Suffering and Humility

Where it surfaces

• Epigraph

  The man's humble life and poor land contrast with his spiritual richness, embodying humility and contentment.

• Dedication

  Newman humbly acknowledges the ephemeral nature of his poems and his reliance on others' commendation.

• I: Solitude

  Trials and grief are seen as means of grace, and the narrator accepts a humble lot, finding worth in lowliness.

• II: My Birthday

  The speaker rejects pride and despair, seeking humility and a constant soul under God's control.

• III: Paraphrase of Isaiah 64

  The speaker acknowledges the desolation of Zion and the people's unworthiness, humbly seeking God's forgiveness.

• V: Nature and Art

  The speaker accepts his absence from nature's full court as part of God's 'high dispose,' and resolves to bear his constrained life with a patient, humble heart.

• IX: Consolations in Bereavement

  The sister's brief pain and languor are accepted as a decreed path, highlighting humble submission to God's will.

• A Picture

  The maiden endures pain and languor with blithe self-mastery, accepting her Maker's call.

• XIII: A Voice from Afar

  The speaker's request not to be mourned and the emphasis on humble, blameless mirth reflect a quiet acceptance of death and a focus on spiritual peace.

• XV: Thanksgiving

  The speaker embraces affliction as a sweet chastisement and a means of drawing closer to God.

• Monks

  The poem emphasizes that monks learned stern lessons through vigils, fasts, and penance, and that their soul-ennobling gain came from 'joys wrought out by pain.'

• XVII: Epiphany-Eve

  Mary's surrender to God's will is described as true and humble, with 'fiery trial, anguish chill' serving God's secret purpose, yet her path was gentle.

• XIX: Kind Remembrances

  Annie's sacred heaven-sent pain is admired as a mark of grace and humility.

• XXI: The Pilgrim

  The pilgrim's task is described as 'hard humbling,' emphasizing the sacrifice of personal desire for a higher calling.

• XXIII: The Brand of Cain

  The speaker acknowledges their unworthiness to bear Christ's cross, embracing a posture of humility and suffering.

• Persecution

  The Church's flight into the wilderness and the priest's austere life reflect suffering and humility in the face of persecution.

• XXVII: The Gift of Preserverance

  The poem teaches the necessity of humble submission before God's omniscient light, accepting truth's avenging shafts without shrinking.

• XXVIII: The Sign of the Cross

  The sign inspires courage 'to suffer and to do,' linking humility with action.

• XXIX: Bondage

  The speaker expresses despair, inability to pray, and a sense of unworthiness, embodying humility in suffering.

• XXX: The Scars of Sin

  The speaker's hidden suffering and humility are evident as they acknowledge being 'scar-seam'd and crippled still' before the Angel's gaze.

• XXXIV: The Saint and the Hero

  The saint's lowly diligence and simple mien contrast with the hero's praise, emphasizing humility over worldly acclaim.

• XXXVI: The Watchman

  The theme of weakness and scantness as the means of divine power reflects humility and suffering as pathways to God's strength.

• XXXVII: The Isles of the Sirens

  The speaker acknowledges that neither age nor trial has made him wise, highlighting a humble recognition of enduring suffering.

• XLI: A Word in Season

  The call to hush and wait reflects humility and patient endurance in the face of spiritual struggle.

• XLII: Fair Words

  The call for a 'serious heart' and the warning against pride in fair words point to the need for humility and self-examination.

• XLIV: Moses

  Moses' meekness and acceptance of loss model humility, and the narrator seeks similar suffering for spiritual gain.

• XLV: The Patient Church

  The call to 'bide thy time' and sit in meekness reflects a posture of humble endurance in the face of persecution.

• XLVI: Jeremiah

  Jeremiah's cry of 'Woe's me' and his desire to flee his prophetic role highlight the suffering and humility inherent in bearing divine truth.

• Penance

  The speaker urges the reader to accept pain without complaint, to hate pride, and to sanctify sorrow through humble endurance.

• Sleeplessness

  Human sleeplessness is portrayed as a form of suffering and a reminder of mortality, contrasting with God's eternal vigilance.

• LI: Abraham

  Abraham bears the world's smile and scorn with unruffled face, moving in 'soul's high solitude' and accepting a humble burial place in Canaan.

