St Peter's Complaynt : Lines 469-480

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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- 79 -

Come good effects of ill-deserving cause,

Ill-gotten impes, yet vertuously brought forth; [470]

Selfe-blaming probates of infringed lawes,

Yet blamed faults redeeming with your worth;

The signes of shame in you ech eie may read,

Yet, while you guiltie prove, you pitty plead.

    Come ye tears, good effects proceeding from a cause which is itself ill-deserving; although ill-begotten because proceeding from sin, you have nevertheless been brought forth virtuously, through repentance for the sin. The tears of contrition following a self-accusation are themselves proofs of breaching the laws of the Lord. Yet these sins of which you are accused do themselves lead to redemption from sin through remorse. These tears are signs of guilt which anyone may see and yet, though they are proof of guilt, they plead for pity and forgiveness.

    469. good effects. The tears of contrition flowing after confession of sin and acknowledgement of guilt. 

    470. ill-gotten. ill-begotten.

    impes. imp. offspring, child. 1611   J. Speed Hist. Great Brit. vii. xii. 313/2   His sad lamenting sonne Faustus, a vertuous Impe of those impious parents. The tears are the offspring or product of the ill whicch is sin, hence ill-begotten.

    471. probates. probate. Proof, demonstration; evidence, testimony. 1610   J. Boys Expos. Domin. Epist. in Wks. (1629) 80   Abraham assuredly beleeued God before, but his offering vp of Isaac was a greater probate of his faith.

    472. blamed. blame. Here, perhaps in the sense of To charge; to accuse.   1583   A. Golding tr. J. Calvin Serm. on Deuteronomie viii. 44   So would men blame him of unfaithfulnesse.

    473. ech. each. 

    eie. eye.

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- 80 -

O beames of mercie! beate on sorrowe's clowde, [475]

Poure suppling showres vpon my parched ground;

Bring forth the fruite to your due service vowde,

Let good desires with like deserts be crownd:

Water young blooming Vertue's tender flower,

Sinne did all grace of riper growth devoure. [480]

    O beams of heavenly mercy! May ye shine down on the louring clouds of my sorrow; I pray in tears that mercy may drop as the gentle rain from Heaven and soften the arid hardness of my heart.

Let my promise of faithfulness unto death bring forth fruitfulness; let my good intentions be fulfilled and rewarded with good results.

    Just as a tender plant needs watering to make it grow and flower, may my tears cause virtue to increase since my sins destroyed much of its growth.

 

    476. suppling. supple. v. To cause to yield or be submissive; to make compliant or complaisant; to soften, mollify (the heart or mind) or the heart of mind of. To soften the consistency of, reduce the hardness of. Also figurative. c1595   Countess of Pembroke Psalme cxlvii. 26 in Coll. Wks. (1998) II. 249   The rayne..Supples the clodds of sommer-scorched fields. 1563   Form Medit. in W. K. Clay Liturg. Services Q. Eliz. (1847) 505   Mollify..O Lord, our flinty hearts with the suppling moisture of thy Holy Spirit. 

    477. service vowde. See, for example: 

“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.” [Matt. xxvi. 34-35]

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Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.