St Peter's Complaynt : Lines 409-420

Please pray for the soul of Esther Clark. R.I.P. She gave a 
framed copy of this painting to the author in the 1980's.

These posts contain revised and expanded notes to St Peter's Complaynt, considered by many to be the last poem written by St Robert Southwell ("RS") before his martyrdom on the 21st of February 1595.  The original series of posts was first published in 2018 on our sister site, Mary's English Dowry. I have expanded my original notes so as to provide a more detailed critical apparatus - with fairly extensive use of quotations from the period in which RS wrote. I have also included paraphrases with the aim of making the poet's language more accessible to modern readers. 

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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- 69 -

O little worldes, the summes of all the best,

Where glorie, heauen; God, sunne; all vertues, starres: [410]

Where fire, a loue that next to heaven doth rest;

Ayre, light of life that no distemper marres:

The water, grace, whose seas, whose springs, whose showers,

Cloth Nature's earth with everlasting flowers.

    These eyes of Christ are like two miniature universes, which are not only themselves the highest and the best but which also contain within themselves the very highest and best. 

    Here may be found the glory of Heaven, the Sun of Justice that is God; the firmament studded with the stars of every virtue; a place where ardent love blazes, next-door to Heaven itself; here too is the life-giving air of the Spirit, pure and unsullied by anything noxious; and here is divine grace, sanctifying all — just as the waters from oceans, springs and showers clothe the earth with flowers.

    409. summes. Sum. The total amount or quantity of something abstract or immaterial; the totality, whole. 2. The ultimate end or goal; the highest attainable point. 1565   T. Cooper Thesaurus at Summus   The summe & knot of all his glorie was, that he wente into the prouince of Asia, &c. 

    Cf. summit from Latin summus, uppermost, highest, topmost. DMLBS: (w. direct or indirect ref. to God) most high; b (as sb.).765 (12c) in nomine summi Salvatoris et Domini nostri CS 196; c795 (11c) in summo Dei nomine CS 273.

    412. distemper. A disordered or distempered condition of the air, climate, weather, etc.; inclemency. 1614   W. Raleigh Hist. World i. i. iii. §8. 45   It was..a reasonable coniecture, that those Countries..directly vnder it [sc. the Æquinoctial], were of a distemper vninhabitable.

    marres. Mar. v. To hamper or hinder; to impair or damage. 1560   T. Becon Sycke Mans Salve in Wks. II. f. 220v   Thys sycknesse hath vtterly marred me.

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- 70 -

What mixtures these sweet elements do yeeld, [415]

Let happie worldlings of these worlds expound;

Best simples are by compounds farre exceld,

Both sute a place where all best things abound;

And if a banisht wretch ghesse not amisse,

All but one compound framde of perfect blisse![420]

    What mixtures and happy combinations that can arise from these sweet elements are best described by those souls who are blessed to dwell within their gaze. Simple foods and medicines can be truly excellent but when mixed into compounds they are even better. Both are suited to this place where there is an abundance of all that is best. If a pitiful wretch like me (who has been banished from this place) is not amiss in his judgement, all these elements and ingredients go to make but a single compound, and that compound is so constituted as to offer a perfect and blessed happiness. 

    415. these sweet elements. This is a reference to the four elements of Creation mentioned in verse LXIX above. 

    yeeld. Yield. To give or put forth, produce, furnish, exhibit. 1613   S. Purchas Pilgrimage vii. xi. 595   The soile yeeldeth Cloues, Ginger, and Siluer.

a1616   W. Shakespeare Two Gentlemen of Verona (1623) i. ii. 108   Iniurious Waspes, to feede on such sweet hony, And kill the Bees that yeelde it, with your stings.

    416. worldlings. Although worldling may in certain contexts carry a negative connotation (of being worldly), here the reference is to those who inhabit the little worldes mentioned in line 409. above.

    417. simples. Simple. n. A medicinal preparation containing or consisting of a single active ingredient; the active ingredient of such a preparation, spec. a medicinal herb. 1587   R. Greene Penelopes Web sig. B2v   The Phisition..knoweth the nature of the Simple as well as the Gardiner that planteth it.

    compounds. Compound. A compound substance; spec. a compounded drug, as opposed to ‘simples’. chemical compound, a substance composed chemically of two or more elements in definite proportions. a1616   W. Shakespeare Cymbeline (1623) i. v. 8   These most poysonous Compounds. 

    sute. Suit. To be suitable or appropriate for (something); to be fitted or adapted to; to meet the requirements of. 1600   L. Thomas Demegoriai sig. C8   But hauing finished his work of creation, & taking a perfect view of al that he had made, finding that all things did agree & sute together..then he pronounced..it was exceeding good.

    419. ghesse. Guess. To think, judge, suppose; a1586   Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1590) iii. xxii. sig. Vu5v   Philoclea..ghessed somewhat at Zelmanes mind.

    420. framde. Framed. Frame: transitive. To adapt, adjust (usually something immaterial) to or unto something;

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Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.