Jesse Sharpe PhD thesis

286 Pages·2012·1.42 MB·English

‘AND THE WORD WAS MADE FLESH’: THE PROBLEM OF THE
INCARNATION IN SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY DEVOTIONAL
POETRY
Jesse David Sharpe
A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of PhD
at the
University of St. Andrews
2012
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'AND THE WORD WAS MADE FLESH': THE PROBLEM
OF THE INCARNATION
IN SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY DEVOTIONAL POETRY

Jesse David Sharpe

A thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
University of St Andrews
School of English
22 May 2012
i

ABSTRACT

In using the doctrine of the Incarnation as a lens to approach the devotional poetry
of seventeenth-century Britain, ‘“And the Word was made flesh”: The Problem of the
Incarnation in Seventeenth-Century Devotional Poetry’ finds this central doctrine of
Christianity to be a destabilising force in the religious controversies of the day. The fact
that Roman Catholics, the Church of England, and Puritans all hold to the same belief in
the Incarnation means that there is a central point of orthodoxy which allows poets from
differing sects of Christianity to write devotional verse that is equally relevant for all
churches. This creates a situation in which the more the writer focuses on the incarnate
Jesus, the less ecclesiastically distinct their writings become and the more aware the reader
is of how difficult it is to categorise poets by the sects of the day.
The introduction historicises the doctrine of the Incarnation in Early Modern
Europe through presenting statements of belief for the doctrine from reformers such as
Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Huldryk Zwingli in addition to the Roman Catholic
decrees of the Council of Trent and the Church of England’s ‘39 Articles’. Additionally,
there is a further focus on the Church of England provided through considering the
writings of Richard Hooker and Lancelot Andrewes amongst others.
In the ensuing chapters, the devotional poetry of John Donne, Aemilia Lanyer,
George Herbert, Robert Herrick, and Richard Crashaw is discussed in regards to its use of
the Incarnation and incarnational imagery in orthodox though diverse manners. Their use
of words to appropriate the Word, and their embrace of the flesh as they approach the
divine shows the elastic and problematic nature of a religion founded upon God becoming
human and the mystery that the Church allows it to remain.
ii

Thesis Declarations

I, Jesse David Sharpe, hereby certify that this thesis, which is approximately 78,000 words
in length, has been written by me, that it is the record of work carried out by me and that it
has not been submitted in any previous application for a higher degree.

I was admitted as a research student in September, 2008 and as a candidate for the degree
of Doctor of Philosophy in September, 2009; the higher study for which this is a record
was carried out in the University of St Andrews between 2008 and 2012.

Date signature of candidate

I hereby certify that the candidate has fulfilled the conditions of the Resolution and
Regulations appropriate for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the University of St
Andrews and that the candidate is qualified to submit this thesis in application for that
degree.

Date signature of supervisor

In submitting this thesis to the University of St Andrews I understand that I am giving
permission for it to be made available for use in accordance with the regulations of the
University Library for the time being in force, subject to any copyright vested in the work
not being affected thereby. I also understand that the title and the abstract will be
published, and that a copy of the work may be made and supplied to any bona fide library
or research worker, that my thesis will be electronically accessible for personal or research
use unless exempt by award of an embargo as requested below, and that the library has the
right to migrate my thesis into new electronic forms as required to ensure continued access
to the thesis. I have obtained any third-party copyright permissions that may be required in
order to allow such access and migration, or have requested the appropriate embargo
below.

The following is an agreed request by candidate and supervisor regarding the electronic
publication of this thesis: access to printed copy and electronic publication of thesis
through the University of St Andrews.

