Catholicism and Poetry #2 Southwell

St Robert Southwell, SJ, martyr priest and poet is perhaps best known, as a poet, for his Christmas poems. These poems were set to music years ago, and below we have Sting's rocking version.

Southwell, in his poetry, relies quite a bit on elements of antithesis and paradox, as well as fanciful elements. His literary goal in that is to create more religious emotion or passion, a passion Sting plays so well with in his rock version.

Queen Elizabeth had passed a law that made it a capital offense for a Catholic priest to be in England longer than 40 days. Yet Southwell requested to become a missionary to England in 1586, the next year. After six years of visiting English Catholics in their homes and providing the sacraments he was arrested for his visits to the home of Richard Bellamy who was connected to Jerome Bellamy. Jerome had been executed for treason and his daughter had been arrested. Southwell, at trail, admitted to the facts pertaining to his priesthood, but denied plotting against the throne. His stated innocence of treason. Yet he was convicted, then hanged, drawn and quartered. He was beatified in 1929 and canonized in 1970.

The Burning Babe

As I in hoary winter's night stood shivering in the snow,
Surprised I was with sudden heat which made my heart to glow;
And lifting up a fearful eye to view what fire was near,
A pretty babe all burning bright did in the air appear;
Who, though scorched with excessive heat, such floods of tears did shed,
As though his floods should quench his flames, which with his tears were fed.
"Alas," quoth he, "but newly born, in fiery heats I fry,
Yet none approach to warm their hearts, or feel my fire but I!
My faultless breast the furnace is, the fuel wounding thorns,
Love is the fire, and sighs the smoke, the ashes shame and scorns;
The fuel justice layeth on, and mercy blows the coals,
The metal in this furnace wrought are men's defiled souls,
For which, as now on fire I am to work them to their good,
So will I melt into a bath to wash them in my blood."
With this he vanished out of sight and swiftly shrunk away,
And straight I called unto mind that it was Christmas Day.

Belong are references for further research on St. Southwell.

Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Southwell_(Jesuit)

More biography:

http://www.luminarium.org/renlit/southbio.htm

Poems:

http://shakespeareauthorship.com/xmas/soutwell.html

http://www.luminarium.org/renlit/southbib.htm

G.K. Chesterton Society

I went to a meeting of Seattle's G.K Chesterton Society last night, and heard Dr. David Whalen of
Hillsdale College give a talk on Cardinal John Henry Newman. The talk was given, appropriately, in the Catholic Newman Center, by University of Washington, where the society is currently holding it's talks.

You may ask why I write about Cardinal Newman in a blog about the arts, but if you know much about Newman it is quite understandable. Newman was an advocate of Catholic education and liberal arts studies, holding that we must study each discipline separately, then integrate them to a whole. He argued for Catholic Universities on the grounds that theology was a necessary part of the liberal arts.

The evening began with a brief reading from Chesterton that fit the nights topic, then Dr Whalen's talk. Dr. Whalen was articulate, funny, and personable. He teaches on literature and the Great Books and is quite well versed in Newman's writings. Afterward there was a social hour during which I pressed further a question, part of which Dr. Whalen had artfully dodged and caught up with several old friends from Seattle's Catholic community. I recommend all my readers folllow this link to the society and check out there upcoming events.

http://www.seattlechesterton.org/