Metaphysical poets, selected poems Contents
Themes in St Mary Magdalene
Difficult to extract
The spirituality behind St Mary Magdalene is very different from that of Donne and Herbert. It is difficult to extract ‘themes' which suggest that a coherent argument is going on. However, very broadly, we could say the main theme is the agony and ecstasy of love, which places it within the mystical tradition of Catholic spirituality. This can be seen much more clearly in Hymn to St Teresa, which he wrote about the same time. The woman's repentance obviously suggests her own sense of Personal Sinfulness and Unworthiness, but Crashaw makes little of this. He does not wonder about her past life, only the intensity of her present and ongoing contrition.
Investigating St Mary Magdalene
- Can you see any other themes in St Mary Magdalene?
- Can you see how the poem could be a translation into images of Crashaw's own inner intensities?
In any religion, there will be many ways to practice that religion, and to become aware of the divine. Spirituality can mean either the depth of religious practice and awareness in an individual; or the type of practice.
Used for the seeking of direct spiritual encounter with God, usually through a life of self-denial and contemplation.
1. Sometimes used to denote all Christians
2. Used specifically of the Roman Catholic church.
The act of turning away, or turning around from, one's sins, which includes feeling genuinely sorry for them, asking for the forgiveness of God and being willing to live in a different way in the future.
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