Robert Southwell's "The Burning Babe" describes a spiritual encounter with a burning infant in winter, reinterpreting themes of love and suffering through the lens of Christ's passion. The poem was highly praised by Ben Jonson for its unique imagery and spiritual depth.
Robert Southwell's "The Burning Babe" (printed 1602) is a poem where a winter scene leads to an encounter with a burning infant who explains the spiritual significance of his warmth. This lyric, admired by Ben Jonson, spiritualizes Petrarchan themes of love and suffering by linking them to Christ's passion.
| Front | Burning Babe |
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| Back | the Robert Southwell's best known poem was printed in 1602. in it poet feels an unexpected warmth in winter and looks up to see a burning babe who explains to him the significance of his burning. the term of the explanation spiritualize Petrarchan commonplaces of burning heart and the sufferings of love with details of Christ's passion at the end of the poem the poet realizes that it is Christmas Day this lyric was much admired by Ben Jonson who told William Drummond of Hawthorne that if he, Jonson, had written it, he would have been contend to destroy many of his own. |
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