Edited by Peter Davidson and Anne Sweeney). I had purchased this book without ever really reading any of the material apart from the famous poem: 'The burning Babe'. I began with Part I on page 1 with text under the heading '[Epistle]'.

Poetes by abusing their talent, and making the follies and feynings of love the customary subject of their base endeavours, have so discredited this faculty that a Poett a lover and a lyer, are by many reckoned but three words of one significacon.

[Source: 'Waldegrave Manuscript, Stonyhurst MS A,v.27)

Apart from guiltily recognising a feature of many of my own early 'base endeavours' in verse, I was immediately and forcefully struck by his linking of a 'Poett a lover and a lyer'. These words took me straight back to my role as a teenage Oberon in Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' (1595-96) which formed a 'set book' for my 'O' Level exam in English Literature in 1969.

The lunatic, the lover and the poet
Are of imagination all compact:
One sees more devils than vast hell can hold,
That is, the madman: the lover, all as frantic,
Sees Helen's beauty in a brow of Egypt:
The poet's eye, in fine frenzy rolling,
Doth glance from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven;
And as imagination bodies forth
The forms of things unknown, the poet's pen
Turns them to shapes and gives to airy nothing
A local habitation and a name.

[Theseus, in Act V Scene 1] 

Shakespeare's reference to the 'lunatic, the lover and the poet' seems uncannily close to RS's 'a Poett a lover and a lyer'. Was this simply a coincidence? Merely a case of two sixteenth century poets thinking alike? Or were they influenced by a common source? Or did one poet borrow from the other? Thence to an obvious question: did the poets actually know each other?

Regarding the last question, I have discovered some tantalising links between RS and Shakespeare (WS).

Courtesy of Sylvia Morris. See link on right.

Sylvia Morris maintains a fascinating blog on William Shakespeare and has herself written about links between RS and WS. She notes that the text of the Epistle I quote above ('Poetes by abusing their talent...'), although circulating in manuscript before RS's death in 1595, was actually published in 1616 with the addition of the words: 'To my worthy good cosen Maister W. S. Worthy Cosen'.

Is 'W.S.' a reference to William Shakesepeare? If not, who was 'W.S.'? Who decided to add the details of the addressee? Why?

WS died in 1616, was it judged then safe to include a reference to his name? Was this because WS was a recusant Catholic?

Joseph Pearce presents a very strong case in favour of WS's catholicism. See:


The Quest for Shakespeare: The Bard of Avon and the Church of Rome. San Francisco: Ignatius Press. 2008.
Through Shakespeare's Eyes: Seeing the Catholic Presence in the Plays. San Francisco: Ignatius Press. 2010.

For a summary of the evidence Pearce adduces to support his claim, see: The Catholicism of William Shakespeare.

Pearce is also convinced that RS and WS knew each other. His evidence includes the following:

• In London, WS enjoyed the patronage of the Earl of Southampton, a known Catholic who seems to have had RS as his confessor.
• In his poem Decease Release, RS wrote about the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots. Many believed she was a martyr for the Catholic faith.  RS likens her unto 'pounded spice': 'God's spice I was and pounding was my due.' In King Lear (1605), the title character's use of the phrase 'God's spies' may be a play on the words 'God's spice.'  It may also be a coded reference to Jesuits, such as Southwell, who were  'God's spies' under the heretic and repressive  Elizabethan and Jacobean regime. God's spies became themselves 'God's spice,' pounded to death so as to gain their martyr's reward in heaven.
• Romeo and Juliet and The Merchant of Venice were written in the same year RS was martyred (1595). In the latter play, for instance, it has been suggested that Antonio is a thinly-veiled personification of a Jesuit.  This would add deeper meaning to the courtroom scene which recreates Southwell's own trial. Shylock demands that, according to the law, he has a right his pound of flesh, taken from nearest to the heart of Antonio.  In the show trial of RS, the law demanded that he should be hanged, drawn and quartered, with his heart being riipped from his body whilst still alive. Portia's speech on the 'quality of mercy' becomes a plea to Queen Elizabeth to show this same mercy toCatholics loyal to the faith of their fathers and families.
• Pearce argues that the text referred to above proves WS and RS knew each other: 'To my worthy good cosen Maister W. S. Worthy Cosen'.
• He also refers to the argument that Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lecrece  were influenced by RS and may well represent an attempt to deal with a grave matter, even if presented under a different guise. Some commentators interpret Venus and Adonis as a reference to Elizabeth (Venus), Burghley (the boar who kills Adonis) and Southwell or any martyred Catholic (as Adonis).

Michael Woods in In Search of Shakespeare (2005) refers to other links in the plays and cites WS's reference to a 'naked new-born babe' in Act 1 Scene 7 of  Macbeth (?1599-1606):

And Pity, like a naked new-born babe,
Striding the blast, or heaven’s Cherubins, hors’d
Upon the sightless couriers of the air,
Shall blow the horrid deed in every eye,
That tears shall drown the wind.

He compares this imagery to that in RS's most famous poem, the Burning Babe:

A pretty babe all burninge bright did in the ayre appeare
Who scorched with excessive heat, such floodes of teares did shedd,
As though his floodes should quench his flames, which with his teares were fedd.

Another point of comparison is this excerpt from RS's New heaven, new warre

With teares he fightes and wynnes the feild
His naked breste stands for a Sheilde
His battering shot are babishe cryes
His Arrowes lookes of weeping eyes
His Martiall ensignes cold and neede
And feeble fleshe his warriers steede.

