👈The Tears of St Peter -1587 until 1596
El Greco (Domḗnikos Theotokópoulos) 1541-1614
Museo Soumaya at Plaza Carso, Mexico.
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Vaine in my vaunts, I vowd, if friends had fail'd,
Alone Christ's hardest fortunes to abide:
Giant in talke, like dwarfe in triall quaild:
Excelling none, but in vntruth and pride.
Such distance is betweene high words and deeds: [65]
In proofe, the greatest vaunter seldome speeds.
In my foolish and conceited pride, I vowed that if the disciples’ hearts should fail, I would face the hardest of Christ’s trials on my own. When it came to talking, I was like a giant; but when put to the test, I felt very small and my courage failed. I was actually better than nobody, except when it came to pride and telling untruths; such is the big difference between high-sounding words and putting those words into action. This is proved by observation: the greatest braggart rarely turns his boasts into deeds.
61-62. Note Peter’s words in the following exchanges:
Simon Peter saith to him: Lord, whither goest thou? Jesus answered: Whither I go, thou canst not follow me now; but thou shalt follow hereafter. Peter saith to him: Why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thee. Jesus answered him: Wilt thou lay down thy life for me? Amen, amen I say to thee, the cock shall not crow, till thou deny me thrice. [John xiii. 36-38]
Then Jesus said to them: All you shall be scandalized in me this night. For it is written: I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be dispersed. But after I shall be risen again, I will go before you into Galilee. And Peter answering, said to him: Although all shall be scandalized in thee, I will never be scandalized. Jesus said to him: Amen I say to thee, that in this night before the cock crow, thou wilt deny me thrice. Peter saith to him: Yea, though I should die with thee, I will not deny thee. And in like manner said all the disciples [Matt. xxvi. 31-35]
vaine. Of persons: devoid of sense or wisdom; foolish, silly, thoughtless; vide 1569 R. Grafton Chron. II. 106 Diuerse vaine persons bruted dayly among the Commons of the realme, that Christ had twise apered vnto him.
vaunts. Vaunt. Boasting, bragging; boastful or vainglorious language or utterance; arrogant assertion or bearing. Vide 1596 E. Spenser Second Pt. Faerie Queene vi. iv. sig. Cc5 A great Gyant..Whom he did ouerthrow..And in three battailes did so deadly daunt, That he dare not returne for all his daily vaunt.
62. fortunes. A chance, hap, accident; an event or incident befalling any one, an adventure. A mishap, disaster. c1500 Three Kings' Sons (E.E.T.S.) 67 It was tyme nowe to leue of alle sorowe & lamentacion for any fortune that was befalle.
abide. To await defiantly; to encounter, withstand, or sustain; to face, esp. in combat. To experience or undergo; to endure, suffer, bear. Vide 1588 A. King tr. P. Canisius Cathechisme or Schort Instr. 125 Christ our lord..abaid ye schame of ye croce.
63. triall. Trial: The fact or condition of being tried by suffering or temptation; probation. Vide a1557 J. Cheke tr. Gospel St. Matthew (1843) xxvi. 41 Can ie not watch oon hour with me, watch and prai yt ie enter not into trial.
quaild. quailed. Quail: Of courage, †hope, †faith, etc.: to fail, give way, become faint or feeble. Vide a1577 G. Gascoigne Hundred Flowers in Wks. (1869) I. 43 Since courage quayles, and commes behind, Go sleepe.
66. vaunter. A boaster or braggart. Vide a1610 J. Healey tr. Theophrastus Characters (1636) 79 A vanter or forth-putter is he, that boastes upon the Exchange, that he hath store of banke mony.
speeds. Speed: intransitive. Of persons: to succeed or prosper; to meet with success or good fortune; to attain one's purpose or desire. Vide 1580 T. Tusser Fiue Hundred Pointes Good Husbandrie (new ed.) f. 19 But woorse shall he speed, that soweth ill seed.
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Ah, rashnes! hastie rise to murdering leape,
Lauish in vowing, blind in seeing what:
Soone sowing shames that long remorse must reape:
Nursing with teares that ouer-sight begat; [70]
Scout of Repentance, harbinger of blame,
Treason to wisedome, mother of ill name.
Ah, what rashness, a hasty and ill-considered high opinion of myself proved a jumping-off point for murder — a mortal sin leading to my Master’s death and the slaying of my own conscience, with the loss of grace and of eternal life. I was most effusive in my declarations of courage and loyalty, but I was blind to the truth. My words soon became like seeds of shame that I would harvest over a long period of remorse, nursing with tears that which neglect had brought forth. A forerunner of repentance and culpability; betrayal of wisdom, mother of ill repute.
