Analysis of New Prince New Pomp

Robert Southwell 1561 (Horsham St Faith) – 1595



Behold, a seely tender babe
   In freezing winter night
In homely manger trembling lies;
   Alas, a piteous sight!
The inns are full, no man will yield
   This little pilgrim bed,
But forced he is with seely beasts
   In crib to shroud his head.
Despise him not for lying there,
   First, what he is enquire,
An orient pearl is often found
   In depth of dirty mire.
Weigh not his crib, his wooden dish,
   Nor beasts that by him feed;
Weigh not his mother's poor attire
   Nor Joseph's simple weed.
This stable is a prince's court,
   This crib his chair of state,
The beasts are parcel of his pomp,
   The wooden dish his plate.
The persons in that poor attire
   His royal liveries wear;
The prince himself is come from heaven;
   This pomp is prized there.
With joy approach, O Christian right,
   Do homage to thy king;
And highly prize his humble pomp
   Which he from heaven doth bring.


Scheme ABCBDEFEGHIJKLHLMNONHGPGBQOQ
Poetic Form
Metre 01010101 010101 010101001 01011 01111111 110101 11111101 011111 01111101 1111010 11011101 011101 11111101 111111 111101010 110101 11010101 111111 01110111 010111 010011010 11011 010111110 11111 11011101 110111 01011101 1111011
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 896
Words 159
Sentences 8
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 28
Lines Amount 28
Letters per line (avg) 24
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 666
Words per stanza (avg) 157
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

48 sec read
96

Robert Southwell

Robert Southwell, also Saint Robert Southwell, was an English Roman Catholic priest of the Jesuit Order. He was also a poet and clandestine missionary in post-Reformation England. After being arrested and tortured by Sir Richard Topcliffe, Southwell was tried and convicted of high treason for his links to the Holy See. On 21 February 1595, Southwell was hanged, drawn and quartered at Tyburn. In 1970, he was canonised by Pope Paul VI as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. more…

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