'These few dittyes'

RS goes on to explain in his Epistle to WS that, despite the its abuse by some poets, the art of verse is good and its use allowable in matters of devotion. Many parts of scripture are in verse and Christ Himself made a hymn the conclusion of his last Supper. The Church has provided a pattern to all men to know the 'trew use of this measured and footed style'. He prays that his 'course thridds' (coarse threads, rough and ready verse) may show how well 'Verse and Vertue suite together'.

Th Epistle closes with some intriguing word-play:

In the meane tyme with many good wishes I sende you these few dittyes(,) add yowe the tunes and let the meane* I pray yowe be still a part in all your Musicke.

*meane [ mean, mene] (from Old Fr. moien , or meien : ‘middle’ ) English term referring originally to the middle part of a three-voice polyphonic texture. English usage was complicated because even in the late 16th century ...an alto part might also be called a meane, a contra, a counter or a Countertenor. [From Oxford Music online]

'add yowe the tunes' / 'all your Musicke': is RS to be understood literally here, as referring to a composer who will set his verse to music sung in parts? Or metaphorically, as referring to a poet who will take RS's 'course thridds' and 'goe forward in the same or to beginne some fyner peece'?

Saint Robert Southwell: Poet, Priest and Martyr

It is the sweetest note that man can singe
When grace in Vertews keye tunes natures stringe

The two lines above come from the final couplet of ‘To the Reader’, the first poem in one of the major manuscripts of his work (the ‘Waldegrave’ Manuscript).  It seems to strike the right note for both the content and the tone of Robert Southwell's character, life and poetry. I have created a new page to commemorate Southwell's remarkable life and poetry: select the tab above or click here:  St Robert Southwell.

A short life

Fr Southwell. Engraving published 1608. Artist unknown.

Born in Horsham, Norfolk, England, in 1561; hanged at Tyburn, 21 February, 1595, aged 33 years.

His grandfather, Sir Richard Southwell, had been a wealthy and prominent courtier during the reign of Henry VIII. In 1547, Sir Richard played a part in bringing the Catholic poet Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, to the executioner's block. Their respective grandsons, Father Southwell and Philip, Earl of Arundel, were to be close friends and both suffered for their shared Catholic Faith.

Robert Southwell was brought up a Catholic and was educated at Douai. He was ordained a Jesuit priest in 1584 and in 1586 he agreed to accompany Father Henry Garnett and returned to England, in the full knowledge of the risks priests faced of arrest, torture and execution.. Two years later, he became chaplain to the Countess of Arundel and established relations with her imprisoned husband, Philip, Earl of Arundel, the ancestor of the present Duke of Norfolk.

He spent six years in successful missionary work. During this time, he worked secretly in London, or travelled under various disguises from one Catholic house to another. He had a very gentle manner and was never accused of taking part either in political agitation or in religious controversial.

In 1592 Father Southwell was arrested at Uxendon Hall, Harrow. He was betrayed by a woman that who had been raped by Richard Topcliffe, Queen Elizabeth's psychopathic poursuivant. She had become pregnant and Topcliffe promised to find her a husband if she would only help to find Fr Southwell. He was tortured numerous times, starting with a visit to Topcliffe's private torture chamber.
He was moved to the Tower of London where Queen Elizabeth allowed Topcliffe to continue torturing him. He had readily admitted his priesthood but at no stage revealed any information that could put at risk other priests or secret Catholic supporters. He was condemned at his trial on February 20 1595 to be hanged, drawn and quartered. The government did not even try to implicate him in any plot against the Queen or government. He was executed just because he was a Catholic priest.

He was taken to Tyburn to be executed on February 21st.  His last words come from Psalm 30:

[6] In manus tuas commendo spiritum meum; redemisti me, Domine Deus veritatis.

[6] Into thy hands I commend my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O Lord, the God of truth

Some onlookers pulled down on his legs during his hanging to make sure he was dead before the next stage of the grisly process began, the ripping out of his bowels and heart. When his severed head was finally displayed to the crowd, there were no cheers..

Southwell was beatified in 1929 and canonised in 1970.

In addition to being a great saint and steadfast martyr, he is regarded as one of the great poets of the Elizabethan Age. Much of his poetry was written while he was held in solitary confinement in the Tower of London and was published posthumously.

Saint Francis of Assisi

Yesterday was the feast of Saint Francis, whose name I chose for my Confirmation.

Here is a thought-provoking image from a slightly time-worn prayer card given to one of my children in the 1980s.

His little brothers, the birds, listened so devoutly to his sermon by the roadside near Bevagna that Francis reproached himself for not having thought of preaching to them before.

Ste Thérèse of Lisieux

Today is the feast of Ste Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face, the Little Flower of Carmel, Doctor of the Universal Church.

"I  have  never  given  the  Good  God  aught  but  love;  it  is  with  Love He will repay. AFTER MY DEATH I WILL LET FALL A SHOWER OF ROSES."

"I  feel  that  my  mission  is  soon  to  begin—my  mission  to  make  others  love God as I love Him . . . to each souls my little way.  I WILL SPEND MY HEAVEN IN DOING GOOD UPON EARTH."

Click here to see the last photo taken of the saint as well as two beautiful images of her in death.

Last year, I wrote a review of the 'Story of a Soul', an autobiography in her own words and poems. I used my own beautifully illustrated French edition of this work. Please see: 

The Autobiography of St Therese of Lisieux





Ste Thérèse, if it be God's will, I pray that you may intercede in favour of this little corner of Carmel, as you have in so many other ways.