Date signature of candidate signature of supervisor
iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I am deeply indebted to many people for the completion of this dissertation, but I
would like to take this opportunity to thank some in particular. As I began to piece
together the ideas that became this dissertation, I was greatly aided by the advice and help
of Mardy Philippian, Timothy Carlisle, Brian Larsen, and Alan Rose, and most especially
the staff of the Simpson University library – Larry Haight, Eric Wheeler, Suzanne
Wheeler, and Curt Rice. The wonderful postgraduate community in 66 North Street has
been an invaluable source of inspiration and support during the research and writing of this
dissertation. For the laughter, coffee, and alcohol shared with Katherine Cooper, Dominic
McNeil, Rob Woodridge, Jo Whitely, Rachel Holmes, John Dennison, Karin Koehler,
Scott Brooks, and Phoebe Allen I am eternally grateful. Lindsay and the staff of
Northpoint have provided a wonderful sanctuary during this project. The staff of the
Special Collections of the University of St Andrews have been generous in their friendship
and aide. Sandra McDevitt and the secretaries of the School of English have shown eternal
patience and kindness to me and I cannot overstate my gratitude to them. To my mom and
dad and my mother-in-law and father-in-law I love you all and I cannot state strongly
enough what your support has meant to me. The friendship of Ravenel Richardson,
Kristine Johanson, and Bronnie Johnston has been a continuous source of sanity and joy,
thank you. To Professor Neil Rhodes I would like to state my appreciation for his kind
and understanding supervision of my dissertation. You have been invaluable to me as I
have written this, and I cannot thank you enough. To my sons Morley and Dashiell I have
to say thank you for helping me keep everything in perspective. I love you both, and it has
been a joy to watch you grow and mature while I have been working on this. But most of
all I must thank my wife, Casey. You have read every word of this dissertation countless
times, and your edits and advice have been of the greatest benefit to me. I know that
where this dissertation succeeds it is yours, and all failures are my own. I love you.
iv

CONTENTS

Abstract ............................................................................................................................................. i
Thesis Declarations ........................................................................................................................... ii
Acknowledgments ........................................................................................................................... iii
A Note on the Text............................................................................................................................. v
I. Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 1
II. John Donne’s Incarnating Words ................................................................................................. 36
III. Incarnation as Social Protest in Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum ........................................................ 96
IV. George Herbert Discussing the Word ....................................................................................... 127
V. Robert Herrick’s Church of Earthly Delights ............................................................................. 173
VI. ‘Looke Downe to Heaven’: Experiencing the Incarnation in Richard Crashaw’s Poetry ............ 205
Postscript ....................................................................................................................................... 244
Bibliography .................................................................................................................................. 246
v

A NOTE ON THE TEXT

In line with contemporary scholarly practice, I have modernised spelling in the following
cases: i/j, v/u, and the long s. Also thorns and yoghs have been transcribed as Roman
characters. I have also silently expanded contractions.
Introduction 1

I
INTRODUCTION

1 In the beginning was the 1 In the beginning was the 1 In the beginning was the
WORD, and the WORD was Word, & the Word was with Worde, and the Worde was
with God, and God was the God, and the Word was God. with God, and that Worde was
WORD. 2 This was in the 2 The same was in the God. 2 The same was in the
beginning with God. 3 Al beginning with God. 3 All beginning with God. 3 All
things were made by him: and things were made by him, and things were made by it, &
without him was made without him was not any thing without it was made nothing
nothing. That which was made that was made. 4 In him that was made.4 In it was life,
made, 4 in him was life, and was life, and the life was the and the life was the light of
the life was the light of men: 5 light of men. 5 And the light men.5 And the light shineth in
and the light shineth in shineth in darknesse, and the the darkenes, & the darkenes
darkenesse, and the darknesse comprehended it comprehended it not. . . .9
darkenesse did not not. . . .9 That was the true That was the true light, which
comprehend it. . . .9 It was the light, which lighteth every lighteth everie man that
true light, which lighteneth man that commeth into the cometh into the worlde. 10 He
every man that commeth into world.10 Hee was in the world, was in the worlde, and the
this world. 10 He was in the and the world was made by worlde was made by him: &
world, and the world was him, and the world knew him the worlde knewe him not.11
made by him, and the world not.11 Hee came unto his He came unto his owne, and
knew him not. 11 He came into owne, and his owne received his owne received him not.12
his owne, and his owne him not.12 But as many as But as many as received him,
received him not. 12 But as received him, to them gave to them he gave power to be
many as received him, he hee power to become the the sonnes of God, even to
gave them power to be made sonnes of God, even to them them that beleve in his
the sonnes of God, to those that beleeve on his Name: 13 Name,13 Which are borne not
that beleeve in his name. 13 Which were borne, not of of blood, nor of the wil of the
Who, not of bloud, nor of the blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the wil of man,
wil of flesh, nor of the wil of flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. 14 And that Word
man, but of God are borne. 14 but of God.14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt
AND THE WORD WAS was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we sawe the
MADE FLESH, and dwelt in among us (& we beheld his glorie thereof, as the glorie of
us (and we saw the glorie of glory, the glory as of the the onely begotten Sonne of
him, glorie as it were of the onely begotten of the Father) the Father) full of grace and
only-begotten of the Father) full of grace and trueth. trueth.
ful of grace and veritie. King James Bible Geneva Bible
Rheims New Testament

