 |
| 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.
+ + +
- 120 -
With them I rest true prisoner to their Jayle, [715]
Chain’d in the yron linkes of basest thrall;
Tyll grace vouchsafing captive soule to bayle,
In wonted See degraded loves enstall.
Dayes, passe in plaintes, the nightes without repose;
I wake, to weepe: I sleepe in waking woes. [720]
So here I am in this house of grief and sorrows, held captive in their jail in fetters like the rough iron chains used for the very lowest and most degraded of prisoners.
Here I must stay until divine grace mercifully deigns to set my soul free; until it deigns to restore my loving loyalties back to that dignity from which I was deposed through my sin.
My days are spent in lamentation and my nights give me neither rest nor respite. My waking hours are spent in weeping; my sleep brings only grief and sorrow.
715. rest. 1. To continue in a current state or stay in the same place without change or movement; to remain. 1597 W. Shakespeare Richard II v. i. 5 This way the King will come..Heere let vs rest .
2. intransitive. To lie dead or in the grave. 1582 R. Stanyhurst tr. Virgil First Foure Bookes Æneis i. 4 Wheare lyes strong Hector... Wheare stout Serpedon dooth rest.
716. linkes. link. One of the series of rings or loops which form a chain. †Also, formerly, plural chains, fetters. a1616 W. Shakespeare Julius Caesar (1623) i. iii. 93 Nor ayre-lesse Dungeon, nor strong Linkes of Iron, Can be retentiue to the strength of spirit.
basest. Base. 1. Low in the social scale; not noble, low-born; relating or belonging to the lower social classes. 1602 W. Fulbecke Pandectes 47 Hauing singled the most noble, did kill the baser prisoners.
2. Morally low; despicable, ignoble; reprehensibly cowardly, craven; selfish, mean. 1576 G. Gascoigne Droomme of Doomes Day ii. sig. Giii That man is base, & vniust, which honoureth the presence, and the iudgement of men, more than of God.
thrall. 1. figurative. One who is in bondage to some power or influence; a slave (to something). 1571 A. Golding tr. J. Calvin Psalmes of Dauid with Comm. (xxxvi. 5) They willingly yeelde themselves thralls to wickednes.
2. The condition of a thrall; thraldom, bondage, servitude; captivity. 1576 Thanksgiving in W. K. Clay Liturg. Services Q. Eliz. (1847) 559 Thou didst set us free from thrall.
717. Tyll. Until.
vouchsafing. vouchsafe. To show a gracious readiness or willingness, to grant readily, to condescend or deign, to do something:1579 W. Wilkinson Confut. Familye of Loue Brief Descr. sig. ☞.iijv For the testimony of the truth hereof vouchsafe good reader to read the booke.
bayle. Bail. To admit to bail, to liberate on bail; to release (a person) from immediate arrest or imprisonment, on security being given by one or more sureties that the person so released shall be duly presented for trial. figurative and gen. To liberate from imprisonment. 1581 J. Studley tr. Seneca Hercules Oetæus v, in T. Newton et al. tr. Seneca 10 Trag. f. 216v Hath hell no power to hold thy sprite..Or else hath Pluto baalde thee out?
718. wonted. Accustomed, customary, usual. 1583 T. Stocker tr. Tragicall Hist. Ciuile Warres Lowe Countries i. 15 A great Image..which was wonted to be set vp.
See. 1. The seat of authority of a bishop or archbishop. The office or position of Pope, the papacy. This sense recalls Peter’s dignity as the first bishop of the see of Rome. Note the use of the words degraded and enstall which continue this episcopal image.
2. A seat of dignity, authority, or judgement. A place in which a person lives, a dwelling place.
degraded. Degrade. 1. To inflict ecclesiastical degradation upon; to deprive of his orders. 1555 W. Waterman tr. J. Boemus Fardle of Facions ii. xii. 268 To the Bisshoppe was giuen authoritie..to put Priestes from the Priesthode: and to degrade theim, when thei deserue it.
2. To lower in estimation; to bring into dishonour or contempt. These two meanings sum up the effects of Peter’s fall from his status as the rock or foundation, as an Apostle and a bishop, the primus inter pares, the “rock.”
enstall. install. To invest with an office or dignity by seating in a stall or official seat, as the choir-stall of a canon in a cathedral, or that of a Knight of the Garter or Bath in the chapel of his order, the throne of a bishop, etc. 1581 J. Bell tr. W. Haddon & J. Foxe Against Jerome Osorius 5 If you were not already enstalled a brawlyng Byshop.
719. plaintes. plaint. The action or an act of plaining; audible expression of sorrow; (also) such an expression in verse or song, a lament. 1588 R. Greene Pandosto sig. C4 Pandosto would once a day repaire to the Tombe, and there with watry plaintes bewaile his misfortune.
woes. woe. A state or condition of misery, suffering, or emotional distress; misfortune, trouble. A cause of misfortune, trouble, or sorrow. 1578 T. Blenerhasset 2nd Pt. Mirrour for Magistrates Sigebert f. 45 Welth is my woe, the causer of my care.