67. rashnes. Rash: late 14c., "nimble, quick, vigorous" (early 14c. as a surname), a Scottish and northern word, perhaps from a survival of Old English -ræsc (as in ligræsc "flash of lightning") or one of its Germanic cognates . . . . The original senses in English now are obsolete. Sense of "reckless, impetuous, heedless of consequences, hasty in council or action" is attested from c. 1500. OEtD.
hastie. Hasty. Characterized by excessive speed or urgency; rash; lacking sufficient care, consideration, or forethought. Vide 1569 R. Grafton Chron. II. 44 Hastie and furious of heart, and vnware of perilles.
rise. Perhaps a general sense of rash pride swelling or rising quickly and culminating in a leape or transition resulting in murder (vid. infra).
Alternatively, rise may have a particular meaning: A start or aid towards achieving upward movement in a leap; a place from which to leap or soar upwards.Vid. a1616 J. Smith Poore Penitent 21 in Essex Dove (1629) Wee see in reason, if a man come to a great ditch to leape ouer, if hee misse his rise, yet hee will goe backe againe and againe, and take his best aduantage, rather then hee will fall in the midst.
murdering. Perhaps Peter saw his rashness and his betrayal as a mortal sin contributing to the death of Christ on the Cross and to the loss life-giving grace within his own soul, resulting in the loss of eternal life. There may also be a reference to the death of his conscience.
68. lavish. With reference to speech: Unrestrained, effusive; vid. 1594 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 2 i. i. 25 Th'excessiue loue I beare vnto your grace, Forbids me to be lauish of my tongue.
remorse. Deep regret or guilt for doing something morally wrong; the fact or state of feeling sorrow for committing a sin; repentance, compunction.
late 14c., from Old French remors and directly from Medieval Latin remorsum"a biting back or in return," OEtD.Vid. 1563 T. Sackville in W. Baldwin et al. Myrrour for Magistrates (new ed.) Induct. xxxii And first within the portche and iawes of Hell Sate diepe Remorse of conscience.
70. nursing. Transitive. 1) To care for (a person) during sickness or infirmity; to help through an illness, etc. Vid. 1562 J. Heywood Wks. ii. vii God graunt (quoth I) the head and bodie both twoo. To nourse eche other, better then they doo. 2) Of a woman: to breastfeed (a baby or young child). This sense is supported by the use of “begat” at the end of the line.
over-sight. The sense here seems to refer to his blindness (line 68) resulting in a negligent oversight of what was really happening and what his right course of action should have been.
begat. Beget. Of a father or (now less commonly) both parents: to bring (a child) into existence by the process of reproduction; to procreate. Also of an animal: to sire. figurative and in extended use: to call into being, give rise to; to produce, occasion. Vid. 1581 W. Lambarde Eirenarcha i. xvi. 123 The doing thereof doth also beget a forfeiture of the Recognusance that is made.
71. scout. Military. One sent out ahead of the main force in order to reconnoitre the position and movements of the enemy. Hence occasionally in wider sense: One sent out to obtain information.
harbinger. One that goes before and announces the approach of someone; a forerunner. Mostly in transferred and figurative senses, and in literary language. Vid. 1575 G. Gascoigne Fruites of Warre cxliv, in Posies sig. Iviiiv Hope is harbenger of all mishappe.
blame. Responsibility for anything wrong, culpability;
wisdom. Soundness of judgement; also, Christ: vid. 1587 Sir P. Sidney & A. Golding tr. P. de Mornay Trewnesse Christian Relig. v. 60 We call him also the Wisedome of the Father, yea, and euen meerely and simply wisedome. [cf. 1 Corinth. i. 19-30]
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The borne-blind begger, for received sight,
Fast in his faith and loue to Christ remain'd;
He stooped to no feare, he fear'd no might, [75]
No change his choice, no threats his truth distain'd:
One wonder wrought him in his dutie sure,
I, after thousands, did my Lord abiure.
The beggar, who was blind from birth, remained steadfast in his faith and love for Christ — by whom he received the miraculous gift of his sight. He yielded to no fear and was not afraid of the high and mighty. The threats made to him over the truth of what he said and seeking to make him change his mind did not succeed; his honour was left intact and unsullied. It took only one miracle to make him steadfast and sure in his duty; but even after seeing thousands of miracles, I denied my Master, with an oath and cursing.
73. The borne-blind begger. Christ heals a man who was born blind. The man is questioned by neighbours and aggressively interrogated by the Pharisees. He shows honesty and remarkable courage throughout. Finally, he says to Christ: “I believe, Lord. And falling down, he adored him.” For the full account given by St John, see Appendix I, The man born blind (page 29).
