Analysis of poem

1. New Prince, New Pomp
Robert Southwell

3. Overview/Context
 Robert Southwell was a very religious man. He was a
Jesuit priest who was martyred for his faith in 1595 and
was later made a saint.
 Southwell wrote New Prince, New Pomp and many other
poems whilst in prison, waiting to be hanged for his
beliefs.
 New Prince, New Pomp is a Christian nativity poem
written in adoration of the birth of Jesus Christ.
 Southwell’s poetry is often euphuistic and filled with
antithesis and paradox. He uses imaginative imagery to
explore religious emotion.

4. Form
Statement Evidence Analysis
Quatrains of Verse one Simple, repetitive structure which
abcb rhyme and reflects the humility of Christ’s birth.
alternating This form suggests the direct, honest
tetrameter and truth of Southwell’s beliefs
trimeter
Enjambment ‘An orient pearl isThe run-on line here encourages to
often found / In search on to the next line of the poem to
depth of dirty complete the metaphor, just as
mire.’ Southwell is encouraging us to unearth
Christ’s majesty from his humble origins
Caesura ‘Behold, a seely…’ The effect of the mid-line pause is to
‘With joy foreground the imperatives and allow
approach, O…’ the significance of the instruction to be
fully absorbed

5. Syntax
Statement Evidence Analysis
Simple Verse one Direct style, used to convey simple,
sentence types honest truths.
Imperative ‘Behold’ Southwell demands we take notice and
mood ‘Do homage’ respect Christ’s birth
Declarative ‘The prince Southwell conveys his personal
mood himself is come convictions of religious truth.
from heaven’
Exclamatory ‘Alas, a piteous Reveals his strength of feeling, both
tone sight!’ admiration and despair at the arrival of
Christ
Parallelism ‘Weigh not his Same syntactical pattern is repeated to
crib…Weigh not reinforce Southwell’s message
his mother’s…’

6. Lexis
Statement Evidence Analysis
Adjectives ‘seely’, ‘tender’, Creates semantic field of humility and
‘homely’, ‘piteous’ innocence
Present tense ‘trembling lies’ Present tense verbs place the reader in
verbs ‘the inns are full’ the stable with the newborn child
Archaisms ‘seely’ Same adjective ‘seely’ meaning ‘pitiable’
‘wight’ is used to describe both Christ and the
animals in the stable
‘weed’
Paradox Stable…prince’s Southwell is famous for his use of
court’ antithesis and paradox, which he uses
Crib…chair of here to highlight the antithetical nature of
state’ the servant king
Poor attire…royal
liveries’
‘humble pomp’
Demonstrative ‘This stable’ Places the reader in the context of the
determiner ‘This crib’ nativity scene

7. Imagery
Statement Evidence Analysis
Pathetic Fallacy ‘in freezing winter Southwell uses the weather to
night’ emphasise the metaphorical coldness of
Christ’s reception
Metaphors ‘An orient pearl is These metaphors paint a picture of
often found in Christ’s worth despite his humble
depth of dirty mire’ beginnings.
‘The stable is a
prince’s court’
Connotations ‘in crib to shroud Foreshadows Christ’s eventual sacrifice
his head’ on the cross.

8. Sound
Statement Evidence Analysis
Plosive ‘New prince, new Emotive tone reflects Southwell’s
alliteration pomp’ passion for this miracle
‘parcel of his pomp’
‘pomp is prized’
Aspirant ‘highly prize his A breathless final command which
alliteration humble pomp’ encourages the reader to embrace the
paradoxical nature of Christ’s advent
Sibilant ‘Alas, a piteous The gentle tones of hushed reverence
alliteration sight!’ for the new born babe, yet tinged with
sadness for his lowly and
uncomfortable birth