The Burning Babe

The image of the “Babe” (Line 4) is at the center of the vision the speaker experiences in Southwell’s poem. The Babe is a supernaturally incongruous figure: Though “but newly born” (Line 7), he is able to converse with intelligence and pathos. The image is thus purposefully confounding. Southwell wants readers to see a small and vulnerable baby, the better to instill in them the horror of watching such a helpless being crying while lit on fire with their sins. At the same time, he wants to offer them the knowledge that this divine figure can offer those who practice its faith comfort, protection, and purification: The Babe isn’t just a baby, but represents the Son of God, whose birth as Jesus Christ on “Christmas day” (Line 16) marks his willingness to eventually die for mankind. The purity a newborn represents parallels the vision’s “faultless” (Line 9) desire to serve as a conduit for “Justice” and “Mercy” (Line 11) and to guide mankind “to their good” (Line 13).

Heat and fire are what initially make the speaker aware of the vision before him. The Babe who appears to the speaker is “burning bright” (Line 4) and “scorched with excessive heat” (Line 5).