St Robert Southwell : A short life
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| Fr Southwell. Engraving published 1608. Artist unknown. |
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 of the house to Richard Topcliffe, Queen Elizabeth's psychopathic poursuivant. He was taken to Topcliffe's private torture chamber to be interrogated under torture. He was later 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 did he reveal 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 XXX:
[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
Southwell was beatified in 1929 and canonized 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.
The Poem
The stanzas are accompanied by my revised annotations. The numbers in square brackets refer to the line numbers.
The following abbreviations may be used:
MEC : Middle English Compendium. See https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/middle-english-dictionaryOED : The Oxford English Dictionary. See https://www.oed.com/RS-AG : The Complete Poems of Robert Southwell. Rev Alexander B Grosart (1872)RS-DS : St Robert Southwell, Collected Poems. Edited by Peter Davidson and Anne Sweeney. Carcanet Press Ltd. (2007)
The first stanza
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| David in Prayer by Willem Vrelant.1460s. |
[Title] David’s Peccavi: 'peccavi' means 'I have sinned'. David, second king of Israel, fell into the sins of adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of Urias, her husband. His contrition was so sincere that God pardoned him. His example and his words as handed down in several Psalms have served as a model and inspiration for all penitents. The story is told in the Second Book of Kings. It needs a visit from the prophet Nathan to prick David’s conscience, but he offered the king hope in his contrition:
Et dixit David ad Nathan : Peccavi Domino. Dixitque Nathan ad David : Dominus quoque transtulit peccatum tuum : non morieris. [2 Kings xii 13]
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[2] Nor mourning Pelican in desert wilde
[3] Then sely I that solitary mone
[4] From highest hopes to hardest happ exild
[5] Sometime o blissfull tyme was vertues meede
[6] Ayme to my thoughtes guide to my word and deede.
[1] eaves: The edge of the roof of a building, or of the thatch of a stack, which overhangs the side.
1578 J. Lyly Euphues f. 30v The Swallow which in the Summer creepeth vnder the eues of euery house. OED.
[1] sole: Without companions; apart from or unaccompanied by another or others; alone, solitary. May be predicative or attributive, as in:
161 Bible (Douay) II. Baruch iv. 16 A wicked nation..which..have led away the beloved of the widow, and made the sole woman [L. unicam] desolate of children.
[1] sparowe: Sparrows are invariably found in busy little flocks, interacting with each other. A lone sparrow would accordingly be very miserable in his solitude, deprived of the presence of his fellows.
[2] pelican: A pelican is a water bird and would be miserable in the waterless desert, mourning the absence of his river or pond.
There may also be a reference here to the similes found in the fifth penitential psalm.
I am become like to a pelican of the wilderness: I am like a night raven in the house. I have watched, and am become as a sparrow all alone on the housetop. [Psalm ci 8-9]
The choice of the word sparrow, however, may point to a notion of hope in the midst of the David’s sorrow, for Our Lord Himself made reference to sparrows:
Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? [7] Yea, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: you are of more value than many sparrows. [Luke xii 6-7]
[3] Then: than
[3] sely: Deserving of pity or sympathy; pitiable, miserable, ‘poor’; helpless, defenceless.
1551 R. Robinson tr. T. More Vtopia sig. Rviii But thies seilie poore wretches be presently tormented with barreyne & vnfrutefull labour. OED.
[3] mone: intransitive. (a) To lament, grieve; utter moans; ~ for (of), bewail (sb. or sth.); ~ in minde, worry; (b) to mourn (sb.); regret (one's sinfulness), bewail; (c) refl. to complain, lament; be sorry; tell one's troubles; plead (for sth.); ~..bi, lament through (a spokesman); (d) to bother (sb.), worry. MEC.
a1500(?c1425) Spec.Sacer.(Add 36791)95/8 : Then sche be-gan for to ... mone and for to crye with as many voycis as there were spiritis with-yn hure. MEC.
[4] happ: A fortuitous event or occurrence; a chance, accident, happening; (often contextually) an unfortunate event, mishap, mischance. Cf. mishap.
1591 Troublesome Raigne Iohn i. sig. D3v ‘No redresse to salue our awkward haps.’ OED.
[5] meede: meed - In early use: something given in return for labour or service; wages, hire; recompense, reward, deserts; a gift. Later: a reward or prize given for excellence or achievement; a person's deserved share of (praise, honour, etc.). Now literary and arch.
1590 Spenser Faerie Queene i. ii. sig. B8 ‘A Rosy girlond was the victors meede.’ OED.
[6] ayme: aim - An object aimed at; a mark, a target.
1576 A. Fleming tr. Erasmus in Panoplie Epist. 345 I..make his [sc. God's] honour and praise the ayme whereat I leuell. OED.
Free interpretation of the first stanza:
"Just think how lonely the gregarious sparrow would be who found himself perched all alone in the eaves; or think how sad and mournful the aquatic pelican would be who found himself in a waterless wilderness; yet even these are not more lonely or mournful than I am, wretched and miserable, as I find myself fallen from highest hopes into a hard and lonely exile. There was once a time, oh what a time of bliss that was, when virtue's reward was the aim of my thoughts and the guide for my words and deeds."
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