The contentious nature of the seventeenth-century English Church remains today.
Its origins follow monarchs who lead the church in rather unexpected directions: this
Protestant church was founded by a Roman Catholic Defender of the Faith, fought over by
his children who moved it back and forth from Catholicism to Protestantism, and, when
Introduction 2

the nation reaches the seventeenth century, it is presided over by a Scotsman who refuses
to adopt Presbyterianism. It is moved further into ceremonialism by his son, and
successor, Charles I, as well as Archbishop Laud, both of whom are executed by Puritans
who rule the country for a brief period of time until the Restoration restores the monarchy
in the person of Charles II, and under him the church returns to a high Protestantism,
which it largely continues under to this present day. The exact nature of how reformed the
Church of England is, and whether or not a Reformation even took place, are now the on-
going debates of historians and scholars.1
The contentious nature of these debates has not escaped the scholars of the
literature of the day, and so there has been (really since the beginning of the English
reformed church) an attempt to define what is a Catholic writer and what is a Protestant
writer. Since the latter half of the twentieth century, the discussion of what defines a poet
as being Protestant or Roman Catholic has largely been discussed in the light of two
books, Louis Martz’ The Poetry of Meditation and Barbara Lewalski’s Protestant Poetics
and the Seventeenth-Century Religious Lyric.2 Martz uses the devotional practices
developed by Saint Ignatius of Loyola to show how the Jesuit devotional methods can be
seen in much of the English devotional poetry of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries,
with Lewalski arguing that a Protestant poetic is one which places a heavy emphasis upon
scripture and the word due to Protestants’ emphasis of sola scriptura. A problem to their
approaches can be found in that Martz and Lewalski both claim the same poets to be either
more Protestant or Roman Catholic depending upon whether Martz or Lewalski is writing
the book. There has been much discussion regarding whether the poets of this period are
closer to Rome or Geneva, and in the case of poets like John Donne or Richard Crashaw,

1 David Daniell, William Tyndale (London, 1994), and The Bible in English (London, 2003); Eamon Duffy,
The Stripping of the Altars, 2nd edn. (London, 2005); and Diarmaid MacCulloch, ‘The Myth of the English
Reformation’, Journal of British Studies 30.1 (1991), 1-19.
2 Louis L. Martz, The Poetry of Meditation (London, 1962); Barbara Kiefer Lewalski, Protestant Poetics and
the Seventeenth-Century Religious Lyric (Princeton, 1979)
Introduction 3

who converted from Roman Catholicism to Protestantism and from Protestantism to
Roman Catholicism respectively, which of their poems are for Rome and which are for
Geneva.
The difficulty in defining the differences in these Christian sects is one that has
existed since the Reformation began, and so it is no wonder that current scholarship of
literature that is so filled with anxiety of ecclesiastical identity would also vacillate over
categorising writers. In the devotional poetry of the period this becomes even more
problematic, in that it is not just the religious persuasion of the writer that is argued over;
rather, at times it is even poem by poem that the debate takes place. In the scholarly quests
for distinctions, arguments can exist over the mention of the Virgin Mary; was she solely
the devotional right of Roman Catholicism? Or is predestination and the mention of the
‘elect’ a clear sign of a poet’s Calvinistic leanings? And if a poet is a Calvinist, does this
place him in the camp of the Church of England or that of the Puritans? The problem, as
will be shown, is that, despite all of the differences that exist between these three main
sects of English Christianity, there is a series of shared foundational beliefs that undergird
all of Christianity, and these places of agreement are more important to the religion than
the places of disagreement. The creeds of the early Church were adopted by all three sects
of English Christianity, and so an anxiety of identity is created, not because the beliefs are
so different, but because they are so similar. Roman Catholicism, English Protestantism,
and the Puritans all agree on the basic tenets of their faith, and so there is a Christian
‘orthodoxy’ that complicates all attempts to define rigidly the differences between these
ecclesiastical bodies.
In considering the devotional poetry of the seventeenth century, it becomes clear
that the poets of the time are not spokespeople for particular denominations nor are they
rigid ideologues; instead, they are human beings who are trying to express a form of belief