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| The author received a framed copy of this painting in the early 1980s. Please pray for the soul of the donor: Esther Clark. R.I.P. |
The work is offered on behalf of my family to Our Blessed Lady, Regina Martyrum et Consolatrix afflictorum.
For EEKPTEE&EA.
👈The Tears of St Peter (1587-1596)
El Greco (Domḗnikos Theotokópoulos) 1541-1614
Museo Soumaya at Plaza Carso, Mexico.
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In time, O Lord! Thine eyes with mine did meete, [325]
In them I read the ruines of my fall;
Their chearing rayes, that made misfortune sweet,
Into my guiltie thoughts pourd floods of gall:
Their heauenly looks, that blest where they beheld,
Darts of disdaine and angrie checks did yeeld.[330]
Eventually, O Lord, Thine eyes did meet with mine and in Thy gaze I could see the terrible damage I had caused through my betrayal. Thy warming gaze would normally bring comfort and consolation to those in suffering; but my guilty conscience was instead submerged in bitter thoughts.Thy heavenly eyes would bless all they gazed upon; but from me Thou didst receive in return piercing contempt and angry rebukes.
Note. The relevant text from the Gospel includes the following:
"And after the space, as it were of one hour, another certain man affirmed, saying: Of a truth, this man was also with him; for he is also a Galilean. And Peter said: Man, I know not what thou sayest. And immediately, as he was yet speaking, the cock crew. And the Lord turning looked on Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, as he had said: Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And Peter going out, wept bitterly." [Luke xxii. 59-62]
325. In time. At a suitable time; seasonably, in season. Perhaps referring to the Lord’s time, as He had predicted:
Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. [Luke xxii. 62].
Cf. 1583 P. Stubbes Second Pt. Anat. Abuses sig. L2v The worde of God is to be preached night and day, in time, and out of time, in season, and out of season.
Thine eyes with mine did meete. “And the Lord turning looked on Peter.”
326. ruines. Ruin. The state or condition of a fabric or structure, esp. a building, which has given way and collapsed. Cf. the notion of Peter as the “rock” [Matt. xvi. 18]. Figuratively, in plural: The remains of a person who or thing which has suffered collapse, destruction, or downfall. a1616 W. Shakespeare Julius Caesar (1623) iii. i. 259 Thou art the Ruines of the Noblest man That euer liued in the Tide of Times.
327. chearing. Cheering. Cheer. To give hope, comfort, or encouragement to (a person, the mind, etc.) in a time of difficulty or sadness; to solace; to hearten. a1616 W. Shakespeare Antony & Cleopatra (1623) v. ii. 180 Therefore be cheer'd, Make not your thoughts your prisons.
328. pourd. Poured.
gall. Bitterness of spirit, asperity, rancour (supposed to have its seat in the gall bladder. 1611 T. Middleton & T. Dekker Roaring Girle sig. F4v Loues sweets tast best, when we haue drunke downe Gall. Perhaps an echo by the poet of the scene in Christ’s passion: “And they gave him wine to drink mingled with gall. And when he had tasted, he would not drink.” [Matt. xxvii. 34]
330. darts. A pointed missile weapon thrown by the hand; a light spear or javelin; also applied to pointed missiles in general, including arrows, etc. figurative. 1509 S. Hawes Pastime of Pleasure xli. i Deth with his darte arest me sodenly.
disdain. The feeling entertained towards that which one thinks unworthy of notice or beneath one's dignity; scorn, contempt. Indignation; anger or vexation arising from offended dignity; dudgeon. The quality which excites aversion; loathsomeness. 1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene i. i. sig. A5 Most lothsom, filthie, foule, and full of vile disdaine.
checks. Check. A taunting call; a bitter reproach. A reproof, reprimand, rebuke. 1563 2nd Tome Homelyes Coming Holy Ghost i, in J. Griffiths Two Bks. Homilies (1859) ii. 458 Counted woorthy to suffer rebukes, and checkes for the Name..of Christ Jesus.
yeeld. Yield. To give (something) in return for something received; to render, return (a benefit or injury, etc.); a1586 Sir P. Sidney tr. Psalmes David (1823) vii. iv If I wrought not for his freedom's sake, Who causlesse now yeeldes me a hatefull hart: Then let my foe chase me.
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O sacred eyes! the springs of liuing light,
The earthly heauens where angels ioy to dwell,
How could you deigne to view my deathfull plight,
Or let your heauenly beames look on my hell?
But those vnspotted eyes encountred mine, [335]
As spotlesse sunne doth on the dunghil shine.
O sacred eyes . . . like founts of living light, a Heaven here on earth, where angels rejoice to have their home. How on earth couldst Thou deign even to look at my own deadly plight? Or allow Thy radiant, Heavenly gaze to look upon the hellish condition of my soul?
And yet, those pure and sinless eyes sought and encountered mine, just like the unblemished sun when casting its beams down upon a filthy and ill-smelling dunghill.
333. deathfull. Deathful. Fraught with death; fatal, destructive, deadly. Having the appearance of death; associated with death; deathly. literary and in religious language. Subject to death, mortal. Frequently contrasted with deathless adj.
beames. Beam. A ray, or ‘bundle’ of parallel rays, of light emitted from the sun or other luminous body; out-streaming radiance. 1600 W. Shakespeare Merchant of Venice v. i. 90 How farre that little candell throwes his beames
figurative. Ray, gleam, emanation: beam of sight, a glance. 1594 C. Marlowe & T. Nashe Dido iii. sig. C3 Lest their grosse eye-beames taint my louers cheekes.
Eye-beam. A glance of the eye, imagined as a beam of light. 1598 W. Shakespeare Love's Labour's Lost iv. iii. 26 So sweete a kisse the golden Sunne giues not..As thy eye beames.
335. vnspotted. Unspotted. Not morally stained; unblemished, pure: Of persons, the mind, etc. 1530 Myroure of Oure Ladye (Fawkes) (1873) ii. 140 Sonne of the clene and vnspotted vyrgyn.
dunghil. Dunghill. A heap or accumulation of dung; esp. a pile in a farmyard into which animal dung, soiled straw, etc., is gathered to be stored and typically rotted down to be used as manure. A person likened to a dunghill in being filthy or disgusting in some way, esp. (in early use) in being morally corrupt or (now usually) in being very dirty or scruffy. c1560 T. Becon Relikes of Rome sig. J.iiiv Shal the vile donghylles of the earth presume to alter the blessed and euerlasting testament of the only begotten Sonne of God?
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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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