Look Home - Robert Southwell

Robert Southwell: Robert Southwell (1561-1595) was an English Roman Catholic priest of the Jesuit Order. He was also a poet, hymnodist and clandestine missionary in post-Reformation England. Southwell’s poetry is largely addressed to an English Catholic Community. Southwell convinced many English Catholics and through his poems and writings he reminded them of their opportunity for spiritual growth.

Robert Southwell in “Look Home” also addresses the English Catholic community and explains to them about the miracles done by through the creation of many things such as man and the universe. The poets praise God for His creative genius and the unfathoming power lies in Him.   The poet also brings out the two different states of man; in one state man invented and discovered many things which lie hidden in the universe and in other elated mood, man even gave shape to God and made others to see God through the invented image. Thus man recreated what God has created.

The first stanza of the poem explains the beauty of heaven and also how heaven was created. The poet believes that heaven and hell lie in man’s mind and the existence of heaven and hell is not in space or beyond it.  The poet, then  explains how man had recreated the beautiful heaven in the universe after observing the beautiful things created by God. The poet says that the retired thoughts have their own delight and the eyes which seen the beauty of the universe enjoy happiness. The delighted mind and eyes of man would not remain passive. Therefore, they recreated ‘a place’ on this earth and filled the place with all wonderful, beautiful and flawless things and called it ‘heaven’. In heaven one can find things in “fairest forms and sweetest shapes”. The sight of heaven makes man’s mind and mood to feel happy. Even thinking of heaven itself gives happiness to man: “Most graceful all, yet thought may grace them more.”

The poet, in the second stanza of the poem, observes that of all God’s creations, ‘Man’ is the most wonderful and complicated creation, because man’s brain or mind is far superior than anything on this earth. With the brain or mind’s power man recreated what God had already created. Man even goes further in his venture and he finishes the shape of many which were kept unfinished by God. For example, man has collected all the wonderful things created by God and kept them in one place and called it ‘heaven’. Like this, with his higher skill man had created many better things. The poet also realizes that man’s brain power alone is not enough to recreate many things in this universe, but he also needs to apply his will power with equal force. If man applies his “force of wit” with “equal power of will”, then none has the ability to stop his creativity. In this condition, man’s one thought creates and the other thought finds solutions to the problems: “What thought can think, another thought can mend.”

The poet, in the third stanza of the poem, clarifies the point that man’s soul is more powerful than his brain. The poet talks about the power of man’s soul in this part of the poem. The poet says that man’s soul is more beautiful than his brain, because the soul of man is made of ‘endless skill and might’ of God. When man realizes this ‘might’ of the soul, then in the realized condition his soul searches for the super-soul. When it finds the super-soul, then it sparkles with bliss and finds that his soul shares the nativity with the super-soul. In this transcendental condition man tries to create image of God. Like this the image of God was created by the transcendental soul, incorporating the power of God in it. Man’s soul in its elated condition not only created the image of god but also understood the might, skill, word and will of God and kept them as God’s secret: “His might, his skill, his word and will conspired.”

The last stanza of the poem reiterates the might, skill and will of God and also man’s assigned duty on this earth. Man who is the replica of God’s image, might, and skill, in elated condition recreated so many things on this earth. His transcendental soul was able to create even the image of God. To do these things, man must first of all surrender himself under the feet of God. To afford the special talent of creation, man has to stoop himself before God: “To that he could afford his will was bent.” Not only man’s brain and will power but also his soul’s sublimation in the super-soul was needed for man to recreate what God had created. If man obeys God’s words then he will able to perform what God had order him to do. In this transcendental state man is able to conceive even the hidden secrets of the universe and in this state whatever he produces that are considered as the best of his creations: “He should, he could, he would, he did, the best.”

Thus, the poet in “Look Home” explains the power of God. The poets also understands the fact that how God had made man to recreate things on this earth. The poet advises the readers, especially the English Roman Catholics to surrender their mind, will and soul to God to find heaven or for salvation.