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“The Flaming Heart” Richard Crashaw: A Critical Analysis
“The Flaming Heart” by Richard Crashaw first appeared in 1652 in the posthumous collection Carmen Deo Nostro: Te Decet Hymnus Sacred Poems, Collected, Corrected, Avgvmented, Most Humbly Presented to My Lady the Countesse of Denbigh.
Introduction: “The Flaming Heart” Richard Crashaw
“The Flaming Heart” by Richard Crashaw first appeared in 1652 in the posthumous collection Carmen Deo Nostro: Te Decet Hymnus Sacred Poems, Collected, Corrected, Avgvmented, Most Humbly Presented to My Lady the Countesse of Denbigh. Dedicated to St. Teresa of Ávila, the poem reflects Crashaw’s intense admiration for her mystical union with God and his desire to capture her spiritual fervor in verse. Its popularity stems from Crashaw’s strikingly passionate imagery, where he instructs readers and even the painter of Teresa’s portrait to “transpose the picture quite, / And spell it wrong to read it right” (ll. 9–10), urging them to imagine Teresa as a Seraphim whose fiery devotion transcends earthly form. The poem’s central metaphor of the flaming heart symbolizes divine love that consumes the soul, as seen in lines such as “The wounded is the wounding heart” (l. 97), highlighting the paradox of love as both pain and ecstasy. Crashaw’s fusion of Catholic mysticism, baroque intensity, and lyrical fervor contributed to the poem’s lasting reputation, with its closing invocation—“Leave nothing of my Self in me. / Let me so read thy life, that I / Unto all life of mine may dy” (ll. 145–147)—capturing the self-annihilation and transcendence at the heart of Teresa’s mysticism.
Text: “The Flaming Heart” Richard Crashaw
Well meaning readers! you that come as freinds And catch the pretious name this piece pretends; Make not too much hast to’ admire That fair-cheek’t fallacy of fire. That is a Seraphim, they say And this the great Teresia. Readers, be rul’d by me; and make Here a well-plac’t and wise mistake. You must transpose the picture quite, And spell it wrong to read it right; Read Him for her, and her for him; And call the Saint the Seraphim. Painter, what didst thou understand To put her dart into his hand! See, even the yeares and size of him Showes this the mother Seraphim. This is the mistresse flame; and duteous he Her happy fire-works, here, comes down to see. O most poor-spirited of men! Had thy cold Pencil kist her Pen Thou couldst not so unkindly err To show us This faint shade for Her. Why man, this speakes pure mortall frame; And mockes with female Frost love’s manly flame. One would suspect thou meant’st to print Some weak, inferiour, woman saint. But had thy pale-fac’t purple took Fire from the burning cheeks of that bright Booke Thou wouldst on her have heap’t up all That could be found Seraphicall; What e’re this youth of fire weares fair, Rosy fingers, radiant hair, Glowing cheek, and glistering wings, All those fair and flagrant things, But before all, that fiery Dart Had fill’d the Hand of this great Heart. Doe then as equall right requires, Since His the blushes be, and her’s the fires, Resume and rectify thy rude design; Undresse thy Seraphim into Mine. Redeem this injury of thy art; Give Him the vail, give her the dart. Give Him the vail; that he may cover The Red cheeks of a rivall’d lover. Asham’d that our world, now, can show Nests of new Seraphims here below. Give her the Dart for it is she (Fair youth) shootes both thy shaft and Thee Say, all ye wise and well-peirc’t hearts That live and dy amidst her darts, What is’t your tastfull spirits doe prove In that rare life of Her, and love? Say and bear wittnes. Sends she not A Seraphim at every shott? What magazins of immortall Armes there shine! Heavn’s great artillery in each love-spun line. Give then the dart to her who gives the flame; Give him the veil, who gives the shame. But if it be the frequent fate Of worst faults to be fortunate; If all’s præscription; and proud wrong Hearkens not to an humble song; For all the gallantry of him, Give me the suffring Seraphim. His be the bravery of all those Bright things. The glowing cheekes, the glistering wings; The Rosy hand, the radiant Dart; Leave Her alone The Flaming Heart. Leave her that; and thou shalt leave her Not one loose shaft but love’s whole quiver. For in love’s feild was never found A nobler weapon then a Wound. Love’s passives are his activ’st part. The wounded is the wounding heart. O Heart! the æquall poise of love’s both parts Bigge alike with wound and darts. Live in these conquering leaves; live all the same; And walk through all tongues one triumphant Flame. Live here, great Heart; and love and dy and kill; And bleed and wound; and yeild and conquer still. Let this immortall life wherere it comes Walk in a crowd of loves and Martyrdomes Let mystick Deaths wait on’t; and wise soules be The love-slain wittnesses of this life of thee. O sweet incendiary! shew here thy art, Upon this carcasse of a hard, cold, hart, Let all thy scatter’d shafts of light, that play Among the leaves of thy larg Books of day, Combin’d against this Brest at once break in And take away from me my self and sin, This gratious Robbery shall thy bounty be; And my best fortunes such fair spoiles of me. O thou undanted daughter of desires! By all thy dowr of Lights and Fires; By all the eagle in thee, all the dove; By all thy lives and deaths of love; By thy larg draughts of intellectuall day, And by thy thirsts of love more large then they; By all thy brim-fill’d Bowles of feirce desire By thy last Morning’s draught of liquid fire; By the full kingdome of that finall kisse That seiz’d thy parting Soul, and seal’d thee his; By all the heav’ns thou hast in him (Fair sister of the Seraphim!) By all of Him we have in Thee; Leave nothing of my Self in me. Let me so read thy life, that I Unto all life of mine may dy.
