The content of each poem is equally very different though they are both based along traditional Christian views just that they tackle different events/views within Christian teachings. For instance the poem, I Syng of a Mayden is based upon the Virgin Mary, as shown when the poet writes ‘Moder and mayden Was never non but she’, whereas The Burning Babe is about the sacrifice of Jesus for the salvation of mankind, shown by the connotations throughout the poem and the events represented by the ‘Babe all burning bright’ and the symbols used throughout the poem.
The use of religious connotations and symbols is another way in which the two poems differ as the poem I Syng of a Mayden, is very straightforward in what it is describing, saying very clearly about ‘Godes moder be’ the ‘makeles’ ‘Moder and mayden’ of the ‘Kyng of alle Kynges’, showing that this poem is very obviously about the of the Virgin Mother Mary and the birth of her Son, Jesus. Whereas The Burning Babe, though still about Jesus, is about, not his birth but his death to save mankind, as is shown when we read ‘The metal in this furnace wrought Are men’s defiled souls’. To show the reader this Southwell has used very different language to create more real emotions of awe, pity and guilt about the words this apparition speaks. This is done through the use of religious connotations like the ‘wounding thorns’ and paradox’s such as ‘Such floods of tears did shed, As though His floods should quench His flames, Which with His tears were fed’ very much like those used within religious teachings so again reinforcing this idea of awe and guilt at the appearance and heritage of the burning Babe.
The use of personal pronouns within The Burning Babe also helps to draw the reader into the event described by the poet and add the true impact to this vision of ‘A pretty Babe all burning bright’ who is ‘scorched with excessive heat’ and to again inspire awe and guilt within the reader by making them experience all of the sensations the poet himself feels at this time. The use of personification is also used to draw the reader in to what is being said by the burning babe, but also to hammer home to the reader that the babe is Jesus and that he burns for the sake of mankind, as shown when the apparition says, ‘The fuel Justice layeth on, And Mercy blows the coals’ meaning that it is for the sake of justice and mercy that he burns and dies for mankind. Again, these are used to deliver the significance of Christmas and this apparition on ‘Christmas Day’. I Syng of a Mayden, however, doesn’t use these linguistic features, instead it clearly states, using archaic language, what the theme of the poem is and uses descriptive language only to emphasis the time of year that the conception of Jesus occurred via the Holy Spirit. So they both use language to convey emotions and events within the poems but they also use very different linguistic features to convey these.
So, although both The Burning Babe and I Syng of a Mayden are both poems written in a ballad style with regular four line stanzas, and are both based upon Christian events and teachings, but there the similarities end. The Burning Babe is based upon the true meaning of Christmas and uses many linguistic features such as paradox’s, personification and religious connotations as well as inverted sentence structures and condensed English. Whereas I Syng of a Mayden is based upon the Virgin Mary and uses few of these linguistic features and the language is archaic with few inverted sentences or condensed English.
