Fourth Stanza
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| David in Prayer by Willem Vrelant.1460s |
[19] If wiles of witt had overwrought my will,
[20] Or sutle traynes misledd my steppes awrye
[21] My foyle had founde excuse in want of skill,
[22] Ill deede I might though not ill dome denye.
[23] But witt and will muste nowe confesse with shame,
[24] Both deede and dome to have deserved blame.
Notes
[19] wiles: from wile, A crafty, cunning, or deceitful trick; a sly, insidious, or underhand artifice; a stratagem, ruse. Formerly sometimes in somewhat wider sense: A piece of deception, a deceit, a delusion. Chiefly plural. [OED]
a1616 W. Shakespeare Comedy of Errors (1623) iv. iii. 10 Sure these are but imaginarie wiles, And lapland Sorcerers inhabite here. [OED]
[19] witt: The faculty of thinking and reasoning in general; mental capacity, understanding, intellect, reason. arch.
1600 Shakespeare Midsummer Night's Dream iv. i. 203 I haue had a dreame, past the wit of man, to say; what dreame it was. [OED]
According to traditional Catholic teaching, the soul has three powers: the memory, the understanding and the will. The understanding is the intellectual or rational faculty and is higher than the will or affective faculty which expresses itself in a desire for a particular object.
[19] overwrought: from to overwork: transitive. To influence or win over; To cause to work too hard; To make overexcited, distraught, or nervous; to agitate excessively.
1645 J. Milton Colasterion 19 By overworking the settl'd mudd of his fancy, to make him drunk, and disgorge his vileness the more openly.1816 Ld. Byron Childe Harold: Canto III vii. 6 Till my brain became, In its own eddy boiling and o'erwrought, A whirling gulf of phantasy and flame. [OED]
[20] sutle: subtle : Of a person or animal: crafty, cunning, esp. in a deceitful or treacherous way; sly, wily; devious, underhand. Working imperceptibly or secretly; insidious.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Gen. iii. A The serpent was sotyller then all the beastes of the felde.
a1568 R. Ascham Scholemaster (1570) i. f. 15v The sotle inticement of som lewd seruant. [OED]
[20] traynes: train - Treachery, guile, deceit, trickery; prevarication. An act or scheme designed to deceive or entrap, a trick, stratagem, artifice, wile. Also: a lie, a false story. A trap or snare for catching wild animals. Also in figurative contexts. Now rare (arch. and poet. in later use).
1590 Spenser Faerie Queene i. vi. sig. F5 Thou cursed Miscreaunt, That hast with knightlesse guile and trecherous train Faire knighthood fowly shamed. [OED]
[21] foyle: A repulse, defeat in an onset or enterprise; A disgrace, stigma.
1573 G. Harvey Let.-bk. (1884) 13 Considering what a foul shame and foil it had alreddi bene unto me. [OED]
[21] skill: Knowledge or understanding of something. Now archaic.
1587 Sir P. Sidney & A. Golding tr. P. de Mornay Trewnesse Christian Relig. xxvii. 495 If thou eate of the tree of the skill of good and euill. [OED]
[22] Ill: Morally evil; wicked, iniquitous, depraved, vicious, immoral, blameworthy, reprehensible.
1548 Hall's Vnion: Richard III f. xxixv To amende and chaung his yll life.
[22] dome: Personal or private judgement, opinion. The faculty of judging; judgement, discrimination, discernment. Obsolete.
1596 E. Spenser Second Pt. Faerie Queene iv. x. sig. K The which did seeme vnto my simple doome, The onely pleasant and delightfull place. [OED]
Paraphrase of the fourth stanza
“If it were just the case that mental delusions had overexcited my will, or that insidious allurements had led me astray, then I might have been able to offer a lack of judgement as an excuse for my moral failure. I could then deny the charge of committing an evil act and plead guilty to poor judgement. But when I sincerely consider the thoughts in my mind and the desires of my will, I am shamed into confessing that I am guilty in both thought and deed.”
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam
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