“Fire from the burning cheeks of that bright Booke”
The repetition of initial consonant sounds (“burning,” “bright,” “Booke”) enhances rhythm and intensity, reflecting the consuming passion of divine love.
“Let all thy scatter’d shafts of light, that play / Among the leaves of thy larg Books of day”
The continuation of a sentence without pause carries forward Teresa’s overwhelming spiritual influence across lines, mirroring boundless divine energy.
⚜️ Epigrammatic Paradox
“Love’s passives are his activ’st part”
A paradox stating that passivity (suffering) in divine love is actually its strongest form of action, encapsulating mystical theology.
⚜️ Exclamation
“O most poor-spirited of men!”
Sudden outburst conveys frustration with the painter who misrepresented Teresa, emphasizing the fervency of Crashaw’s devotion.
Parts (hand, dart) stand for the whole figure of Teresa and her mystical love, intensifying her embodiment of divine flame.
Themes: “The Flaming Heart” Richard Crashaw
🔥 Mystical Love and Divine Passion “The Flaming Heart” by Richard Crashaw celebrates the consuming nature of mystical love, expressed as divine passion that burns beyond mortal limits. Crashaw portrays St. Teresa’s love for God as an ecstatic flame: “Leave Her alone The Flaming Heart. / Leave her that; and thou shalt leave her / Not one loose shaft but love’s whole quiver” (ll. 85–87). The “flaming heart” becomes a symbol of spiritual fervor, emphasizing that true devotion is not passive but transformative, consuming the soul with divine fire. The paradox “The wounded is the wounding heart” (l. 97) highlights that suffering in love is itself the most active form of divine union. Through this imagery, Crashaw communicates a theology of love where passion and wound, desire and pain, become inseparable in the soul’s journey toward God.
🎨 Art versus Spiritual Reality “The Flaming Heart” by Richard Crashaw critiques human artistic attempts to capture divine ecstasy, contrasting the limitations of painting with the power of Teresa’s written testimony. Crashaw directly addresses the painter: “Had thy cold Pencil kist her Pen / Thou couldst not so unkindly err” (ll. 35–36), lamenting that art renders only a “faint shade” (l. 37) of her burning spirituality. He argues that Teresa’s writings, “that bright Booke” (l. 41), carry more fire than any painted image. This theme underscores the superiority of inspired words over visual representation, suggesting that divine love cannot be fully contained in human art but only hinted at through spiritual texts and mystical language.
⚖️ Gender, Power, and Spiritual Authority “The Flaming Heart” by Richard Crashaw challenges contemporary gender expectations by elevating St. Teresa above stereotypical notions of weak female sanctity. Crashaw ironically criticizes the painter for making her appear “Some weak, inferiour, woman saint” (l. 39), when in fact she embodies the fiery authority of a Seraphim. He insists, “Give her the Dart for it is she / (Fair youth) shootes both thy shaft and Thee” (ll. 61–62), attributing divine power and agency to Teresa, who becomes not merely a recipient but the active transmitter of God’s flame. The “dart” becomes a gendered symbol of spiritual strength, subverting patriarchal images of women as passive in divine love. Instead, Teresa is represented as a commanding mystic whose authority rests in her spiritual passion.
✨ Martyrdom, Transformation, and Self-Annihilation “The Flaming Heart” by Richard Crashaw explores the theme of mystical martyrdom where love transforms the self through death to the world. Crashaw prays, “Leave nothing of my Self in me. / Let me so read thy life, that I / Unto all life of mine may dy” (ll. 145–147). Here, the poet yearns for self-annihilation, surrendering his identity to be consumed by Teresa’s flame and God’s love. Martyrdom is not physical alone but mystical, a “crowd of loves and Martyrdomes” (l. 109), where the heart continually dies and rises in divine ecstasy. By framing love’s wound as “a nobler weapon then a Wound” (l. 89), Crashaw transforms suffering into triumph, suggesting that true life is found only through mystical death and union with God.
