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| 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. |
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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This fawning viper, dumme till he had wounded,
With many mouthes doth now upbraide my harmes;
My sight was vaild till I my selfe confounded,
Then did I see the dissenchanted charmes:
Then could I cut the anotomie of sinne, [665]
And search with Linxes eyes what lay within.
Sin ingratiates itself with a soul like the ancient serpent did with Eve; but with me, sin held its tongue until after my soul had been wounded by its attack. Now, sin seems to speak out with many voices, accusing me and reproving me for the harms I have inflicted on myself and others.
I was quite blind to the danger until after my own sin brought my soul to ruin. Only at that point could I see through the deceit, freed from the spell that had bewitched me. Only then could I begin to dissect and study carefully the nature of this sin.
661. fawning. fawning. Showing servile deference, cringing, flattering. 1585 Abp. E. Sandys Serm. vii. 118 Drunkennesse is a fawning diuell, a sweete poison.
viper. Sin is compared to a serpent, the very image of Satan:
“Now the serpent was more subtle than any of the beasts of the earth which the Lord God had made.” [Genesis iii.1]
dumme. dumb. Not emitting sound, unaccompanied or unattended by sound of any kind; silent, mute; a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1590) i. iii. sig. C2v His countenance could not but with dumme Eloquence desire it.
662. upbraid. To reproach, reprove, censure (a person, etc.). 1600 W. Shakespeare Midsummer Night's Dream iv. i. 49 I did vpbraid her, and fall out with her.
harmes. harm. Evil (physical or otherwise) as done to or suffered by some person or thing; hurt, injury, damage, mischief. With a and plural. An evil done or sustained; an injury, a loss. 1583 G. Babington Very Fruitfull Expos. Commaundem. viii. 384 Wise is he whome other mens harmes can cause to take heede.
663. vaild. veiled. 1594 C. Marlowe & T. Nashe Dido i. sig. A3v Had not the heauens conceau'd with hel-borne clowdes, Vaild his resplendant glorie from your view.
confounded. confound. To defeat utterly, discomfit, bring to ruin, destroy, overthrow, rout, bring to nought (an adversary). 1570 J. Dee in H. Billingsley tr. Euclid Elements Geom. Math. Præf. sig. dj Archimedes..vtterly confounded the Romaine Nauye.
664. dissenchanted. disenchant. To set free from enchantment, magic spell, or illusion. 1590 Sir P. Sidney Covntesse of Pembrokes Arcadia i. xii. f. 54v Alas, let your owne braine dis-enchaunt you.
charmes. charm. originally. The chanting or recitation of a verse supposed to possess magic power or occult influence; incantation, enchantment; hence, any action, process, verse, sentence, word, or material thing, credited with such properties; 1586 T. Bowes tr. P. de la Primaudaye French Acad. I. 71 The serpent..stoppeth hir eares with hir taile, to the end she may not heare the charmes and sorceries of the inchanter.
Any quality, attribute, trait, feature, etc., which exerts a fascinating or attractive influence. [a1616 W. Shakespeare Merry Wives of Windsor (1623) ii. ii. 102 I neuer knew a woman so doate vpon a man; surely I thinke you haue charmes, la..Not I, I assure thee; setting the attraction of my good parts aside, I haue no other charmes.]
665. anotomie. anatomy. A body or ‘subject’ for dissection. 1545 T. Raynald tr. E. Roesslin Byrth of Mankynde Prol. sig. B.iii, As thoughe ye were present at the cuttynge open of anathomye of a deed woman.
666. Linxes. Either lynx’s or lynxes’. An animal of any of several species of the genus Felis forming the sub-genus Lynx. Here, with allusion to its keenness of sight. 1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry V f. xxxviiiv Vigilantly to forsee with Lincis iyes.
1598 R. Barckley Disc. Felicitie of Man vi. 572 In earthly thinges we haue Lynces eyes, but in Spirituall things we are as blind as beetles.
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Bewitching evill, that hides death in deceits,
Still borrowing lying shapes to maske thy face,
Now know I the deciphring of thy sleights;
A cunning, deerely bought with losse of grace: [670]
Thy sugred poyson now hath wrought so well,
That thou hast made me to my selfe a hell.
Sin is an evil that succeeds by enchantment, bewitching and mesmerizing through its veneer of lies which mask its true face. I now understand how to see the reality hidden beneath its deceits. This understanding has however cost me dear: the price I paid was the loss of supernatural grace in my soul.
Sin, thy sweet-tasting poison has worked so well in me that, in bringing death to my soul, thou hast made of me a living hell for myself.
669. sleights. sleight. Craft or cunning employed so as to deceive; deceitful, subtle, or wily dealing or policy; artifice, strategy, trickery. 1582 R. Stanyhurst tr. Virgil First Foure Bookes Æneis ii. 23 Thear sleight and stratagems had beene discoouered easlye. 1578 T. Tymme tr. J. Calvin Comm. Genesis 297 Satan used his subtle slight to discredit the miracles wrought by God.
670. cunning. Knowledge; learning, erudition. Knowledge how to do a thing; ability, skill, expertness. 1559 P. Morwyng tr. C. Gesner Treasure of Euonymus Pref. Ready to communicate..any cunning I had.
c1571 E. Campion Two Bks. Hist. Ireland (1963) i. ix. 33 The Barbarians hyghlie honored him for his cunninge in all languages.
671. sugred. sugared. Full of sweetness; honeyed, luscious, delicious. 1576 G. Gascoigne Princelye Pleasures Kenelwoorth (1821) 12 The sugred baite oft hides the harmefull hookes.
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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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