• LIV: The Death of Moses

  Acceptance of divine restraint as loving chastening reflects a posture of humility in the face of suffering and unfulfilled longing.

• LV: Melchizedek

  The poem emphasizes suffering and loneliness as a means of divine grace, shaping the soul through long woe.

• Transfiguration

  The speaker's initial inability to perceive the saint's true nature suggests a humbling journey from ignorance to awe, reflecting the humility required to recognize sanctity.

• LIX: Judgment

  The poem contrasts despair and random ill with the acceptance of a holier, angelic pain.

• LX: Sensitiveness

  The speaker acknowledges personal failings and self-dread, yet humbly leaves the outcome to God.

• Humiliation

  The speaker embraces scorn and meanness as a way to participate in the Savior's suffering, valuing humility over worldly rule.

• LXIII: The Call of David

  David's path is marked by heartache, loneliness, and trials, yet he is shaped through suffering for a divine purpose.

• A Blight

  The pain of memory and self-hate brings the speaker to tears and a humble longing for release.

• LXV: Joseph

  The chapter emphasizes that Truth willingly bore shame, laying aside its beaming front in an act of humble condescension.

• LXVII: Isaac

  Saints are lowered so that the world may rise, illustrating humility as a means of spiritual elevation.

• LXX: St. Paul at Melita

  St. Paul's humble act of gathering sticks and enduring the viper's bite exemplifies suffering and humility, with divine aid granted in response.

• LXXI: Messina

  The closing lines describe human life as 'man’s tomb and splendid record-stone, high hope, pride-stain’d, the course without the prize,' highlighting suffering and humility.

• LXXII: Warnings

  Heaven sends sorrow with prior warnings to prevent overwhelming the soul, emphasizing humility before divine will.

• Dreams

  The thorn is welcomed as a divine gift that humbles the spirit and reminds it of its true condition.

• LXXIV: Temptation

  The poem acknowledges hidden trials and the frailty of human nature, pleading for grace to endure.

• Our Future

  The speaker accepts being spared from full knowledge of future trials, showing humility and willingness to bear suffering gradually.

• LXXVII: Taormini

  The speaker encourages storing memories of divine beauty to endure 'coming pains and fears,' linking present joy to future strength in suffering.

• Sympathy

  The speaker acknowledges human limitation ('dim-eyed men') and finds solace only in the Savior's dual nature.

• Relics of Saints

  The relics are described as 'frail houses' and 'motionless clay,' yet they are esteemed as heavenly shrines, embodying humble endurance.

• LXXX: Day-Labourers

  The Christian warrior is called to labor and suffer, even to death, without seeing the final victory.

• LXXXI: Warfare

  The chapter emphasizes that the holy hand must be 'rough' and that true faith involves struggle and sacrifice, not passive peace.

• LXXXII: Sacrilege

  The Church's outcast state is met with humble vigilance, not aggression, as the speaker chooses to 'toil in our old place to stand' rather than seize power.

• The Age to Come

  Truth is depicted as suffering—despised and slain—before its resurrection, echoing themes of humility and endurance.

• St. Gregory Nazianzen

  Gregory's humble heart and the pain of his public role, culminating in his quiet retirement, exemplify the virtue of humility in suffering.

• LXXXVIII: The Good Samaritan

  The speaker's wounds and weariness are tended by a foe, illustrating humility in receiving help and the transformation of suffering through grace.

• Reverence

  The speaker's humility before Jesu's name and the acknowledgment of unlovely thoughts reflect a posture of suffering and lowliness.

• XCII: Jonah

  Jonah is tamed by a fearful judgment, yet his pride resurfaces; the chapter contrasts human weakness with the humility required to accept God's mercy.

• Zeal and Patience

  Paul's imprisonment is seen as a trial of patience, and the speaker prays for a heart that endures hindrances without impatience.

• XCVIII: Flowers Without Fruit

  The call to 'prune thy words' and control thoughts reflects a humble discipline necessary to endure hardship without fainting.

• Vexations

  Contrasts the grand suffering of martyrs with the hidden, humbler trials of daily life.

• CIII: Pusillanimity

  John's meekness and the believer's hidden sacrifice of pride are central, emphasizing humility in the face of divine calling.

• James and John

  James's martyrdom and John's long life both embody different forms of suffering and humble submission to God's plan.

