Ep. 69 - Poetry of the English Martyrs - Benedict Whalen

The Catholic Culture Podcast · Mar 6, 2020 · 1h 26m

In 1581, a young Englishman named Henry Walpole attended the execution of the Jesuit Edmund Campion. As Campion was hung, drawn and quartered, Walpole stood close enough to be spattered with his holy blood. Though Campion's fame in England was already great, Walpole would amplify it further with a splendid, lengthy poem, which became enormously popular among English Catholics—so popular that the man who printed the book had his ears cut off as punishment.

In his poem Walpole wrote:

We cannot fear a mortal torment, we,

This martyr's blood hath moistened all our hearts,

Whose parted quarters…