March 6, 2020
In 1581, a young Englishman named Henry Walpole was present at the execution of the Jesuit Edmund Campion. While Campion was hanged, drawn, and quartered, Walpole stood close enough to be splattered with holy blood. Campion’s reputation in England was already great, but Walpole added to it with his wonderful long poems, which were immensely popular among English Catholics, and so popular that he wrote this book. The man who printed it had his ear cut off as punishment.
Walpole writes in his poem:
We cannot fear deadly torment,
The blood of this martyr moistens our hearts;
Who broke up when we met by chance?
We learn to always play the role of Christians.
This wasn’t just a play on words. Two years after Campion’s death, Walpole became a priest and was himself hanged for his faith in 1595.
St. Henry Walpole was not the only martyr who wrote poetry. The 16th and 17th centuries produced many people of courageous faith and extraordinary learning and literary talent. St. Thomas More wrote his poems while suffering in the Tower of London. Another Jesuit martyr, St. Robert Southwell, was a major influence on the later “metaphysical poetry” movement, which included some of the greatest Protestant poets of subsequent centuries, such as George Herbert and John Donne. I did.
The poems of the English martyrs are collected in an anthology called. Lyra Multiram. Benedict Whalen, editor of the second edition, joins Thomas to discuss these authors while James T. Majewski of Catholic Culture Audiobooks plays some of their works.
content
[2:08] Historical/literary/educational circumstances that led to the era of martyr poets
[7:23] Their influence as poets in subsequent centuries
[10:26] St. Robert Southwell’s Preface on the Purpose of Poetry
[12:58] All poets who appeared in the first edition of the anthology were subsequently beatified or canonized
[14:29] Martyrdom of Jesuit Saints Edmund Campion and Henry Walpole
[17:43] St. Henry Walpole “On the Martyrdom of Mr. Edmund Campion”
[30:23] The tradition of meditating on the last four things
[33:08] Saint Philip Howard, Earl of Arundel, “Meditation on Heaven”
[37:43] Early poems by St. Thomas More written for court events
[40:11] More’s poems “Lewis the Lost Lover” and “Davy of Dicer” written in the Tower of London
[44:17] The theme of fate in medieval and Renaissance philosophy and poetry
[47:12] Latin classical influence on English poetry
[49:16] More’s influence on English prose
[51:29] The life and works of St. Robert Southwell
[54:36] St. Robert Southwell “Burning Babe”
[59:39] “The child I chose”
[1:05:27] Southwell’s Conceptual Sound Density: Excerpts from “The Nativity” and “Look Home”
[1:09:13] “I live and die”
[1:12:52] “Mary Magdalene’s Appeal Against the Death of Christ”
[1:16:30] The amazing story of the martyrdom of St. Robert Southwell
[1:26:10] The appendices of this edition include: Lyra Multiram
link
Lyra Multiram https://www.clunymedia.com/product/lyra-martyrum/
Benedict Whalen https://www.hillsdale.edu/faculty/benedict-whalen/
catholic culture audiobook https://www.catholicculture.org/audiobooks
This podcast is produced by CatholicCulture.org. If you like our show, please consider supporting us. http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio
Source: The Catholic Culture Podcast – catholicculturepodcast.libsyn.com