• Consolation

  Enduring sudden blows and fretful thoughts with humble trust.

• CX: The Power of Prayer

  References fastings, trials, and toils of love as means to attain higher spiritual power.

• Semita Justorum

  The speaker acknowledges that grief, pain, and trial have brought larger grace to his tormented soul.

• CXII: The Elements

  Man's feebleness is emphasized, leading to the recognition of his need to turn to God in wisdom and humility.

• CXIV: Judaism

  The Jewish people are depicted as a 'piteous race' and 'aged blind,' suffering from their fall from grace, while Moses and Paul endure personal suffering in their intercessions.

• CXV: Separation of Friends

  The departed's pains and dreary end evoke suffering, while the living accept the need for patience and humility before divine mysteries.

• CXVIII: Evening

  The speaker humbly acknowledges weakness and the loss of spiritual light, pleading for assistance.

• CXIX: A Hermitage

  The poem contrasts worldly comfort with the voluntary suffering of the ascetic, framing physical mortification as the true mark of a monk.

• CXX: The Married and the Single

  The single life is depicted as austere, humble, and focused on spiritual discipline, in contrast to worldly honors.

• CXXIV: Matins—Sunday

  Earthly pain is acknowledged as the context for hoping in heaven, reflecting a humble endurance.

• CXXX: Matins—Saturday

  The act of pouring out tears and chants as a 'mingled stream' expresses humble supplication and the burden of the laden bosom.

• For a Martyr

  The martyr's scorn for earthly joys and his 'highway of blood' exemplify redemptive suffering and humility.

• For a Confessor Bishop

  The bishop is depicted as a servant who spends and is spent, enduring troubles for the sake of others.

• CLVIII: Ethelwald

  The saint's fear and trembling after letting slip his secret highlight the humility and suffering inherent in hiding one's divine gifts.

• CLIX: Candlemas

  The imagery of Mary's pierced soul and the penitential waiting emphasizes suffering and humble endurance.

• CLX: The Pilgrim Queen

  The Queen's desolate state and wandering in weeds embody humble suffering, yet she remains serene and hopeful.

• Valentine to a Little Girl

  The martyrs' willingness to pour out their blood for the Lord exemplifies sacrificial suffering and humble service.

• St. Philip in His God

  The saint's heart is melted and earthly dross burned away, and he gently handles sinners, weighing their capacity before assigning penance.

• CLXVIII: The Golden Prison

  The poem presents purgatorial suffering as a willing, blessed agony that purifies the soul.

• CLXXI: St. Philip in His School

  St. Philip is cheerful in penance, embodying humility and patient healing.

• St. Philip in His Disciples

  The speaker embraces physical hardship and scorn as a way to imitate St. Philip's humility and endurance.

• For the Dead

  The souls endure suffering with resigned will and hope, embracing the remnant of Christ's woe.

• The Two Worlds

  Worldly toils are likened to the scourge that made Christ's blood flow, and joys to the thorns around His brow, emphasizing the humility of renunciation.

• The Dream of Gerontius

  Gerontius's acceptance of pain and fear as part of his dying, and the soul's willing embrace of purgatorial suffering as a means of purification.

• § 1

  Gerontius's physical and spiritual agony, his sense of ruin, and his humble reliance on divine mercy exemplify suffering and humility before God.

• § 2

  The Angel describes the soul's lifelong struggle against sin and the grace that sustained it, highlighting the role of suffering and humility in salvation.

• § 3

  The soul's former fear of death and judgment is presented as a necessary preparation that now yields serene joy, illustrating how anticipated suffering leads to peace.

• § 4

  The Soul accepts its unworthiness and the purgatorial fire, while the Angel explains that the flame of Everlasting Love burns before it transforms.

• § 5

  The soul's purgatorial pain is described as both healing and provoking, emphasizing the humility required before God.

• § 6

  The soul's willing acceptance of pain and its humble plea to be placed in the lowest deep, singing in hope until it attains peace, reflects redemptive suffering.

• § 7

  The soul's patient acceptance of purgatorial suffering and the angel's call to be brave and patient.

• Endnotes

  The endnotes discuss Gerontius's suffering in the body, his weakness in prayer, and the humility of his soul as it faces death and judgment.