+ + +
- 121 -
Sleepe, deathes allye, oblivion of teares,
Silence of passions, balme of angry sore,
Suspence of loves, securitie of feares,
Wraths lenitive, hartes ease, stormes calmest shore,
Senses and soules reprivall from all cumbers, [725]
Benumming sence of ill, with quiet slumbers.
Sleep may in a sense be likened to death:
It puts an end to tears and it quietens the passions; it is like soothing balm for a painful wound and provides a restful pause for love’s desires; it is a safe place which keeps out fears and anxieties; it is a gentle medication that makes anger melt away; it is a comfort for troubled hearts and a haven of calm in a sea of troubles.
Sleep offers the soul and the bodily senses a time of respite from all their cares; it deadens any sense of distress with the quiet repose of carefree slumbers.
721. Sleepe, deathes allye. There are several Scriptural references which compare death and sleep, e.g.,
“So David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David.” [3 Kings (1 Kings) ii. 10]“And going in, he saith to them: Why make you this ado, and weep? the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth. [40] And they laughed him to scorn. But he having put them all out, taketh the father and the mother of the damsel, and them that were with him, and entereth in where the damsel was lying. And taking the damsel by the hand, he saith to her: Talitha cumi, which is, being interpreted: Damsel (I say to thee) arise. And immediately the damsel rose up, and walked: and she was twelve years old: and they were astonished with a great astonishment.” [Mark v. 39-42]“These things he said; and after that he said to them: Lazarus our friend sleepeth; but I go that I may awake him out of sleep. His disciples therefore said: Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well. But Jesus spoke of his death; and they thought that he spoke of the repose of sleep. Then therefore Jesus said to them plainly: Lazarus is dead.” [John xi. 11-14]
oblivion. The state or fact of forgetting or having forgotten; forgetfulness; (also) freedom from care or worry. 1602 J. Marston Antonios Reuenge iv. iii. sig. H3v Make vs drinke Lethe by your queint conceipts; That for two daies, obliuion smother griefe.
722. balme. An aromatic substance, consisting of resin mixed with volatile oils, exuding naturally from various trees of the genus Balsamodendron, and much prized for its fragrance and medicinal properties. 1563 T. Gale Certaine Wks. Chirurg. iv. ii. f. 35 This oile hath al the vertues of true Balme. Aromatic ointment used for soothing pain or healing wounds. transferred or figurative. A healing, soothing, or softly restorative, agency or influence. 1597 W. Shakespeare Richard III i. ii. 13 Lo in those windowes..I powre the helplesse balme of my poore eies.
723. Suspence. suspense. Temporary cessation, intermission, abeyance; = suspension.
securitie. security. Something which secures or makes safe. A protection or defence against, from, †for something. a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1590) iii. xi. sig. Oo6v For your securitie for any treacherie (hauing no hostage woorthie to counteruaile you) take my woorde, which I esteeme aboue all respectes.
724. lenitive. A lenitive medicine or appliance. Also figurative. Adj. Of medicines and medical appliances: Tending to allay or soften; mitigating, soothing; gently laxative. Of persons, their dispositions, etc.: Displaying leniency, gentle. 1601 Marie Magdalens Lament. Concl. sig. Hiij Thy linative applide, did ease my paine.
hartes. heart’s.
ease. Comfort, absence of pain or trouble. Absence of pain or discomfort; freedom from annoyance. 1604 W. Shakespeare Hamlet i. i. 112 Any good thing..That may to thee doe ease, and grace to mee.
725. reprivall. reprieval. A reprieve, a respite; (also) the action of reprieving a person or the fact of being reprieved.
a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1593) iii. sig. Hh1 Gynæcia, to whome the fearefull agonies she still liued in made any small repriuall sweete.
c1595 R. Southwell St. Peter's Complaint 31 Senses and soules repriuall from all cumbers.
cumbers. cumber. Trouble, distress, embarrassment, inconvenience. That which cumbers, incommodes, or hinders, by its weight, unwieldiness, or obstructive nature; a hindrance, obstruction, encumbrance, burden. 1541 M. Coverdale tr. H. Bullinger Olde Fayth sig. C j Vpon the woman he layed combre, sorowe and payne.
726. Benumming. benumb. To render (the mental powers, the will, or the feelings) senseless or inert; to stupefy, deaden.
1563 W. Baldwin et al. Myrrour for Magistrates (new ed.) Somerset ix Did ever madnes man so much benomme.
a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1590) ii. iii. sig. P8v Mopsa was benummed with ioy when the Princesse gaue it her.
+ + +
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam.
No comments:
Post a Comment