that the Crucifi xion is already present at the moment
of incarnation.
Southwell’s furnace recalls the fi ery furnace in
Daniel 3, where a mysterious fi gure appears and saves
the faithful, a fi gure that Christians took to be Christ.
There may also be an echo of Isaiah 48:10: “Behold, I
have refi ned thee, but not with silver; I have chosen
thee in the furnace of affl iction.” Another apocalyptic
echo is of Revelation 7:14: “These are they which
came out of great tribulation, and have washed their
robes, and made them white in the blood of the
Lamb.”
Southwell shows a general familiarity with the appa-
ratus of chemistry, including the furnace, the fuel, and
the chemical wash, or “bath.” Similar language was
used for the alchemical process; indeed, the mercurial
wash used on the raw matter, after it had been “morti-
fi ed,” was often called blood. The parallels are acciden-
tal, however. Like other Jesuit authors, Southwell never
suggested that Christ was present in a furnace, only
that he could be symbolized by one.
Southwell was a Catholic missionary to Protestant
England at a time when such activity was considered
treasonable and punishable by a terrible public execu-
tion. His poetry has appealed especially to English
Catholics who see hints of Southwell’s own martyrdom
in 1595 in the babe’s suffering.
FURTHER READING
Baynham, Matthew. “The Burning Babe and Robert South-
well.” N&Q 50, no. 1 (2003): 55–56.
McDonald, James H., and Nancy Pollard Brown, eds. The
Poems of Robert Southwell. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1967.
Pilarz, Scott R. Robert Southwell and the Mission of Literature,
1561–1595: Writing Reconciliation. Burlington, Vt.: Ash-
gate, 2004.
Thomas Willard96 “BURNING BABE, THE”