Literary Theories and “The Flaming Heart” Richard Crashaw
The poem’s intricate structure and vivid imagery unify the exploration of Saint Teresa’s divine love, emphasizing spiritual intensity through fire and heart motifs.
“That fair-cheek’t fallacy of fire” (line 4), “The wounded is the wounding heart” (line 74), “O sweet incendiary! shew here thy art” (line 85).
Feminist Criticism
Saint Teresa is portrayed as a powerful, fiery figure, subverting gender norms by wielding the active dart while the male figure takes the passive veil, though her idealization risks reducing her humanity.
“Give her the Dart for it is she / (Fair youth) shootes both thy shaft and Thee” (lines 47–48), “Leave Her alone The Flaming Heart” (line 68).
Psychoanalytic Criticism
The poem expresses a desire for spiritual union with the divine, sublimating human passions into religious ecstasy, with the speaker’s wish to lose the self suggesting transcendence or a death wish.
“Leave nothing of my Self in me” (line 104), “By all thy dowr of Lights and Fires” (line 94), “O thou undanted daughter of desires!” (line 93).
Reflecting 17th-century Baroque Catholic mysticism and Counter-Reformation zeal, the poem uses Saint Teresa to symbolize divine authority while engaging with debates on gender and religious ecstasy.
“And call the Saint the Seraphim” (line 12), “Heavn’s great artillery in each love-spun line” (line 56), “By all the heav’ns thou hast in him” (line 103).
Critical Questions about “The Flaming Heart” Richard Crashaw
❓ How does Crashaw depict the limitations of art compared to spiritual experience in “The Flaming Heart”? “The Flaming Heart” by Richard Crashaw presents art as inadequate to represent the depth of mystical passion, contrasting the painter’s cold depiction with the living fire of Teresa’s writings. Crashaw scolds the artist: “Had thy cold Pencil kist her Pen / Thou couldst not so unkindly err” (ll. 35–36), suggesting that written testimony inspired by divine ecstasy holds more authenticity than a lifeless painting. The poet calls the image a “faint shade” (l. 37), unable to capture the blazing force of Teresa’s spiritual love. This critique highlights the Baroque fascination with the tension between material art and immaterial truth, underscoring that divine passion transcends visual representation and can only be conveyed through inspired words.
❓ What role does gender play in Crashaw’s representation of St. Teresa in “The Flaming Heart”? “The Flaming Heart” by Richard Crashaw challenges patriarchal assumptions by granting St. Teresa spiritual authority typically associated with male saints or angels. He rejects the painter’s reduction of her to “Some weak, inferiour, woman saint” (l. 39), instead presenting her as a Seraphim whose fiery passion is far greater than any earthly depiction. The line “Give her the Dart for it is she / (Fair youth) shootes both thy shaft and Thee” (ll. 61–62) places Teresa in an active, even martial role, wielding divine weapons of love. By giving Teresa the power of the dart, Crashaw subverts gendered expectations, elevating her as a mystical warrior of love. This reveals not only his admiration for Teresa but also his broader theological conviction that divine fire transcends gender boundaries.
❓ How does Crashaw use paradox to communicate mystical truth in “The Flaming Heart”? “The Flaming Heart” by Richard Crashaw relies heavily on paradox to express truths about divine love that defy rational categories. One striking example is: “The wounded is the wounding heart” (l. 97), where Teresa embodies both the receiver and giver of divine passion. Similarly, the paradox “Love’s passives are his activ’st part” (l. 93) suggests that suffering and surrender are the highest forms of action in God’s love. These contradictions reflect the essence of mystical experience, where divine ecstasy is both pain and joy, wound and healing, death and life. Crashaw’s paradoxes not only echo metaphysical poetic traditions but also serve as theological statements that capture the ineffable nature of spiritual union.
❓ In what ways does Crashaw present martyrdom as a spiritual ideal in “The Flaming Heart”? “The Flaming Heart” by Richard Crashaw frames martyrdom not merely as physical death but as a continual spiritual transformation through divine love. He envisions Teresa’s life as a “crowd of loves and Martyrdomes” (l. 109), suggesting repeated mystical deaths and rebirths in God. The poet himself longs for this transformation: “Leave nothing of my Self in me. / Let me so read thy life, that I / Unto all life of mine may dy” (ll. 145–147). Here martyrdom is portrayed as a surrender of the self, a death to earthly existence in order to live wholly in divine flame. By connecting love with wounds, darts, and fire, Crashaw elevates martyrdom as the supreme mode of mystical union, making Teresa both a saintly exemplar and a symbol of transcendent devotion.