74. Fast. Of a person, state of mind, attribute, etc.: not easily turned aside, unwavering, resolute, steadfast. Vid. 1509 J. Fisher Serm. Henry VIJ (de Worde) sig. A.iijv A fast hope & confydence þt he had in prayer.
75. stooped. Stoop: Of a person: To lower the body by inclining the trunk or the head and shoulders forward, sometimes bending the knee at the same time. To ‘bow’ to superior power or authority; to humble oneself, yield obedience. Const. to, under. Vid. 1555 R. Eden in tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde Pref. sig. bjv Stoope Englande stoope, and learne to knowe thy lorde and master.
76. distain’d. Distain: To imbue or stain (a thing) with a colour different from the natural one; to discolour, stain, dye, tinge. Transferred and figurative. To defile; to bring a blot or stain upon; to sully, dishonour. Vid. 1590 C. Marlowe Tamburlaine: 2nd Pt. sig. I4 Shame of nature which Iaertis streame..Can neuer wash from thy distained browes.
78. abjure. To reject or repudiate on oath (a claim or claimant); to renounce or disavow (a thing).Vid.
“And as he went out of the gate, another maid saw him, and she saith to them that were there: This man also was with Jesus of Nazareth. And again he denied with an oath, I know not the man. And after a little while they came that stood by, and said to Peter: Surely thou also art one of them; for even thy speech doth discover thee. Then he began to curse and to swear that he knew not the man.” [Matt. xxvii. 71-74]
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Could seruile feare of rendring Nature's due,
Which growth in yeeres was shortly like to claime, [80]
So thrall my loue, that I should thus eschue
A vowed death, and misse so faire an ayme?
Die, die disloyall wretch, thy life detest:
For sauing thine, thou hast forsworne the best.
Could abject fear of death, (which advancing years would shortly bring in any event), could such fear so enslave and terrify my love as to make me run away from the death I claimed with a vow to prefer to denying Christ, making me miss the noble aim I had stated? Die, I say, die thou wretched traitor; thou shouldst detest thy life; for in saving thine own life, thou hast denied and renounced the best.
79. servile. Of an action, personal attribute, etc.: slavish, abject, ignoble; fawning, cringing, obsequious; esp. indicative of or motivated by an excessive desire to serve, please, or defer to someone. Vid. a1616 W. Shakespeare Julius Caesar (1623) i. i. 75 [Cæsar] Who else would soare aboue the view of men, And keepe vs all in seruile fearefulnesse.
rendring. Render: To pay as a tax, rent, or tribute. Also figurative. Vid. 1594 W. Shakespeare Titus Andronicus i. i. 160 My tributarie teares, I render for my brethrens obsequies. 1611 Bible (King James) Mark xii. 17 Render to Cesar the things that are Cesars.
Rendring Nature’s due. Paying the debt due to Nature, i.e., dying.
81. thrall. To bring into bondage or subjection; to deprive of liberty; to hold in thraldom, enthrall, enslave; to take or hold captive. Vid. ?1531 J. Frith Disput. Purgatorye To Rdr. sig. a5v Fleshlye lust..wolde subdue..and holde vs thraulde vnder sinne.
Loue. Love. Perhaps the sense is the affectionate devotion due to God from an individual; vid. 1611 Bible (King James) 1 John iv. 16 God is loue, and hee that dwelleth in loue, dwelleth in God.
eschue. Eschew: To avoid, keep clear of, escape (a danger or inconvenience). Vid. 1553 T. Wilson Arte of Rhetorique 2 Beware..of straunge woordes, as thou wouldest take hede and eschewe greate rockes in the sea.
82. A vowed death. A reference to Peter’s declaration: “Peter saith to him: Yea, though I should die with thee, I will not deny thee.” [Matt. xxvi. 31-35]
ayme. Aim. An object aimed at; a mark, a target. In early use frequently in figurative context, with allusion to archery. A desired outcome; an end aimed at; an objective, a goal; a purpose, an intention. Vid. 1595 H. Roberts Trumpet of Fame 5 Take courage then, let honor be your aime, And drag not back, you that will honor gaine.
wretch. One who is sunk in deep distress, sorrow, misfortune, or poverty; a miserable, unhappy, or unfortunate person; a poor or hapless being. Vid. 1577 H. I. tr. H. Bullinger 50 Godlie Serm. I. ii. ii. sig. H.vii/1 Solomon the..happy king of Iuda, bycause of his Idolatrie..is of a soudeine, made a wretch of all other.
forsworne. Forswear. To abandon or renounce on oath or in a manner deemed irrevocable; = abjure. Vid. 561 T. Norton tr. J. Calvin Inst. Christian Relig. iv. f. 109 By suche contempt the grace offred is refused and as it were forsworne.
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Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam.
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