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To St Mary Magdalen |
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few nights' solace in delicious bed Where heat of lust did kindle flames of hell, Thou nak'd on naked rock in desert cell Lay thirty years, and tears of grief did shed. But for that time thy heart there sorrowed Thou now in heaven eternally dost dwell, And for each tear which from thine eyes then fell, A sea of pleasure now is rendered. If short delights entice my heart to stray, Let me by thy long penance learn to know How dear I should for trifling pleasures pay; And if I virtue's rough beginning shun, Let thy eternal joys unto me show What high rewards by little pain is won. |
In this line, Constable continues to draw on the notion of "the sinner". He uses imagery of fire and heat in order to portray not only physical passion, but the fires of hell resulting from such passion as well. | |
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Henry Constable (1562-1613) |
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created by Heather C. Milligan |