Literary Works Similar to “The Flaming Heart” Richard Crashaw
✨ “The Invention of the Darling” by Li-Young Lee This collection explores spirituality, divinity, and intimacy through the beloved, echoing the mystical fervor and devotional imagery found in Crashaw’s “The Flaming Heart.”
🌌 “Something About Living” by Lena Khalaf Tuffaha Rooted in diaspora and history, this work transforms personal and collective love into sacred portals, aligning with Crashaw’s conflation of earthly affection and divine martyrdom.
🕯 Poems from “Nour” anthology Contemporary contributions, including those by Channing Tatum and Pedro Pascal, explore faith, surrender, and emotional worship, resonant with the devotional self-annihilation and spiritual ardor in Crashaw’s poem.
🔥 “New Republic” by Michal Rubin A mystical, visionary dialogue between poets in the afterlife, this piece weaves creative transformation, empathy, and transcendence comparable to Crashaw’s spiritual imagination.
Representative Quotations of “The Flaming Heart” Richard Crashaw
“Well meaning readers! you that come as freinds / And catch the pretious name this piece pretends” (lines 1–2)
The poem opens by addressing readers, urging caution in interpreting its fiery imagery, setting up the interplay between Saint Teresa and the Seraphim.
Formalism: The direct address and alliterative “pretious name” establish the poem’s intricate structure, drawing attention to its linguistic artistry and the thematic tension between appearance and truth.
“You must transpose the picture quite, / And spell it wrong to read it right” (lines 9–10)
The speaker instructs readers to swap the identities of the saint and Seraphim, challenging artistic misrepresentation.
Formalism: This paradox highlights the poem’s playful yet profound use of language, using contradiction to guide interpretation and emphasize the need for careful reading.
“Give her the Dart for it is she / (Fair youth) shootes both thy shaft and Thee” (lines 47–48)
The speaker insists the dart, a symbol of active love, belongs to Saint Teresa, who dominates the youth.
Feminist Criticism: This empowers Teresa as the active agent, subverting traditional gender roles by assigning her the phallic dart, positioning her as the dominant force in the spiritual narrative.
“Leave Her alone The Flaming Heart” (line 68)
The speaker demands that Teresa retain the central symbol of the flaming heart, emphasizing her spiritual potency.
Feminist Criticism: By claiming the flaming heart for Teresa, the poem elevates her as a powerful female figure, resisting attempts to diminish her through weaker depictions.
“O thou undanted daughter of desires!” (line 93)
The speaker praises Teresa’s fearless passion, addressing her as a figure of intense desire and spiritual strength.
Psychoanalytic Criticism: This reflects an unconscious drive for transcendence, with “desires” symbolizing a sublimated yearning for divine union, blending earthly and spiritual passion.
“Leave nothing of my Self in me” (line 104)
The speaker pleads for complete self-annihilation through Teresa’s influence, seeking to merge with her divine essence.
Psychoanalytic Criticism: This expresses a desire for ego dissolution, a psychological wish to transcend the self through spiritual ecstasy, aligning with mystical surrender.
“And call the Saint the Seraphim” (line 12)
The speaker corrects the misidentification of Saint Teresa and the Seraphim, urging a redefinition of their roles.
New Historicism: This reflects 17th-century Catholic debates on mystical figures, with Teresa’s elevation as a Seraphim aligning with Counter-Reformation efforts to exalt female saints.
“Heavn’s great artillery in each love-spun line” (line 56)
The speaker describes Teresa’s writings as powerful, divine weapons, emphasizing their spiritual impact.
New Historicism: This hyperbolic imagery ties to Baroque-era Catholic zeal, portraying Teresa’s texts as tools of religious warfare in the Counter-Reformation context.
“The wounded is the wounding heart” (line 74)
The speaker articulates the paradox of love, where the heart that suffers also inflicts love’s wounds.
Formalism: This paradox encapsulates the poem’s thematic core, using concise, balanced phrasing to convey the complex interplay of suffering and power in divine love.
“O sweet incendiary! shew here thy art” (line 85)
The speaker invokes Teresa as a fiery force, urging her to transform the cold heart with her radiant influence.
Psychoanalytic Criticism: The “incendiary” metaphor suggests an unconscious desire for purification through destruction, with Teresa’s fiery art symbolizing a transformative, consuming passion.
Suggested Readings: “The Flaming Heart” Richard Crashaw
Crashaw, Richard. “The flaming heart.” Norton Anthology of English Literature (2012): 1753-1755.
Yeo, Jayme M. “POLITICAL THEOLOGY IN THE POETRY OF RICHARD CRASHAW.” Literature and Theology, vol. 25, no. 4, 2011, pp. 393–406. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/23927103. Accessed 28 Aug. 2025.
