Kory Kennedy
Metaphysical Poetry
11/18/15
Blessed Redeemer
In her poem “Blessed Redeemer,” Elizabeth Newell reflects on the traditions of Christmas that were commonplace among churches in the seventeenth-century, and, more importantly, the spiritual significance of the day for Christians. For Newell, the celebration and tradition of Christmas is meaningless if the heart of those joining in the celebration, which is the focal point of her poem “Blessed Redeemer.” While Newell addresses a topic that wasn’t as commonly as written about by other poets such as Donne, Herbert, Marvell, and Crashaw, the theme of her poem is one that is common amongst all of the aforementioned poets: namely, a devotion to God. However, while addressing a common theme amongst metaphysical poets, Newell does so in a unique way by offering a critique of the Christian holiday of Christmas.
Newell opens the poem by addressing many of the common practices of Christmas, which for the most part all pertain to decorations: “Blessed Redeemer, we do not meet this day / Of thy nitivity, as we well may, / With signs of joy and wonder, we do write / Thy name upon it…” There are many poetic that Newell incorporates within the opening lines. The first of which is in the opening two words when she addresses God. By addressing something, God, which cannot respond, Newell uses the poetical tool apostrophe. Also, while this poem does not have a formal structure such as a sonnet or villanelle, it is written in rhyming couplets. As a poetic device, rhyming couplets help drive the poem. Along with this, rhyme can bring a sort of sing-songy quality to a poem, often regardless of the content of the poem.
As in the opening lines, Newell continues in describing more of the Christmas rituals: “…and seem with delight / To welcome its return; we trim and dress / Our houses with all greens…” While Christmas was one of the most important times of the year in the seventeenth-century, not everyone was accepting of the tradition. Puritans believed that Christmas brought about all sorts of misrule, including drunkenness and promiscuity (Durston, 8). The Puritans were not so wrong in believing this however. It was believed that this ‘misrule’ was a “useful safety-valve for the tensions within English society” (Durston, 8).
From this point on in the poem, Newell abandons the descriptions about the common decorative traditions of Christmas and begins to delve a little bit into the history of it, with an allusion to Jesus’ birth and his descent from Mount Olive: “…and seem no less / Joyfully to entertain the happy news / Of Thy descent from Heaven, than once the Jews / Did thy descent from Olive.” Not only was Christ celebrated when he descended from Heaven to Earth, but also on Palm Sunday, when he descended from Mount Olive into Jerusalem. Newell continues on, “…we sing / Hosanna’s at this birth day of our king / And surely tis well done, but tis not all.” For Newell, while it is well done to sing for Christ on the day of his birth, that is not all. True devotion requires much more than simple praises and Hosanna’s on the birthday of Jesus, and this misconception is what Newell addresses in the closing lines of the poem. In addressing her idea of devotion, Newell also highlights some of the major points of Christian theology.
In the thematic climax of the poem, Newell addresses what true devotion to Christ looks like after first pointing out the fault of living a life of false devotion: “Christian from thee this day doth call / for somewhat more without which all the rest / Will proove but empty compliments at best.” This statement could be working in two different ways, the first of which is our praises to God. If we aren’t living a life of true devotion, our words and our praises are but empty compliments to God. For our words to truly bring praise to God, as Newell states: “Thy Lord must be thy life.” The second way the statement could be working is in our relationship to the world. If we are looking for fulfillment outside of God, such as by drunkenness or promiscuity, the exact things that the Puritans feared the celebration of Christmas was bringing about, we will find that they are but empty compliments. It is likely that Newell meant it in the former way, however, it is possible that there was slight ambiguity in the phrase in order that there could be a dual meaning pulled away from it.
After addressing the consequences of false devotion, Newell lays out what it means and looks like to be fully devoted to God: “Thy Lord must be thy life: thou must be brought / Under his yoke and rule: thou must be wrought / Into his likeness: Christ must formed be / first in his virgin Mother, then in thee.” For Newell, the Lord shouldn’t just be acknowledged and praised on Christmas; the Lord should be our life. In order for this to happen, we must be brought under his yoke and rule, thus submitting our lives and plans up to him. Newell also states that we must be wrought into his likeness, and the theological term for that is sanctification. In the final couplet, Newell address the topic of Christ’s immaculate conception. In order for any of this to be possible, it is absolutely necessary for Jesus to have been born of a virgin, in order that he could be the spotless sacrifice needed to wash away the sins’ of believers.
Newell has a simple style of writing when compared other poets of the time such as John Donne and George Herbert. As far as language goes, Newell doesn’t leave much room for any ambiguities, making her poem seemingly straightforward. Also, while incorporating tools such as rhyme and apostrophe, Newell never once uses a simile or metaphor. In the opening line of the poem, there is a ‘not’ which was not included by Hale, which throws some relief into what could have been a very harsh, ironic critique of the Christmas traditions.
However, while Elizabeth Newell and John Donne are stylistically very different, the closing lines of her poem “Blessed Redeemer” reflect someone of the language used in Donne’s sonnet “Batter My Heart, Three Person’d God.” For Donne, devotion to God seems to be a very physical interaction, as he writes: “for, you / As yet but knocke, breathe, shine, and seeke to mend; / That I may rise, and stand, o’erthrow mee,’and bend.” Newell writes that we must be wrought into the likeness of the Lord, which when translated a different way, means that we must be bent into the likeness of the Lord. Donne later goes on to say that he want to Lord to “imprison” him, which is similar to the way that Newell describes how she wants to be under the “yoke” of the Lord.
While Elizabeth Newell and John Donne are much different when it comes to style and when it comes to form, the two poets are nonetheless bond together by similar views of devotion to the Lord. This can also be said about the other poets such as Andrew Marvell and George Herbert: while in many ways these poets differ from each other, they are inevitably bound together by the love and devotion to God that was the inspiration and driving factor behind so much of their greatest writings.
Kory Kennedy
Metaphysical Poetry
11/18/15
Works Cited
Durston, Chris, ‘Lords of Misrule: The Puritan War on Christmas, 1642-1660’, History Today 35.12 (1985): 7-14