To St Mary Magdalen
Paraphrase
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.
Sacred Heart of Mary Magdalene
For a few nights of comfort and pleasure in a sensually satisfying bed where the passion of lust kindled the flames of hell (i.e. caused you to engaged in sinful acts of lust), you forced yourself to lay naked on bare rocks in the desert for thirty years, shedding tears of grief and repentance.
Thou now in heaven eternally dost dwell,
And for each tear which from thine eyes then fell,
A sea of pleasure now is rendered.
However, because of those thirty years during which you dedicated your life to penance and mortification regarding your sinful past, you now dwell in heaven for eternity. Furthermore, you are now provided with an infinite amount of happiness for every tear you shed during those thirty years.
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.
Therefore, if I am tempted by the fleeting satisfaction of sensual gratification, let me learn the cost of such actions from your thirty years of repentance; nevertheless, if I do turn my back on morality and virtue, let your eternal happiness illustrate to me the heavenly rewards that one can attain through repentance.
Henry Constable (1562-1613)
created by Heather C. Milligan